This is written from the perspective of a young couple (me and my lovely girlfriend) of a Western background. The primary reason for our trip was to experience the city, eat (alot), and sightsee.
Where we went:
- Taipei
- Sun Moon Lake
- Taroko Gorge
- Yehliu Geological Park (where the "Queen's head" is)
A word of caution about most of the places we went to: they are likely to be packed with large tour groups that can sometimes behave quite rudely. Unfortunately, you will just have to put up with it. This is an unavoidable fact of travel life these days at major tourist sites, though going early/off peak can obviously limit the impact. Oh, and get used to the smell of stinky tofu (it tastes just like it smells and smells just like it sounds!).
Taipei
First stop - Taipei. The plan was to use Taipei as a base and do day trips to the major sights around the north of the country. We stayed in Ximending for the whole of our 1 week trip (except for one night spent at Sun Moon Lake). Ximending is pretty cool as it always has a very lively atmosphere. This area is known as the "young and hip" part of the city and this becomes clearly evident from about 6pm onwards each night when the area is crawling with young people. The place is bright, loud and packed and reminds me of Tokyo so if you like this sort of thing, this is the area to stay in.
Just outside Ximending station
Food Food is good, plentiful and cheap. Around Ximending, there are plenty of Chinese and Taiwanese style eateries and also plenty of Japanese ones too, on top of the street/hawker food that is available in the afternoons and nights. The street vendors are pretty funny - it seems they don't have licences to operate so you will often see them scurrying around to avoid cops - hysterical. If you're craving a western fix, there are also some burger and steak joints around, plus your usual Maccas, KFC, and even a place that does Philly cheese steaks. We ate at some pretty cool places (mostly local ones) so if you want recommendations, please feel free to drop a comment and i'll respond. Also , a good blog we came across was hungry girl's guide to Taipei - pure gold. http://hungryintaipei.blogspot.com.au/
However, you can't go past the night markets in Taipei - they are literally a food lover's paradise. More on this later.
Shopping There are alot of shops selling all sorts of stuff in the Ximending area, but mostly clothing and shoes. We didn't really come to Taiwan to shop so the comments will be a bit light on here. However, as a comparison to Hong Kong, I would say (broad brush comment) that shoe shopping is better in Taiwan (i'm talking sport shoes, runners, walking shoes etc as prices seemed to be cheaper and the range the same). Clothes shopping seems better in Hong Kong. Electronics are good in Taipei if you can live with the annoyance of having to use a Taiwan charger back in your home country. For electronics, this is good guide to main shopping areas.
http://www.mobilemag.com/2010/06/10/a-guide-to-shopping-for-electronics-in-taipei/
Sights in Taipei
Taipei 101 The world's tallest building for about 6 years, this is on most peoples' itineraries - you know you're in Taipei when your standing in front of this building. Its easy enough to get to with a short walk from the Taipei City Hall MRT station. There is a large shopping mall at the bottom stocking alot of luxury brands. If you shop here, make sure you fill out a tax refund slip so you save on the VAT (about 5%) - see the concierge about it. The building itself is pretty impressive and the view from the observational floor is good, but is apparently often obscured by smog so try and go on a clear day. Make sure you pick up an audio guide (from memory, it's free) as this will give you some interesting info on the city and surrounding areas. The outdoor observational deck is OK, but nothing special so don't be bummed out if it's closed due to high winds or something. Also, the damper ball thing is pretty cool, anyone who's seen that Engineering Connections episode on Taipei 101 will know what i'm talking about.
The damper up close and personal
We budgeted about 2.5 hours for the whole thing, getting there at about 5pm so we could catch the sunset. This was enough time, accounting for the wait to get in the lift and get out - getting out takes a while as they force you to walk through the massive gift shop and then you gotta line up again for the lift. Free wi-fi access eases the pain a bit.
