Hualien and Taroko Gorge

I booked this Taiwan trip without much planning.  I was torn between doing a comprehensive round-the-island tour or just visit a few places.  I had different feedbacks from different people.  I finally decided that I will allocate 8 days then figure out where I was going to go.  The major places to visit in Taiwan are Taipei, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Hualien.  While in Taipei I found out that I have enough places to visit to keep me busy for at least 7 days.  Finally, I decided that I was going to use 2 days to visit Hualien and save Kaohsiung and Tainan for a later visit.

The High-Speed Railroad (HSR) in Taiwan runs north-south from Taipei to Kaohsiung.  It does not run east along the coast to Hualien.  The journey from Taipei to Hualien takes about 2 hours and a ticket costs 440 New Taiwan Dollar (TWD) or about US$14.50.  It was a very nice pleasant ride through the countryside.  The trains were clean and the passengers were all well-behaved.

Why Hualien?  The main attraction here is the Taroko Gorge.  I booked a 1-night stay at an apartment about 15 minutes away from the train station.  When I arrived at the Hualien train station I found out that there was a shuttle bus leaving in about 30 minutes on a route through the area.  This Hualien Shuttle Route takes you to the outskirts of Hualien, through farms, recreation areas, old sugar factory, etc.  My plan was to take a similar shuttle route through the Taroko Gorge the next day but I want to see what's around Hualien.

Taipei Train Station

Danongdafu Forest Park

This is where the bus turns around on the shuttle

It took me some time to find my AirBnB apartment.  A young couple runs the apartment remotely.  You have to call them ahead of time and they meet you at the apartment.  Early the next morning i walked 15 minutes to the train station.  Next to it is the shuttle bus that takes you through the Taroko Gorge.  It is a hop-on hop-off bus, costing 240 TWD or about US$8.  There are about 10 stops.  You stop wherever you want and you wait for the next bus that comes along.  I stopped at 3 or 4 stops because the bus runs about every hour and if you miss one, you have to wait for almost another hour. Everything was going smooth until about half-way through the gorge, there was construction and traffic was backed up.  That threw the bus schedule out of whack and at the last stop, I had to wait for almost 2 hours before getting back to the train station.

Crossing the bridge to the temple

A nun asking for donations

Shuttle bus

Shakadang Trail

Temple on top of the hill

Pagoda at Tianxiang

A different perspective of the pagoda

View from the top of the temple

Eternal Spring Shrine

I finally arrived back in Hualien at about 6:30pm.  I quickly walked to the train station and buy a ticket for the next train to Taipei.  Later that evening I took a train to the Taipei airport, went to the Plaza Premium Lounge to take a shower, rested and took an early morning flight to Hong Kong, where I will meet my friends Jimmy and Eric.

Outside Taipei

Most tourists to Taiwan spend most of their time in Taipei, the capital and biggest city.  However, there are many interesting places to go outside Taipei city itself.  I have the luxury of having no fixed schedule and plenty of time to explore.  When I did my research on Taiwan I found out about the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle.  This is a very creative way for tourists to see different parts of the country on their own and using mostly public transportation.  It is extremely affordable, since it uses mostly public transportation.

For example, on the Crown Northern Coast Line that I was on, I bought a 1-day Taipei City Pass for 180NT (New Taiwan Dollar), which is about US$6.  It allowed me to take the MRT (Taipei Subway) and the shuttle buses all day.  It took me to the northern part of Taipei, called New Taipei City.  Starting from anywhere in Taipei, I took the Red line to the end, Tamsui Station.  At the bus station about 50 meters away I found my tourist shuttle van.  The driver was going on lunch break but he told me that I could take the 862 bus which follows the same route.  It goes along the northern coast of Taiwan. There are many interesting places to stop on the way.  My first stop was the Fugui Cape Lighthouse, the Jingshan Old Street, and finally, the Yehliu Geopark, a place with some interesting rock formations.

The northern coast of Taiwan

Cape Fugui Lighthouse

A beautiful and isolated part of northern Taiwan

Jinshan Old Street

A shrine next to the fishing village

Yehliu Geopark

A popular spot for tourists

A Fishing Boat near Yehliu Park

 Another interesting route is the Muizha-Pingxi route.  It takes you through some hilly terrains and towns where you can hike, walk around some old towns, make some wishes on sky lanterns, etc.  I did not take this bus route but my friend Bang and I took the MRT to Taipei Zoo where we took a ride on the Maokong Gondola.  Getting off at the top we visited some local restaurants, saw some tea plantations and even get to do some tea tasting.  We ended up in the town of Pingxi where many tourists were releasing sky lanterns with their favorite wishes.

