Taipei - Taiwan - Day 9 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 9

I spent today going to Wu Fen Pu to get some clothes and stuff for friends back home. Stuff here is really cheap and bargaining is highly recommended. Last minute shopping is good here because of the large cluster of shops here selling fashion items.

Spent about 2 hours here before heading back to Ximen Station at 1pm. Took lunch at one of the cafes near the hotel before hurrying back to the hotel to catch the Freego bus we bought tickets for.

Gotta leave now already, so long, Taiwan... I'll be back someday! Next time I'll plan a round Taiwan Trip. But before that .. Europe.. maybe... :)

Taipei - Taiwan - Day 8 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 8

I spent my 2nd last day for a full day visit to Yehliu, Keelung & Jiufen. Woke up at 7 and had breakfast before heading out to Taipei Main Station Exit 4 to get to the bus terminal to purchase my NT92 Kuo Kuang bus tickets to Yehliu for the Queen's Head Attraction. The ride takes about an hour and on arriving, had to walk in a little to get to the ticketing office.




Use the youth pass here and get tickets at NT25 instead of NT50. The Queen's Head was not as big as I thought it would be, but still it does make a good photo backdrop. The area is not big either but the view of the surroundings is beautiful. Left the place after an hour and went to the bus stop just outside the convenience store to catch the Keelung Bus (NT45). Its just a short 20 min ride back to Keelung but knowing where to alight is a big problem, so just ask the bus driver or the locals where you should drop to change bus to Jiufen.



The bus to Jiufen costs NT45 and will go up the hills to the tourist spot. The place is filled with teahouses, foodstalls and giftshops paddling a lot of interesting stuff. Its nice to look around and experience this hilltop, seaside town which in the past was a gold mining area. Some of the teahouses offer a good outdoor view of the sea, so don't forget to look around before going into one.




I left Jiufen in the evening and took the straight bus back to Taipei. Alighted after a 2 hour bus ride at Dongxiao Fuxing Station opposite the Sogo mall. Although the journey was rather long, I had a good rest and recovered from walking under the hot sun since morning.

Explored around at Ximending area and had dinner before heading back to the hotel for a good night's rest

Taipei - Taiwan - Day 7 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 7

Decided on my plan for the day only after I woke up from a good sleep. Its the shortest day of activities today, as I decided to set off for Taipei Zoo at around 12pm. To get to Taipei Zoo, take the MRT to Zhongxiao Fuxing on the Bannan (Blue) line and change to the Muzha (Brown) line to get to Taipei Zoo Station. Over here, there will be two exits.




Exit 1 leads straight to the entrance of Taipei Zoo while Exit 2 will lead to the Maokung Gondola (Cable Car). The gondola is a good choice if you want a great view and it costs NT50 (EZCard) to get from the bottom to the top. There are only 2 stops along the way but the whole ride takes about 15mins.



At the top, I took the return trip to Taipei Zoo South Station on the gondola and entered the Zoo through its backdoor. Tickets cost NT60 which is really cheap, and can be paid with the EZCard as well.

The zoo is just a place that houses the animals in their exhibits. Attempts to make it just like the animal's habitat do not work very well in my opinion, or maybe there's no such intention at all. If you have been to the Singapore Zoological Gardens, you can skip the zoo here. Otherwise, you can spend sometime here if you have nothing on your itinerary and just want to experience the difference.



The zoo here closes at exactly 5pm and i took the Muzha line back to Technology Building Station and took a 30min walk/navigation to Shida night market. The night market here was extremely crowded, with scooters and people going alongside in tight alleyways. It's one of the better night markets I've experienced here. Tried goose noodles, beef noodles, dumplings and had desert after that. There are also a lot of fashion retail shops.




After that, I took a walk to Taipower Building Station on the Xindian (Green) line and made my way back to Ximen Station, changing trains at CKS Memorial Hall Station.




Ended the day a little early at 9, I was tired from all the walking but still, I think its a good way to explore Taipei on foot (mostly).

Taipei - Taiwan - Day 6 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 6

After coming back from Hualien, I seem to feel that I have planned too many days in Taipei. I suppose I should have planned for 2 days at another city. So anyway, these days I set off for places to visit in the late afternoon.

