Taiwan Part 3: Day 5~6 - Kaoshiung + Taichung

Finally, the second last part of our trip to Taiwan. Last part (Taipei) will come soon! I had been busy with my part time job and most importantly there is no internet connection at my workers' residential area. Anyways, here are the links to Taiwan Part 1 and Taiwan Part 2.

~Day 5~

Before we departed for Taichung, we spent the day at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Monestry. This was probably one of the best place we went because it was definitely unique and an identity of Taiwan. I have been to Buddhist and Hindu Temples in Thailand and Bali but this was something new!

at the entrance of the monestry

How to get there? From the Bus station in front of Kaoshiung Railway Station, there is a direct bus to Fo Guang Shan Monestry. The bus station is quite difficult to find so it would be better to ask around before getting lost. The bus cost 75TWD per person. If you arrive early or by noon, you can eat inside the Dining hall which serves reasonable vegetarian food. It closes around 1PM.

some high tech displays

There are many "events" you can take part in at the monestry. I have my own faith but I do think there is nothing wrong knowing others' faith, there is no such thing as being brain washed or forcing you to be a Buddhist. Traveling to another part of the monestry, you can ride the buggy. It is meant for elders and disabled but with a minimal fee you can ride along and save yourself some time.

giant Buddha, the view was awesome!

took the buggy/cart to a record setting temple which has hundreds of golden Buddha and one of the biggest

On the way to Fo Guang Shan Monestry, you will pass by EDA Theme Park, which is a greek syle theme park. If you have time after your visit to the monestry (which we didn't), you can stop by at the theme park and Dream mall.

After the day spent in Kaoshiung, we traveled from Kaoshiung to Taichung using train, cost 860TWD each. When we planned for Taichung, the main target was of course Sun Moon Lake 日月潭. There are many options but I chose to stay in Taichung have a day trip to Sun Moon Lake, which I regretted a little. From Sun Moon Lake there are direct buses to Taipei. So you can actually spend a night at Sun Moon Lake (nothing much to do at night but it will be a great experience away from the busy Taichung city) and take the direct bus the next day to Taipei. That would save your time traveling back to Taichung, then to Taipei again like we did.

Late lunch at the train station while waiting for our train

In Taichung, we stayed at Unicorn Hostel, which I reviewed here. The night we arrived from Kaoshiung, we used public bus from the airport as directed by the hostel's owner Toyo. Arrived quite late but we managed to relax a bit then off to Fengjia Night Market. The night market is approximately 30 minutes walk from the hostel. Toyo gave us a map to the night market but it was quite confusing so we took initiative to ask people around. Like all the other night markets, food was composed of mostly snacks, no rice which I was already craving for a lot.

this is just 1/3 of our night market food *guilty*

~Day 6~

Early the next day in Taichung, we departed to Sun Moon Lake 日月潭. Getting to Sun Moon Lake is easy! There is a direct bus to Sun Moon Lake from the Taichung Railway station. At the lower floor, there will be Nantou Bus ticketing counter specifically for tip to Sun Moon Lake, the bus cost 660TWD each for round trip shuttle bus. For the schedule, you can check it <here> in English or <here> in Chinese Taiwan main website. As seen on the website, there is also combo package called "Sun Moon Lake Pass", cost 330TWD each. This pass can be purchased at the counter when you arrive at Sun Moon Lake. In the pass, there are different vouchers which consists of Sun Mon Lake ropeway, Round the lake bus, shuttle boat to the island and Bicycle rental.

top: crossing the overhead bridge to get the bus on the other side!
bottom: Carton King, a cardboard made cafe display and they sell cardboard made displays

The "Sun Moon Lake" Pass which consists of a few vouchers, sufficient for you to enjoy a day trip there!

We used up all the vouchers except the Bicycle rental. This is because it was limited to Giant Bike Rental Spot only and when we surveyed the price, even with the discount voucher it was more expensive than the other rental shops. This is because all the bikes were geared mountain bikes and since it was normal path, we decided to rent the ordinary much cheaper bikes.

Took a ferry from Ita Tao pier to nearby island

All information written on the pass has Chinese and English with instructions and maps so there should not be any problem. Cycling around the lake in the evening was really an amazing experience! If you plan to go in the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village, it would be better to spend a night at Sun Moon Lake. We didn't enter the Formosa (cost 780TWD each) but from what we saw from the cable car, it was a big area to cover.

Real human model exhibit! He's actually quite funny, few kids freaked out xD

The famous Ah Ma Herbal Egg at Syuanguang Temple.
 We had to queue for these but I still love the ones in Malaysia more.
The ones in Taiwan (including those at 7-eleven) are drier and less herbal taste.

