We took off with the nose pointing roughly northward, seeing little but blackness out the windows. Just a moment ago the pilot made a big sweeping left turn to point us more southwesterly and as we leveled out a magnificent view opened up outside the little porthole to my left. We are flying at a pretty low altitude so we can see the ground fairly clearly; most of it is wreathed in shadow but thousands upon thousands of lights are spread out in the darkness, little dots of amber intermingled with specks of blue tinted white. It lights up the entirety of Taiwan’s west side, from the central mountain ranges all the way down to the pitch black ocean, forming a clear line where the land meets the sea. It is brightest up here in the north but there are plenty of lights as far as the eye can see. I knew from before that Taiwan’s west coast is essentially a continuous city but its not until I see it from this vantage point that I can really feel it is so, feel the vastness if it and the myriad lives milling about down below. All I can think is: Wow!
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