hi all, it has been quite awhile since i posted anything. my wife and i just came back from a trip to taiwan from oct 25 to nov 3. a total of 9 days. i had been planning for this trip since june and it took me a total of 3 months, on and off. why took so long? i will explain later. for now, i will share my experiences and how to travel in taiwan. i will structure this blog in the following manner:
1. transport, time to travel, how to book
2 place of interest, how to get there, time to travel, cost, what to eat
3. how to get back from the place of interest.
most blog i read during my research offered lots of similar information about what to eat and see, but leaving out the details of how to get there. therefore, i hope this 9 days taiwan travel will help those who are planning their free-and-easy travel to taiwan.
before i begin, there are 3 types of train in taiwan,
1. 高铁 hsr (high speed rail), which is the super fast train travelling along the east coast of taiwan. you are advised to book online in advance for early-bird discounts
http://www.railway.gov.tw/en/
2. 火车 the normal train, you can book online as well to ensure you get tickets for desired train timings
http://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/English/e_index.aspx
3. 捷运 the mrt, which provides convenient transportation only within taipei.
day 1 - taipei
1. transport, time to travel, how to book
we took a night flight from Singapore on jetstar and reached taoyuan airport at 6am. prior to our trip, we booked our accommodation at hotel puri at ximending. the hotel is very near to ximen mrt station (
https://maps.google.com.sg/maps?q=hotel+puri+ximending&rlz=1C1ASUT_enSG499SG499&aq=1&sugexp=chrome,mod%3D0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wl).
there is no direct train from taoyuan airport to ximen mrt station. but there are a few options to travel there,
a. take a bus or cab to the nearest taoyuan hsr -> taipei hsr -> get out from hsr -> take mrt from taipei to ximending.
b. take a cab from airport to ximending (about NT1000）
 |
| bus stop no5. for bus no.1819 |
c. (this was what we did) go 1 floor below the arrival hall at taoyuan airport, you will see a bus station. go to the ticketing counter to get your ticket for bus no.1819. go to
bus stop no.5 and take
bus no. 1819 (cost NT25), it took about 45mins to taipei main station (actually, after bus no.1819 arrived at taipei train station, there is a feeder bus to ximending, but as we arrived at taipei too early, the feeder bus service was not available). from taipei main station, take the mrt to ximen station
(cost NT15) then walk to the hotel (via exit 6).
at the taipei main station (or any train station), you will find a ticket machine (there is english option) like the one in the picture.
 |
| mrt ticket machine |
you can get a mrt card (EASYCARD) which will cost you NT500(which is also the stored value). this will allow you to travel around their mrt. this machine will also allow you to change from your big notes to smaller denominations!! it is advisable to change your NT1000 notes to NT500 and below as their food usually cost you less than NT50 per meal. oh, and you can top up your EASYCARD using this machine too.
 |
| hotel puri |
after exiting from ximen station exit 6, you got to walk about 5 mins and you will see hotel puri.
there is an easier way to get to hotel puri, they can arrange a cab to pick you up from airport at NT1200.
2.1 place of interest, how to get there, time to travel
you can place your luggage at the hotel. it is relatively safe though they deposit it at their lobby. the staff is very friendly and do approached them if you need any help. there are free coffee and biscuit and a pc with internet access, and also free wifi.
since it is the first day, take it easy, oriented yourself and get familiar with the environment especially their transportation.
 |
| taipei mrt with place of interest |
it will be good to be able to speak a bit of chinese, at least the landmark or place of interest you are going.
a. taipei 101
take mrt from ximen station to taipei city hall station(along blue line, 11 stops).
 |
| taipei city hall mrt station |
get out from exit a2 and you will see a bus station. you can hope onto any of the bus that goes to desitination c2, a or b1, which is actually different drop off point at taipei 101.
go inside and there will be sign guiding you to ticket sales counter. it cost NT250 per pax to visit their exhibition at the top floor of taipei 101. you will be taken to the top by the world fastest lift. and once at the top, enjoy the view. remember to get a automated guided tour walkie talkie from the visitor counter. follow what the walkie talkie said and you get to understand the formation of the entire taipei city. you can spend about 1.5 to 2 hours there. if the weather is good, they will allow you to go another floor higher, which is a open air roof top.
after taipei 101, you might wanna check out the shopping malls in the building. it is an explosion of major league brands... but it is very expensive.
as you can see from the map, there are a number of shopping malls around, so you can possibly spend another hour or 2 walking around.
3. how to get back from the place of interest.
just walk back to where the bus drop you.
i spent the rest of the day back at the hotel to sort out the transportation and timing. those train tickets that you book online, can be collected using 2 methods:
a. from the train station sales office (make sure you go the the web-booking counter, it is usually at the left end of the sales counter)
b. or you can collect from these stores: 1. 7-11, 2. family mart.
i collected my train tickets from 7-11 store, it is just round the corner of hotel puri. follow these simple steps:
a. readied all the receipts of the train ticket receipts that you purchased online.
b. go the the ibon machine in the 7-11.