On the bottom floor, there is a restaurant called Din Tai Fung which is world renowned for its xiaolongbao (or XLB's for us overabbreviating Gen-Ys) and people seem to make a big deal about this place so we had to try it (the HK branch has a Michelin star). This is on the lower ground level of Taipei 101 (where all the food is), and you gotta walk all the way to the back to find it. Surprisingly, we showed up at 5pm (just before going up to the observational deck) and were able to make a booking for 7:30. Glad we did as the line was about 30 people deep when we came back down. Whilst this restaurant chain did originate in Taipei, the branch at Taipei 101 is not the original. The original one is located on Xinyi road. Nevertheless, the XLB's did not disappoint - they are pretty darn good and there is whole method to eating them which is fully explained in the menu - making me feel uber enlightened after reading it.
The service here deserves a special mention - the wait staff are very attentive. I would describe the ambience as like a slightly upscale Chinese restaurant that isn't flashy - you won't be asked to wear only enclosed shoes or collared shirts fellas. Prices are good. We did we find another place that I think is better though - thanks hungrygirl. Try San Yuan Chinese Cuisine Xiaolongbao located on the lower ground floor of Bellavita hotel (right next to the Taipei City Hall MRT station). Other than the XLB's, the shrimp and pork shumai and chocolate dumplings are definitely something special...
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall The first thing that struck me about this place was the size - it is way bigger than I thought it was. Theres something like 80 stairs up to the front, supposed to represent his age when he died or something. The climb up the stairs was strangely satisfying and you are rewarded with a nice view from the top back down the walkway and the gate all the way at the start. For the disabled (or lazier folk among us) there is an elevator - go around the side and enter through the ground floor and take the lift all, way up.
Inside is a huge seated bronze sculpture of the man himself and posted at the front are a couple of guards whose jobs are to stand there completely still and look menacing (much like those foot guards at the front of Buckingham Palace). We didn't see this, but apparently they do a cool gun flipping thing when they swap positions (probably every hour but not sure, ask someone there). There is an exhibition hall on the levels below the one with the statue, but when we ventured down to have a look, there wasn't a heck of alot going on. Consequently, you can knock off this site in about an hour or so.
Guard at the entrance to the Hall.
Apparently the "wedding street" that is near the memorial hall is pretty famous and people come from all over the place to get wedding photos taken there (if its good enough for Ashley of Bachelorette fame, its good enough for us - on a side note, as if it wasn't obvious she was gonna pick JP - he was the only one she actually dressed up as a groom!).
Maokong Gondola This is a gonodola that goes up into the hills surrounding Taipei. The area itself is known for its tea and teahouses. The zoo is also located here in this area. The view from the top of the gondola is nice (on a clear day) with views of the surrounding hills and bits of Taipei city. The atmosphere is very peaceful once you get away from the crowds. We found this to be a good afternoon activity and spent about 4 hours in total, including tea. The gondola itself takes you all the way to the top of the hills (with a number of stops along the way, including the zoo). The ride is OK, with good shots of scenery to be had including a few cool ones of temples built into the hillside. But the ride does take a while on account of all the ups and downs over the hills.
Tea at Maokong
Shilin Night Market The King of night markets in Taipei according to the Lonely Planet (whilst we didn't have time to visit any other night markets to substantiate this claim, I reckon it would be pretty hard to top!). There is a mind boggling amount of food available for next to nothing, and cooked right on the spot. Don't stress if you don't speak Mandarin (neither do we), its easy enough to point and hold up 1 or 2 fingers! We got there at about 7pm for dinner and the place was fully packed. The only thing I would recommend is to do a bit of a turn around the stalls just to check out the offerings before committing - you don't wanna miss out on trying something because you stuffed yourself too early! Do make sure you try some "Hotstar Large Fried Chicken", the name says it all. Other than food, there are plenty of stores doing drinks, mostly the Taiwanese milk and fruit teas which are great for washing all the food down. There are also heaps of stores selling shoes, clothing, luggage, trinkets, souvenirs, you name it. There are brand name stores too (Adidas springs to mind), not just your typical market type stalls. There are also carnival games (shooting balloons for stuffed toys and the like) as well as a place where you can fish for your own prawns and they cook what you catch!