Spent an hour or so at Ximending to do some shopping for friends back home and stopped by the cinema to get a ticket for a midnight show. The price for a show here is much more expensive than back home in Singapore, NT260 (ticket alone) and NT370(with popcorn and drink) or roughly SGD12 and SGD17 respectively. After I made several purchases, I returned to the hotel to put my stuff before heading out to Shinkong Mitsukoshi to change some currency for the next few days. I found out that most major banks and money exchange services do not provide for SGD to NT exchange. Only major currencies are supported for their system, so I suggest anyone visiting to take note, and at least get a VISA/Mastercard/AE for emergencies.



From Shinkong Mitsukoshi, I took a walk to Taipei 101 and took a lot of pictures on the way. Tickets to the indoor observatory costs NT350, and I got mine for NT300 with my youth pass again. Went up on the world's fastest lift and began my sightseeing in the gallery. An audio kit helps in orientating with the directions and major landmarks. After taking numerous pictures here, I proceeded to get a ticket for the outdoor observatory for NT100. At 6pm I went outdoors for the sunset and while waiting, took many pictures yet again. By the time the sun went down, my camera was loaded with pictures and I left at about 8pm after dinner. Spent sometime in the Sinyi area (Taipei 101 Area) and bought a book from Eslite Bookstore which is opened 24 hours. I think that english books are a lot cheaper here than back home in Singapore. Out on the streets, many things were happening. A dog show just ended, there were many baskers on the streets performing and the streets are still crowded at about 10pm. Perhaps because its a saturday, thats why!









Made my way back to the hotel and freshen up before heading out for the show at 11 odd. Finished at 1am and Ximending at night is rather deserted, good thing my hotel was only a 5 mins walk away.

Taipei - Taiwan - Day 5 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 5

Back at Taipei City after 3 really fun days at Hualien. Today I started my tour of Taipei by visiting the history filled National Palace Museum. Arrived at Shihlin Station on the Danshui (Red) line, exited Exit 1 and took Red Bus No. 30. There're a few other buses at the bus stop that goes to NPM as well and you'll just need to read the signages.



The bus trip didn't take long, just 10 mins to get to the main entrance of the museum where I took the escalator up to the main foyer to purchase the tickets. Regular tickets cost NT160, but with my youth pass, I got a 50% discount.



The place is generally easily navigeable and you should start from the 1st floor up. There's a total of 3 floors of Chinese history on display at a time. I've heard that the museum switches exhibits once every 3 months, so if you have been there before, its likely another trip there will not be wasted. Was told that photography is not allowed, but I did see some people taking random shots here and there. I guess the rule is used to prevent a lot of flashes going on in the exhibition rooms, but there were still some dumb people who did it. Anyway I didn't take any pictures here because I felt that there were too many stuff to capture. Might as well look and learn rather than take the time to frame my shots. The whole visit took me about 4 hours to finish and at the end of it, my legs were killing me.



Then I took the same bus back to Shihlin Station and skipped lunch and went straight for Danshui Station. I wanted to visit Fisherman's Wharf, well known for its Lover's Bridge and the Old Street Night Market. Somehow at Danshui Station, I decided to walk to Fisherman's Wharf. The walk took me past Old Street where the food stalls and gaming parlours were just opening at around 4pm. The Old Street walk takes about just 30mins before the street turns kinda dead for about an hour or so. This part of the walk was rather lonely but because the sea breeze just keeps blowing in, it felt rather nice. Walked past the alleys of the old houses here which I think should be really expensive for the nice sea view and saw models in wedding gowns and suits being photographed. Must be the scenery here.



Reached Fisherman's Wharf after the tiring walk, and just in time for the sunset too. Moved up slowly to the Lover's Bridge as the sun was setting and took some satisfying shots. The bridge and Wharf was filled with people, mostly lovers and families. At the Wharf itself, I bought a ticket for boatride back to Old Street for NT50. The ride was nice and only 20mins, far better than walking.




Back at Old Street, after being informed by the friendly locals on the boatride back, I took a walk on the street behind the main one. Here I bought some fish crackers from Deng Feng Yu Su, and some biscuits from San Xia Bing Dian. Both are really good and highly recommended. The owner of San Xia Bing Dian is an eccentric man though. He likes singing western opera on his mic and will offer you water at the end of the sampling queue. But if you interrupt him to ask a question, he will tell you off. Finished the day off with dinner at Jiao Fu Fang Japanese Restaurant. Really cheap meals here, though the flavour isn't marvelous.