Maokong Gondola

Street food vendors

Tea tasting House

Tea Plantation

Lanterns hanging in front of souvenir shop

Families releasing sky lanterns

Fortunes hanging from bridI encouraged

If you are visiting Taipei I encourage you to visit areas outside Taipei.  There is much to offer.  The residents are super-nice and the infrastructure is superb.  Food is always delicious.  Find the right Tourist Information Center and get as much information as you and start exploring on your own.  You will love it.

Taiwan Night Markets

Night markets are the social fabric of Taiwan.  It's a way of life there.  Local residents love going to night markets to shop, eat and meet their friends and families.  Every night market offers different things.  Some have more food; others sell clothes, household stuff, etc.  On the map of Taipei, you see night markets all over.  I visited several of them while in Taipei.  The variety of food is astounding.  Below are some pictures of them.

Shilin Night Market

Selling clothes and knick-knacks at Shilin

BBQ Octopus

Roast pork is popular here

Keelung Night Market

In Ximen area

Ninxhia Night Market

BBQ Squid

Very popular oyster omelette restaurant

Drinks made from winter melon

Shaved ice dessert

A bun with meat inside, like a hamburger

near National Taiwan University

Saxophonist at the Hualian Night Market

Beautiful Taiwan - A Nice Place to Visit

My last visit to Taiwan was in 1985, about 33 years ago.  My memories from that visit and the one before that was dirty and smelly toilets, incessant honking by taxis, betel nut spit on the sidewalks, etc.  They were memorable visits for the wrong reasons.

Since I've been coming to Asia almost every year for the last 10 years, I've been trying to include a return visit to Taiwan.  On this trip to Singapore I scheduled an 8-day trip, not being sure of where I'd go and what I want to see.  I was thinking of a more comprehensive round-the-island tour but after talking to several people, I was told that only Taipei and the surrounding areas is worth spending much time.

I had many friends from Taiwan but I've either lost touch with them or they have moved away from Taiwan.  One friend I have in Taipei is Phung Bang, who was teaching me Vietnamese when I was living in Hanoi.  He was offered a scholarship to study for a Master's degree in Civil Engineering at the National Taiwan University, the top-rated university in Taiwan.  After finishing his Master's he was offered another scholarship to do his PhD, working on an Earthquake Engineering project.

Bang (the "a" pronounced like in father) was very generous with his time.  He met me at my hotel when I arrived the first evening, with his 2-year old daughter.  We went out to dinner in the Ximen area where the Diary of Taipei hotel is located.  Bang recommended that I stay here because it's a very lively area.  Many of the streets in the area are closed off to vehicular traffic.  Throngs of young and old, locals and tourists, walk around the area.  It's like a night market but not a night market.  It's simply a pedestrian mall with lots of shops and restaurants, instead of street vendors.

Night scene at the Ximen Pedestrian Mall

One of the gateways to the mall during the day

Ximen MRT Station, Exit 6, near the hotel

A very popular noodle house, always crowded all day

Top on my list to visit in Taipei is the National Palace Museum.  When the Nationalist Government under Chiang Kai-Shek fled China in 1949,  they took with them some of the best Chinese artifacts from about 6,000 years of Chinese history.  It is considered the best museum on Chinese history.  I've planned to spend as much time as I needed there.  I ended up spending about 6-7 hours.

Top attraction: cabbage carved from jade

A carving that looks almost like a piece of meat

One of many beautiful porcelain vases from the Ming Dynasty

A porcelain spoon with sanskrit writings either from the Ming or Ching Dynasty

A bronze vase from the Qin Dynasty

Other interesting places to visit are:  Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, Taipei 101, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial and night markets.  Night markets are very popular in Taiwan.  I plan to write a separate posts on this subject later.  The Chiang Ka-Shek Memorial sits in a park in central Taipei.  Within the park are the National Theater and the National Concert Hall.  The memorial pays tribute to Chiang Kai-Shek, the former president of Taiwan, who moved the National Government from mainland China to the island of Taiwan and established a government-in-exile there.

CKS Memorial

Statue of CKS inside the memorial

Changing of the Guard

The National Theater

Near the memorial is a local market that I happened upon when getting off the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit, the subway system in Taipei) station.  This market sells many local foodstuffs.

Cooked foodstuffs

Braised Pork Belly

Fried crullers

Preserved foodstuffs

Vendor selling greens

Chinese Bacon

I also spent some time traveling outside the Taipei city center.  I will talk about those places in another post.