Vendor at Shilin Night Market (the squid is definitely worth it!)
One thing - there are hardly any bins around. They seem to place them near the entrances/exits only, I don't know why. This really annoyed me as I hate carrying rubbish around, so get a biggish plastic bag to carry around your rubbish until you can find a bin.
Sun Moon Lake
To escape the bustle of Taipei for a couple of days we decided to do an overnight stay in Sun Moon Lake. If you want to visit this area, its worth spending a night because it would be a little too rushed to do this on a day trip. Getting there from Taipei involves a 45 minute train ride to Taichung (its a bullet train like they have in Japan). At Taichung station, go downstairs to buy a bus ticket to Sun Moon Lake. The bus ride is a bit long at more than 2 hours. There isn't much to look at on the way so its a good chance to have a nap.
Sun Moon Lake is basically split into two
main hubs. The spot where the bus stops is called Suishe and this is the main
part of the lake and also where the visitor centre is. There is accommodation
and restaurants here as well as tourist/souvenir shops. The other hub is on the
other side of the lake and is called Ita Thao. From Suishe, there are two ways
to get there - bus or ferry. The ferry takes about 10 mins to get across and
the bus apparently takes about 30 minutes. Make sure you know where your accommodation
is so you know wether you need to catch a ferry/bus or not to get to your
hotel.
The people at the visitor centre were one of the few people we encountered that spoke English, so if you have any questions about sights etc, they are good to speak to. It's also a good idea to ask them to run you through how the ferries work as the system is not that straightforward. There are numerous boat companies operating around the lake but they all make the same stops. There are 3 stops - Suishe, Ita Thao and Syuanguang, in that order. Boats will either travel clockwise or counter clockwise and each trip (one wharf to another) costs NT$100. Different ferries leave from different wharves and some look pretty much the same though they are operated by different companies. I think a day pass costs NT$300 so if you're going to take less than 3 trips in one day, it's cheaper to buy them separately. Ferries run every 15-20 mins from each wharf and you can buy tickets from the stand at the wharves. Don't lose the timetable they give you - you will need it to know which wharf to stand at and what time to catch the ferries. Things close early in Sun Moon Lake - ferries run until only 5.00pm or so and restaurants/street stalls close pretty early. Aim to have dinner by about 7:00pm or risk having to settle for dinner at 7-Eleven!
We stayed at Ita Thao which meant we had to catch a ferry across from Suishe. We had a quick look around and I don't think there is much difference between which side of the lake you stay at. Ita Thao is like a small village and is basically sectioned into a number of blocks with shops selling food, wares, souvenirs etc. The food was surprisingly very good. We had a bowl of tradtitional Taiwanese beef noodles (using Australian beef!) on the first day but that was our only sit in meal. There are numerous street stalls selling heaps of stuff and it was all very good. But things won't be open until late (food places around 10am) and close early so plan ahead.
There are a number of sights around the Lake, but we didn't have time to explore them all. The main sites are the Gondola and Wenwu temple. We went to both of these as well as the temples at Syuanguang. There is a guy at Syuanguang pier selling soya eggs (just walk down the pier and you will see his shop). For those who don't know what these are they are basically eggs hard boiled in soya sauce (plus other flavours, spices etc). They are pretty good and this guy's is supposed to be the shiznit. We didn't know about him until later and went all the way back just to get them. Totally worth it.
There are two temples at Syuanguang. The first one is close to the pier and is where all the tourist groups go. There is another bigger temple if you keep walking further up, but it is a reasonable walk on trail. The path is also not that well kept in some areas, but the walk itself is actually quite peaceful and takes probably 25mins or so on the way up, a bit quicker on the way back. The temple at the top is dedicated to Monk Tripitaka (yes, the one from Monkey Magic) and his journey through India to bring Buddhism to China. The front of the temple has a cool map showing his journey. The temple also has what is claimed to be a chunk of Tripitaka's skull on display (its pretty nondescript and looks sorta like a smooth tooth). Just getting away from the crowds is worth the trek in my opinion, but if you don't like the idea of walking there is a road up there so i'm sure you could get a bus.