Back at Danshui Station, performers filled the streets displaying their talents and wares. I listened to one performance and ended the day with the train ride back to Ximen.

Hualien - Taiwan - Day 4 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 4

6 of us woke up at 4.15AM this morning to try to catch the Hualien sunrise at ChiXingTan on bike. The night before we ask for directions from Chi but when we went out to the streets, we still got kinda lost. So at 4.35AM, I was thinking whether we would miss the sunrise. The morning sunrise in Hualien was estimated to be around 5.15AM and we were not sure if we could find our way.

So somehow we came to this section of the road where we thought, let's just follow this route. I still do not know how we did it, but soon it looked like we were on our way. The route I took was 5KM, but took about 45mins to complete because there's a section where it was straight uphill for 2KM.

By the time we reached the beach, it was already bright, but thankfully there was a little cloud cover on the horizon, and we managed to sneak it as a sunrise when it appeared over the clouds at 5.21AM. The view was magnificent and the beach was really beautiful as well. If you thought of proposing here, please do. The atmosphere is totally made for it.




The trip back to the hostel was very much faster. Stopped by at a foodstall for some light breakfast of dumplings and cold soya milk. Refreshing! After packing up, I was leaving on the 11.15AM train back to Taipei, took a short 5mins walk to the row of shops opposite the train station to get some local foodstuff for friends back home. Ah, thank the convenience of the hostel as I bought enough to complain about carrying the items around.

As time came for me to leave, I was rather sad to leave behind the memories and new friends I've made here. My advice is to spend 3-4 days at Hualien as it is a really beautiful place and its really enjoyable. Well then, its back to Taipei for some rest.

Hualien - Taiwan - Day 3 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 3

Started at 7.30AM and followed a van that came to pick me up to Qing Liu 青流 Rafting Company. Reached the shopfront after an hour of sleeping on the van with a group of aboriginal youngsters and then spent another 45mins waiting for them to get registered and other groups to arrive before setting off for the Rafting Visitor Center at the Siouguluan River 秀姑峦溪 which runs for 81km through the Siouguluan Mountains and is part of the YuShan National Parks 玉山國家公園. So expect to have great views of the mountains while rafting.

At Rafting Visitor Center, a video will be showned to teach rafters emergency recovery techniques and safety rules to follow. After that it's straight to the action and a short walk to the river to mount our rafts. There were about 800 over rafters altogether, many of them are from the local universities taking their summer break. Rafters are advised to wear pants and long sleeved shirts to protect themselves from the sun.

Rafting took about half a day as we navigated through the mountains, sometimes on rushing white water, stopping for a simple lunch in between. At the end of the river, which goes out into the Pacific Ocean, we were made to capsize our rafts and float along and relax to near the mouth of the river. The sediments at the bottom of the river which was rather low when I was it, was very fine and smooth.

So once I came back to land, I went for a shower at a simple facility and then went back to the hostel with the van that picked me up in the morning. Felt really tired and had a sunburnt feet but still, I thought that the rafting trip was good fun with a good view to offer.

Back at the hostel, some of my hostel mates were planning to visit Liyu(Carp) Lake 鲤鱼潭 which is about 40mins by bus, for an aboriginal festival with fireworks and water fountain show. This was not unlike the musical fountain show back in Singapore at Sentosa. But it was free and the fireworks were great. By the time it was over, we settled for a night market back at the city area tasting different foods and just walking around.

Went back to the hostel at 11PM and Tim(Hostel owner) was not back yet. So most of us hanged around watching Miami Ink on TV, drinking and just talking & asking each other about our countries.

Then Tim came back at close to 1AM with a new signboard, Amigos is now part of Hostelling International.

Hualien - Taiwan - Day 2 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 2

Set off for Hualien on the Chu Kuang Train 莒光号 (NT618 for 2 way tickets) at 7:15AM this morning after depositing my luggage with TS Hotel's Lobby. Took the MRT from Ximen Station to Taipei Main Station for a transfer to the Railway. I've packed only the essentials that I will need for Hualien.

The train arrived at the platform on time and it takes 2Hrs 45Mins to get to Hualien from Taipei. The trains stops at several stops along the way and commuters who seemingly are on their way to work alights. The scenery is great with views of the ocean and mountains along the way. On arrival at exactly 10AM, the trains are very very on schedule, I walked out of Hualien Station to the Hualien County Information Center. It is diagonally to the right of Hualien Station and really easy to notice.