After the ferry rides, we went for the Sun Moon Lake ropeway, which is my favourite - cable car rides! From the gondola you can view the lake itself and the view was magnificent. In order to go to the Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village, you will also need to ride the cable car. It is located on top of the hill.

We put cycling the end of our schedule because the temples have closing hour and we wanted it to be less sunny when we cycle. Plus, we wanted to cycle in a more relaxed manner rather than to rush to another plan/schedule. So we cycled till we decided it is time to go back to Taichung.

me and my pink rented bicycle. we rented from a stall next to the bus station.
rental charged by day (unlike the one using voucher which charge by hour) so super worth it!

it was early Autumn when we were in Taiwan

while waiting for our bus back to Taichung, ate Taiwan sausage! Yummy~ Super miss this!

Back in Taichung, we went to Xin Guang San Yue 新光三越, which is a very common mall around Taiwan. There are probably a few in all the main cities like Taipei and Taichung. They have everything in the mall. You get to shop, eat and have some entertainments.

We ate these set meals, personal steamboat and it was really worth it!
Forgotten how much it cost but it was half the cost of our 1.5 hour movie.... =.=

We were bored after our dinner so we decided to watch a movie.
The others the timing were really bad so we watched this: Beyond Beauty, Taiwan from above.
We were in Taiwan anyways so why not watch a movie about Taiwan right....
Watching movies in Taiwan is so cut throat expensive T_____T
I think it was around RM30 for a normal non 3D.

Next post Part 4 will be wholly on Taipei. Stay tuned!

p/s: I read somewhere that the SML pass is only till 31 Dec 2013 for Visit Taiwan year, so it is better to check on the promotions before getting there.

For more info on my Taiwan itinerary please email meilinxo(at)gmail(dot)com

Taiwan Part 2: Day 3~4 - Taitung + Kaoshiung

Taiwan Part 1: Day 1 & 2 - Arrival + Hualien [READ HERE]

To avoid my blog from taking too long to load photos, I'll make the travel photos into grid collage! I guess I should have thought of this long time ago. Just realized my day by day post is taking up the whole page =.=

Anyways here is Day 3 and Day 4 of Taiwan, yeayyyy~! Took me forever because I had been procrastinating a lot, who else here is addicted to Running Man? xD And just came back from Hong Kong, I'll blog about that soon after I complete Taiwan's posts.

Day 3 - Taitung

Day 4 - Kaoshiung

By looking at Part 1 and Part 2 you should realized by now that we had been to different part of Taiwan everyday. This, is probably the closest I have been as a backpacker. We moved everyday (stayed only 1 night at every hostel). And trust me, backpack is the easiest thing to use compared to luggage.

- DAY 3 -

Once we arrived Taitung (by train from Hualien - cost 270TWD each), we took a taxi to our guesthouse. Note: there is no train in Taitung, only bus and taxi. The taxi knew right away where is our guesthouse because there were not many in town. We stayed at Traveler Hotel Taitung (reviewed here).

When we arrived, it was already lunch hour so we asked the receptionist where we can get famous food nearby. To our surprise, there was one just a walking distance along the road the hotel was located. It's a noodle shop and you know it is famous when there is a queue till the road and they were running out of empty seats, we had to get one next to the kitchen (and later moved to a smaller table at the back car porch to give way to bigger families). Spent 195TWD for two persons.

We then took a bus to Guangshan from the bus station next to our guesthouse. This bus station is for DingDong Bus (Mountain line). Journey to Guangshan took 1 hour and cost 110TWD each. Stop at Guangshan Waterpark. Nearby where we stopped, there will be few bicycle rental shops. Rented bicycles and cycled around! Cost only 80TWD each for a day rental! Because it was too late when we arrived, we only cycled around the garden (entrance fee 50TWD each), but if you arrive earlier, you can take a route along the paddy field and the river!

Cycling is a very common thing in Taiwan and I think it's really fun and a must do thing in Taiwan!

After going around the garden, we cycled back and took bus back to Taitung city. Initially we wanted to go back to the bus station but the bus stopped at a night market, so just right for dinner, we got off the bus. The night market is called Central Night Market or 中央夜市场. After taking our dinner there (also did some fun activity), we tried to ask for direction back to our hotel. And again were surprised because it was actually a walking distance!