(if you do not know how to operate the machine, get the assistant to help you)
c. select the 购票
d. enter your go receipt number, check the two-way check box
e. enter your return receipt number
f. enter your passport or identification card number
g. the screen will show you the summary of the train number and date etc.
h. print this summary.
i. collect the printed summary and go to the counter and pay NT20 for them to process the printed summary tickets and give you the actual train tickets.
otherwise, you cam go to any train station and look for web-online counter and show them the printed information of the train ticket receipts that you purchased online, this will save you the NT20 processing fees at 7-11.
 |
| ibon ticket machine |
day 2 - tainan
1. transport, time to travel, how to book
go to ximen mrt station, and transit to taipei main station. from there, get out of the mrt station (not out of the building) and look for hsr signage. note that the ticket issued from ibon machine contains the cabin and seat number. my advice is, if this is the first time you took hsr, do get there earlier as there are quite a few platform each heading different destination. and hsr leave at exact timing.
there are service in the hsr selling snacks, meals and drinks. but you can always pack something to eat at the train station. oh, there are toilets in the hsr.
upon arrival at tainan hsr train station, you will need to exit the hsr exit and proceed to take train from shalun to tainan. please note that shalun train station is just beside hsr station, less than 5 mins walk.you can use easycard for this train. the train frequency is about an hour, so try not to miss the timing. the journey is about 30 mins.
once you get to tainan train station, you have to walk about 15mins to la plaza hotel at cheng gong road. if you are not sure about the bearings, get a cab. but tell the driver you are staying at tian xia jiu dian (天下酒店） instead of la plaza hotel.
2.1 place of interest, how to get there, time to travel
the first stop is chi tan lou (赤碳楼). it is a historical site for a famous chinese leader zheng chenggong. you can ask for direction from the recpetion counter. it is about 20 mins walk from the hotel. the entrance fee is NT100. you can explore all the various towers. much of the place had been renovated and therefore, the historic architectural construction of the towers and buildings was replaced with new materials. you can spend about 45 to 60mins there. i would only give it a 1.5/5 stars. i was hoping to see some real historical artifacts but instead greeted with all the replicas.
2.2 place of interest, how to get there, time to travel
 |
| shedding ice cream desert |
 |
| 义丰阿川冬瓜茶 |
located beside chi tan lou , is a desert shop (hanjing popo) . they sell shedding ice cream desert. for NT90 dollars you can have a wide selection of desert to choose from. not far from chi tan lou, you cannot missed a queue for melon tea(义丰阿川冬瓜茶), it cost NT20/cup. it is quite a refreshing drink. you can walk around the street there, which is famous for a various of chinese temples.
about 30 mins walk from chi tan lou, you can visit the Confucius temple. it isn't a temple, but rather a desert school with gardens. during the old times, some followers of the Confucius study opens up this school and studied there. it cost NT25/pax to enter.
there isn't much to see except for some artifacts of some musical instrument, which they use for celebration for the Confucius memorial day.
 |
| garden at Confucius temple |
2.3 place of interest, how to get there, time to travel
 |
| 花园夜市 |
about 30 mins walk from the hotel, you can visit the famous huayuan night market (花园夜市).
 |
| fried pumpkin store |
i suggest you take a cab from your hotel rather than walk. the map that we got from the hotel is not very accurate and we missed a turn which landed us in some housing estate. a wide variety of food is available. you must try the fried pumpkin. it is sweet and crispy. please note that they are only open from fri to sun night. you might wanna dress light as the crowd there is terrible.
day 3 - tainan
2.1 place of interest, how to get there, time to travel
 |
| bus stop opposite tainan train station |
 |
| resting point |
opposite the tainan train station, there are 2 bus stop. look for bus no.99 which will bring you to
qigu salt mountain(七股盐山). please note that bus no.99 interval is an hour, try not to miss the timing if you get there early and decide to go for breakfast before the bus come. the timing stated at the bus stop is fairly accurate. do bring along a bottle of water as the bus journey is about 1.5 hours. the bus might stop at a resting place.
hmm... this resting place was once a salt mining town where a small population used to stay there. the place to nearly deserted and rundown. at the resting place, you can gho visit some strange museum in which they display some dried up fishes in a sealed jars or tanks (weird....).
 |
| resting point |
 |
| dried fish |
 |
| salt mining tools |
do ask the bus driver who drop you off at the resting place, the arrival time for bus no.99 to qigu salt mountain. we waited for about an hour before the bus to qiqu salt mountain arrived. our bus happened to have a tour guide (free) who explained the history and attractions, but only in chinese language.