Went inside to check on the tours to Taroko Gorge 太魯閣國家公園 and found out that the half-day tour buses start at 11. Registration can be done anytime before the buses set off. As the guided tours did not include some of the nicer trails, I opted not to take up the package. Took some information brochures of Hualien and Taroko Gorge Trails information and called the hostel(Amigos) that I booked earlier that I have arrived and whether they could pick me up from the Information Center. The hostel owner Tim (小刘) personally came down in his hostel car and brought me back to the hostel. Nice bit of service for a start.

I laid down my stuff at the hostel, and then discussed about how I should go on my tour of Hualien with the co-owner, Chi (杨淇). Told her I had the option of joining a half-day tour and skipping certain trails, or go on foot, which should be done from early in the morning because the only public bus back to Hualien City leaves the Gorge at about 6PM. Not to mention that the entire gorge trail covers almost 20KM. And that's not including distance to explore each mini trail along the Gorge.

She suggested to me that I could book a private cab to bring me around but that would cost NT2000 for a half-day booking. Then she ask me to go have lunch first and she would try to settle the tour issue for me. So meanwhile I took lunch and by the time I got back 20mins later, Chi told me Tim could do the guided tour as he was free that day. The cost? NT600 for a half-day tour. But that's because other hostel mates will join me in the tour. Not bad, share the cost, get to know people and brought around by the hostel owner, quite a good deal for NT600.

And so we set off for Taroko Gorge at 12.30 with Tim speeding down the small winding coastal road in his Nissan X-Trail. As the road in Taroko Gorge is having works at the Tunnel of Nine Turns , we had to be there by 1pm (on every hour there is a 10mins window when works would stop temporarily) to be let through. Made it in time and went on our way to the Bai Yang Trail.

Stopped for a short while at the street market area for some snacks and this time I could smell the Smelly Tofu from far away. Decided to try it since the one I had was too tame. I regretted at the first bite as the smell was overwhelming me. It smells like a sewer marinated tofu. Luckily I had my travelmates with me to help finish it up. But all of us agreed that this smelly tofu tops most of the other ones we had before. Tops in terms of smell not taste. After snacking, each of us seemed to have a sewer in our stomachs and it was quite gross actually. And so we set off once again.

The Bai Yang trail has got one of the better views and is more quiet than the others because tour buses do not come here. The trail is about 2KM and at the end of it are amazing views of a great waterfall(horsetail I think).






From the Bai Yang Trail, we drove to the CiMu Bridge 慈母桥, which is actually a bridge that Chiang Kai-Shek commissioned to built in memory of his mother. There's nothing much to see here except for an overhead view of the ongoing Liwu River 立雾溪.



Then we proceeded to the main attraction of the Tunnel of Nine Turns 九曲洞. In this trail of 1.9KM, you get to see upclose the marble formations that have been formed over a 100 million years. If you observe closely you might see shapes of different animals or human figures in on the very large surface of marble.




Was supposed to visit Swallow Grotto 燕子口, but decided to skip it as we got stuck at the end of the Tunnel of Nine Turns due to the roadworks. Missed the hourly passing by a few minutes and had to wait for 40mins for the next window. So we drove straight towards Eternal Spring Shrine 長春祠 and briefly stopped there to admire the sights. It was getting late by this time and we decided to leave for the Shakadang Trail.



Shakadang basically means 'tooth' in local aboriginal language and the trail was given the name at the beginning because a native tribesman shouted "SHAKADANG" when he first saw the river. Later on park authorities renamed it as the Secret Valley Trail because that's what most visitors call it, but with time reverted back to Shakadang as its name. This 4.5KM trail , I felt, was the nicest of those that I went to. The blue water lake in the middle of huge mountains cannot go wrong as a picture perfect moment somehow. Visitors to this trail can go down into the lake and soak in & enjoy the cool blue lake water. If you keep still while in the water, you will be tickled by small fishes that nibble at your body/legs/hands. The guided tours do not bring tourists here, so you can be assured that this trail won't be too crowded. Remember to dress right if you wanna enjoy the water.