Our food, small portion for 2:

Tokoyaki - 30TWD, Toufu - 30TWD, Bone ribs - 120TWD, Drinks - 70TWD

- DAY 4 -

Due to the rush, we woke up early and took a Taiwan tour bus to the mini Yeliu park (38TWD each). Taiwan is a volcanic island so it has very fantastic views especially the outcrops! However the problem came when we wanted to go back to Taitung. There was no bus back and the next bus was in another hour, and we desperately need to catch the train to Kaoshiung.

We asked the security aunties to get us taxi but she said calling a taxi will cost a lot. So she advised us to wait by the road side and call for any taxi passing by. Few taxis past but were carrying passengers so we got super anxious. Finally a taxi stopped for us eventhough there were passengers (family of 3, mother and daughters) and they happily allowed us to hitch. They said it will be very difficult to get taxi if we continue waiting. So thankful! 

The taxi driver also said he will drive us to Beinan Cultural Village and bring us back to the train station. So after we bought our train ticket to Kaoshiung (372TWD each), he drove is to Beinan and waited for us at the gate. I read that it was walking distance from the train station but in fact it is not >__< Reached just in time to follow an audio tour at Beinan!

Train from Taitung to Kaoshiung took approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes. We took the 11AM train and I think they have one hourly. After arriving Kaoshiung, we checked in our hostel. Stayed at Kaoshiung Backpackers Hostel (reviewed here). The hostel is superrrr near to Kaoshiung train station (where the MRT and Bus station are also located!) and also next to a 7-eleven (another one opposite the road). This was definitely the most convenient accommodation we had throughout the trip.

Right after we checked in, we took MRT and taxi (supposed to use bus but the bus took so long. A lady and 2 kids saw us discussing about getting there so she suggested we take a cab together and share the fee) to the National Science and Technology Museum.

Entrance fee is 50TWD each with our Youth Card discount. Because we arrived in the afternoon, our goal was to tried all the simulators. We often see these simulators only on TV so we really wanted to try them!

We then took bus to visit the riverside view at Love River! Night view was fantastic but park was very very dim and cyclists around, and camera didn't do much justice. We also walked such a long journey and wondered whether we got lost Lol. After the stroll, we went to the famous Liu He Night Market 六合夜市场 by using KRT, stope at Formosa Boulrvard (美丽岛) KRT station and take exit 1! It's a very beautiful station! Check out that bottom right pic~ And it is eating time again! The Papaya milk is famous (long queue) and must try! I super love smelly toufu so we ate that everyday ^^

Food at Liu He Night Market for 2 persons: 

Papaya milk 50TWD each, Toufu 50TWD, Tang yuan 40TWD, Taiwan sausage 50TWD, Ojian 50TWD

For more info on my Taiwan itinerary please email meilinxo(at)gmail(dot)com

Taiwan Part 1: Day 1~2 - Arrival + Hualien

Finally! Before I proceed with my travel plans, being hopeful here because I might start working in a month or two and that means less travel time. Let me finish all my Taiwan and Bali travel log.

This was what I wrote on my Facebook photo album on Taiwan, titled:

"Taiwan on a Shoestring"

And the brief and precise descriptions on our trip:

Travel date: 7 Nov-15 Nov 2013 (7 days). 

Total expense excluding flight: RM1600. 

Coverage: Hualien>Taitung>Kaoshiung>Taichung>Taipei. 

Transport: mostly by public bus, shuttle bus, railway train, bullet train, mrt, bicycle, 

once on ferry, twice on cable cars, countable on taxi and miles on our feet. 

Awesome country, especially if you're a geologist ;) 

missed out many places due to time constraint, will definitely be back^^

To save time I will cut down craps and go directly to our plans and itinerary. We definitely missed out many places because one, we were on budget; two, we went in a group of only 2 girls; three, we had very restricted time (we wanted to tour whole island but 7 days is not enough, make sure you have at least 10 days)

One thing to take note, most places are closed on Monday, so we tried to make our Monday to visit somewhere free (without entrance pass needed). And also emergency contact which must be saved into your phone: Toll-free inquiry 110 and Ambulance 119 (informed by our Taiwanese friend)

I will cover 2 days in a post so here is Day 1 & Day 2, check out next post for Day 3 & Day 4..and so on :)

***************************************************

Day 1 (7 November 2013, Thursday)

Taoyuan Airport > Taipei Main Station > Luodong Railway Station > Xincheng Station (Taroko)

• After arriving Taiwan Taoyuan Airport around 2PM, we took an airport shuttle bus -125NT$,50mins- to Taipei Main Station, but walked another distance to the building with bus service. It is best to ask for directions from the locals. 
• From Taipei Main Station, took a bus (Kamalan) -135NT$,1hour- to Luodong Railway Station (also need to walk from where the bus stopped). 
• From Luodong Railway Station, took a train -107NT$,1hour20mins- to Xincheng (Taroko Station). 
• From Xincheng, you can take taxi to the guesthouse. Please note that Xincheng station is quite a distance away from Hualien but is nearer to Taroko George. 