all in all, it took us 2 hours to get to qigu salt mountain, and i won't say it was all worth it. basically, the place was once rich in salt and does contain some historic values, but now, all you cam see is just some food stores, a big departmental store, a tiny kid amusement park, and a salt mountain(20 meter tall and 40 meter wide).
 |
| horse riding at qigu |
 |
| boat peddling at qigu |
 |
food store at qigu
|
 |
| salt museum at qigu |
 |
| amusement park at qigu |
 |
| amusement park at qigu |
there are no speciality food that can only be found at qigu, whatever the food store is selling,you can get it anywhere else. so while you are there, do climb up the salt mountain and from the top, you can practically see the whole of qigu salt mountain area. this place can keep you
busy for about 1.5hours. if you bring a kid, the amusement park can keep you busy for awhile.
there is a taiwan salt museum about a 200 meter away from the salt mountain, it has the history of salt mining in taiwan, and it is the only salt museum in taiwan, but i give it a miss.
2.2 place of interest, how to get there, time to travel
on your bus trip back from qigu salt mountain (bus no.99), you can ask the driver to drop you at an ping old house (安平树屋). it is about 45 mins ride from the salt mountain. look out for a street map at the an ping old house bus stop, spot the location for an ping gu bao (安平古堡). it should be about 20 mins walk from the bus stop. it is a old fort converted to tourism area. the entrance fee is NT25/pax.
the old fort packed some canons and old tower where you can climb up and enjoy the view of an ping. there are some antic stuff and history lesson for you to learn. this place can keep you
busy for about an hour.
going back, you have to go back to where you came from, the an ping old house bus stop. there are a various of buses going back to tainan city, so you need not wait specifically for bus no.99.
back at the city, you can shop at the biggest department store in tainan, shinkong mitsukoshi (新光三越). it will take you about an hour or 2 to tour the entire store.
day 4 - taichung
1. transport, time to travel, how to book
 |
| cityinn hotel plus |
from tainan to taichung, we traveled by hsr. try to get the earlier train as we are going to sun moon lake(日月潭, http://www.sunmoonlake.gov.tw/EN/02000465.aspx), the bus journey will take you about an hour. we stay at the cityinn hotel plus - taichung station branch. wow.. the hotel room are real tiny. but they make it up with friendly staff and most important, there is a washing machine!! you might want to wash all your clothes after the previous 3 exhausting days.
once you exit from the taichung train station, you can take bus no.6933 and drop at section 2 fuxing road. we took the bus but drop off at wrong address and also, the bus driver won't be able to tell you where cityinn hotel plus is. we took a cab to the hotel and it cost NT100. so if you choose to take a cab from taichung hsr station to the hotel, it might probably cost you about NT130. you might wanna check out how to read these chinese words because the cabby does not know any cityinn hotel plus.
2.1 place of interest, how to get there, time to travel
 |
| gancheng |
once we deposit the luaggages at the hotel, we waste no time and take a cab to gancheng(干城), cost NT110. at gancheng, you can choose from a varity of itenery for your trip at sun moon lake. we chosen a itenery which consist of the followings:
a. trip to and fro sun moon lake,
b. a boat trip cross the sun moon lake,
c. a cable car trip up and down the mountain top,
d. and unlimited bus ride round sun moon lake.
cost NT660/pax.
 |
| sun moon lake dock |
the trip to sun moon lake might be able to fill up your whole day iternery if you like to take it slow and easy. else we suggest you spend 4 hours at sun moon lake and then go other farm areas. there are cab at gancheng who will take you to and fro sun moon lake, the price might seems unreasonable at first, but if you want to see more of taichung, a cab is much faster and no frill way to travel. but of course, the fare you paid to cabby will not include boat and cable car far.
 |
| oversee sun moon lake |
to be honest, there isn't much to do at sun moon lake. i believe the lake does look beautiful on a sunny day, but it was not so when i was there. it is just grey cast over the sky. the place is really overcrowded with tourists (whom we are part of it too). the tickets you bought at gancheng will entitled you to a boat ride to a very tiny island just across the dock. the ride is about 15mins. now at the island, you can climb to the top of a small mountain and oversee the whole of sun moon lake.
the boat will come to the small island every 15 mins. the boat will continue the journey to the other side of the lake.
there are some shop selling food and souvenir shop where you can do a little shopping.
if you bought the ticket at gancheng, you can catch their cable car free to the topmost part of the sun moon lake. the cable car was worth all the trip here. the view is fantastic. there is a nine-cultural-village at the midpoint station and you can make a visit if you got time to spare. you must drop off at the last station and use the same ticket to board the cable car back to the main station. back