Lazed around this relaxing trail before setting off for Seven Star Beach 七星潭 for sunset. But by the time we got there, the sun was already down and it was just kinda dark to see anything. So we took our time and relaxed on the pebble beach while looking overhead for low flying airliners taking off and landing at the Hualien Airport.



Headed back to the hostel at 7.30PM and took a bath before heading out for dinner at a nearby street. Then on the way back, I saw a roadside stall selling oyster vermicilli and promptly handed NT30 over for a small takeaway portion. I ate the delicious vermicilli and then hanged around the rest & relax area. Spoke to a few hostelites and watched TV before heading to bed after a long day.

Water Rafting tommorrow!

Taipei - Taiwan - Day 1 - 9 Days Backpacking

Day 1

Arrived at Taipei - Chiang Kai Shek Terminal 1 at about 6pm today after a 5 hour flight on Jetstar from Singapore. Check out was smooth but I must admit, the terminal looks really old and boring. At the arrival hall, if you're between the ages of 15 and 30, you can turn right at the arrival gates to the Tourist Service Counter to register as a youth traveller to enjoy a loads of discounts throughout Taiwan. You'll receive a rubber tag and a small booklet detailing where discounts can be enjoyed. Remember to get your maps here as well!





If you're doing backpacking, I also recommend getting yourself a prepaid calling card (cheapest value for 10 days should do) or rent a phone if you do not own a GSM phone so that you can call/enquire hotels/hostels/places of interest for much cheaper rates than globalroaming charges.

To get the the bustling city of Taipei, at the other end of the terminal, there are espress bus ticketing counters.



A one way ticket to the city costs a mere NT135 and so much cheaper than a cab which would average about NT1000. Several bus companies to choose from but i took the Freego (飞狗客运) one as it was nearest to the exit at that moment. A very comfortable way to travel with nice leather seats and head cushions. Depending on where you are going to drop off, there might be a shuttle change to one of the smaller buses after you reach the city. Otherwise, the buses will drop guests off near most hotels in Taipei City. The trip will take about 45mins to an hour.



I booked my stay at TS Hotel (大顺大饭店) which was having a half-price promotion making it comparable to some hostels in Taipei but with a different level of comfort. TS Hotel offers their smallest room at about 60SGD compared to a Single Private Room at a hostel (SGD50). Of course if you take a shared hostel room with several others, it would be much cheaper (roughly 25SGD for 7 Bed Dorm). However, the hotel room is a couple room - which works out to be SGD30 if you are a travelling couple.

And so after unpacking some stuffs, I took a 3 min walk from TS Hotel to Ximen Station and headed to Taipei Main Station (MRT, High Speed Rail & the Railway HUB) to get my 2 way tickets to Hualien where I planned my next 2 days. 2 way tickets cost NT618 with the return ticket dates flexible (you need to change the return tickets at the destination station for a ticket with date & time).

Purchase an EZCard at the MRT for travel on the Taipei MRT system and some buses. NT500 is the minimum amount and should last through the trip. Topups are available in NT100 denominations.

Went to Jiantan Station from Taipei Main Station to kickstart my visits to the famed night markets of Taipei, starting from Shihlin Night Market. I tried the Smelly Tofu 臭豆腐(NT30) which didn't quite smell, Cuttlefish Broth 花枝羹(NT40) which tasted rather weird, Egg-Oyster 蚝蛋(NT40) that was too starchy & Big Fried Chicken with Spices 大鸡排(NT45) which is really good.




Then I tried the GuanCaiBan 官财板(NT40) which literally translates to OFFICIAL-WEALTH-PLANK, not sure what it means though I have my own views. EDIT: 官财板(OFFICIAL-WEALTH-PLANK) is just a nicer written version of 棺材板 (COFFIN PLANK). Not bad tasting except i don't really like too much mayonaise. But i think this is unique to Taiwan, as I've never seen it anywhere else before.



After eating so much, can't help feeling full. But I was still itching for a little more and so I settled for a little Shaved Ice with Fruits 水果冰(NT80). Not exactly little actually, but really it was really good that I managed to stuff it down my already full stomach. This you gotta taste for yourself to judge if I exaggerated!

Though I was really full, but I was not beaten. Not yet at least. I've been wanting to try the FEN YUAN DOU HUA (NT25) 粉圆豆花 which is a type of sweetened beancurd topped with starchy balls served either hot or cold. I bought a takeaway for later when I needed to start packing for my little roadtrip to Hualien.