Taipei Main Station

We were lucky because we met very very friendly Taiwanese friends at Luodong Train Station. They were willing to even drive us to our hostel because we arrived really late, around 10.30PM after all the bus and train rides, plus getting lost finding the bus station. He said there are rarely taxi around that time and even if there is, it will be very expensive. Thus if you take this route, it will be better for you to arrive during daylight.

Our first night in Taiwan, we stayed at Hualien- Liwu Inn International Youth Hostel (reviewed here) which cost us 300NT$ per bed in a 4 person dorm. It is located right beside the bus stop to Taroko George but guess what we did? Check out day 2!! After we got a Phone prepaid -300NT$- with the help of our friend, we showered and slept.

Day 2 (8 November 2013, Friday)

Taroko George> Hualien (Chisingtan Beach> Random Food hunt > Ziqiang Night Market)

Initially when I planned for Taroko George, I was really confused on the route. I thought Taroko George is a stop and then all the others but I think all these Eternal Shrine, Tunnel of Nine Turns, Buluowan etc. are included as Taroko George. So here is a less confusing plan, if you have time, you will need one whole day to complete the whole Taroko George path. 

For Day 2, since we made new friends, they planed to take us around Hualien for half a day so our Taroko journey has to be only half a day trip.

There is a shuttle bus for tourist or you can also take Hualien Public bus, both of this bus passes by the hostel we stayed  (Hualien- Liwu Inn International Youth Hostel). 

立霧客棧國際青年旅舍 Hualien- Liwu Inn International Youth Hostel

The bus stop is right outside the hostel. We woke up very early to take the bus but notice no bus actually stopped for us. 

The bus stop for 台湾好行 tourism bus right in front of the hostel

After 30minutes, we saw a couple walked from our nearby hotel and decided to follow them. To our surprise, eventhough we had to climb a slight hill, it took us only 20minutes to arrive to the Park Headquarters, not including the time we stopped to take the breathtaking views. My advise, if you will be staying at Hualien- Liwu Inn International YH, skip the bus and walk to the HQ while enjoying the morning breeze.

When we arrived the HQ, the uncle on the information desk was surprise that these two little girls walked all the way up to the HQ. We told him what happened and he said we must wave to the bus to make it stop, which we didn't. We thought the bus will definitely stop at the bus stop (supposedly) so we were busy....taking photos :D

great view on our way to the HQ

If you are not using the bus, you can even stop (on your on time) to take photo!

And more photo!

Wonderful view of the signature bridge in Hualien

Taroko National Park! Weather was a breeze so had no trouble "hiking" up

The route of the shuttle buses:

Taroko Park Headquarters > Eternal Spring Shrine > Buluowan > Tunnel of Nine turns > Cimu Bridge > Helui Campground > Lushui > Tianxiang

(One day pass can be obtained only at Hualien Train Station, not Xincheng Train Station)

This is how the tourism bus looks like:

台湾好行 tourism bus

When we arrived at the HQ, we saw the couple again who walked up all the way like us. We waited for the shuttle bus together. 

The whole journey up to Tianxiang takes 30-40minutes, which was what we did. On our way up because we were squeezed till the end of the bus, we decided not to get down (we somehow can't exit) till we arrive Tianxiang. 

In the end we took so long time exploring Tianxiang, and the laziness kicked in because the weather was getting really hot. And the bus continued being super packed (like people have to seat at the emergency exit) and we were on the back seats on both ways. So, we decided to just make it an on-bus tour Lol. Plus, Tunnel of Nine turns was closed due to recent earthquake and rock falls, super unlucky.

If you have the time and patience, do stop by at all the stops. One of the stop has an aborigines village, I am not sure which maybe Buluowan or Lushui.

Taroko National Park HQ

From the HQ, you can get a flyer on Tourist Information for Taroko National Park. It includes the map of the whole park itself, getting there, the bus routes, emergency contact numbers, Campground sites information and park trails.

The park trails are divided into 2 types, the Scenic type and the Hiking type (time required and special features are also included in the flyer)

This was one awesome toufu! Sold by the monks there for charity,
a lil pricey (cause its meant for donation) but I read it was yummy so we tried, it is!

No, I am not the  觀音大士 (Guanyin) *lame

View of Tianxiang from the pagoda!

After Taroko tour (more of like Tianxiang tour), we went back to our hostel and this time we were smart enough to use the bus! Stopped right in front of our hostel. After we packed and checked out, our friend came and brought us for lunch and Hualien tour! For tour in Hualien you definitely need to hire a guide, or a taxi at least. Because there is no proper public transport to move around.

Friend brought us to buy the famous "檸檬冰" (directly translated as Lemon Ice)
It is like a Lemonade. Perfect for the sunny day!

Missing Hualien's fantastic view!

Our friend told us that Shihtiping has nothing really breathtaking so they decided to bring us to Chisingtan Beach. Being a geology (rock studies) student, first thing I notice was, rocks! More like pebbles but I was very amazed. Instead of a sandy beach like here in Malaysia, the beach was covered with pebbles and cobbles!

I was so excited I had to take a photo with my beloved rocks Lol

After Chisingtan Beach we went to a Fish museum! It is called 七星柴鱼博物院  "Chihsing Tan Katsuo". Our friends brought us here, nothing much to see but loads of Hualien local products sold here! We bought some and our friends bought a lot! :D

entrance is 40NT$ per person and if I am not mistaken, 20NT$ can be rebate to purchase items there

There were dead (modeled) fishes and also life fishes on display

After that it was food hunting time!! Because coincidentally our friends are also the food-hunting type (always looking for good food) so we had the chance to try the best of Hualien!

This is probably the best food we had during the whole Taiwan trip! Also because we were on our own at all the other cities so we just took (ate) what we were given (found).

I think this is called 蔥油餅 (directly translated as Onion Oil Biscuit) but it is more like a Deep fried pancake roll? Adding egg is a must, and you must tell that you only want the egg half cook, which makes it the best!

We tried other 蔥油餅 in Taipei and the style is different! Those in Taipei were so dry, we missed this one so much. Too bad we were so hungry I didn't manage to get the address, but the next time we go to Hualien, I will definitely call up this friend for another round.

Tapao (take away) some Taiwan pau and brought them to a dessert place!

 Even though it didn't actually go well but we had Taiwan small pau with this Taiwanese dessert 包心份圆, something like Snowflake here but of course Snowflake comes from Taiwan and the originals in Taiwan are still the best (obviously duh)

After dessert we went for more food!! This time is 扁食. Trust me, my Mandarin is terrible. Initally I thought it is some kinda dessert like Snowflake too! And it turned out to be dumplings/wonton. I have never heard people saying 扁食 until that time in Taiwan.

yummy!!!

The symbol of Hualien! Friend said if you have not seen this, you have not been to Hualien~

After all those, we went to play some indoor baseball and did some souvenirs shopping to digest all the food~ Next stop was the night market! Taiwan is so famous for its night market, that we ate night market food everyday. On the last 2 days, I needed rice so badly we had to "hunt" them. One of my Malaysian friend said her Mum was feeling the same when they were in Taiwan, we needed rice/ carbs. No wonder the Taiwanese are so slim >__<

After eating, our friends dropped us at our 2nd night hostel! Luckily it is not very far away. It is  Hualien CYC International Youth Hostel -350NT$- (reviewed here) and what surprised us was it looked like a school! And our friend asked us how did we even managed to find such a place to stay, he was surprise on how cheap it is and how fun we can live with other young adults and share experiences. We exchanged contacts and after doing some budgeting and planning for the next day, we slept. Bed was awfully hard and probably our worst stay.

Stay tuned the continuation posts on Taiwan! :)

** Update: when you arrive Taoyuan International Airport, you will see a tourist information counter at the entrance. First thing, take all the pamphlets and flyers related to your tour. Also take note of the events going on in Taiwan, whether you want to join or avoid those places (crowds).

All kinds of pamplets, the High Speed Rail (HSR) schedule and maps of different regions of Taiwan!

After getting the pamphlets, make sure you register for Taiwan WiFi! Did you know that Taiwan became one of the first countries in the world to offer free Wi-Fi on a mass scale for free? Read on here! For foreigners/ tourists, you will need your passport to register, all can be done at the Information Counter at the airport.

If you are under 30 years old, you can also register for Youth Travel Card (check it out here) which will give you discounts on certain tourism sites! Also for some transports and accommodations. The card is free and you can get it on the spot. If you travel a lot using the metro/bus, do purchase the metro/bus card as well because it is cheaper using the card and buses have no-change policy.

Here is how the foreigner/international youth card looks like:

For Taiwanese youth, the card is blue in colour :)

For more info on my Taiwan itinerary please email meilinxo@gmail.com