Gondola The Gondola leaves from the Ita Thao side of the lake and takes you high over the hills and back down again. From the wharf, walk to the left and keep following the path (taking left turns when possible) and its easy enough to get to. The gondola ride is very scenic and has magnificent views over lake. The ride itself is pretty short at less than 10 mins each way. Without spoiling too much, its quite a thrill when the gondola crests over the first hill! At the end of the gondola is an aboriginal cultural village as well as a theme park with a roller coaster (random, I know) which costs extra to enter. We didn't go to these, but the gondola ride is worth it on its own.
Sun Moon Lake from the Gondola
Wenwu Temple This is the "main" temple on the lake and attracts big crowds. The architecture is quite detailed and the two lions guarding the front of the temple are pretty cool (and huge). Make sure you take a look at the stairs across the road at the front of the temple. People go there to hang wind chimes with wishes on them and there are a bucketload. The stairs are also numbered (1-366) representing all the steps in a leap year. The temple was pretty packed, especially because there was a tourist bus there when we arrived. However I found if you venture to the back sections of the temple (its a big temple), there were considerably less people. Worth a visit.
One cool thing we did in Sun Moon Lake was rent a scooter. Well, its not really a scooter as it is more a motorised bicylce (electric powered) that comfortably fits two adults. There is one guy in Ita Thao that rents them out (can't remember how much it was but it wasn't expensive). We rented ours for 3 hours (pay for 2 hours and the 3rd is free) to visit Wenwu Temple and to go back and get that soya egg.
The little engine struggled a bit on some of the hills, but its awesome fun. At the end of the day it certainly beats walking. You don't need to worry about other drivers - they are well aware and used to having slow vehicles on the road and will politely overtake you when required. Generally, we found the roads to be pretty empty. Maybe its the small town/lakeside thing but motorists there are just not in the habit of tailgating or honking horns. It's definitely worth doing if you're game.
Taroko Gorge
Taroko Gorge is Taiwan's main
tourist drawcard. Its about a 2-3 hour train ride from Taipei station to
Hualien followed by a 30 min cab ride. Seats on the trains are reserved and
should be booked at least a few days in advance. Not all trains are expresses -
some take just over 2 hours, others take up to 4 hours so the earlier you book
the wider range of train choice you have. Booking trains online is a bit of a trial
but thankfully we found this website that spells out step by step how to do it
- lifesaver.
http://www.alectravelguide.com/2011/09/22/how-to-book-railway-train-tickets-in-taiwan/
We did Taroko Gorge as a day trip from Taipei, departing Taipei main central station at 7.30am and arriving back at 8.30pm (which meant departing Hualien at about 5.30pm). Its a long day, but you get to see all the main sites in the Gorge and of course you could stay 1 night in Hualien if you wanted to. Once you step off the train and make your way outside, you will be greeted by a huge queue of taxi drivers. And for very good reason. This is pretty much the only way to see Taroko Gorge unless you're with a tour or plan to drive/ride your way there and around. There is a public bus service that runs through the gorge, but I wouldn't even consider it given the long (30 minute) wait times between buses. As soon as we stepped out of the station we had a taxi driver approach us who spoke pretty good English who offered to take us to and around Taroko Gorge and drop us back at the station at 5pm (total hire of 6 hours) for NT$2500, equivalent to about A$80. So, away we went!
The other benefit of getting a taxi driver is that alot of these guys have been doing this for a while (our guy 20 years) and know the routes, timetables etc. They will know what you can and can't get done given the amount of time you have. I was concernced that we would get the usual driving around to souvenir shops and pressure to buy stuff (which has happened to me in India) but we didn't get anything of the sort.
All the walks that we did in the Gorge were stunning and the scenery is magnificent. Having said that, you should be ready to deal with crowds. My advice is to arrive as early as possible. By the time we were leaving, about 4pm, the line of buses to get to the sites further in the Gorge were more than 50 deep. No joke. And i am talking full size tour buses. We got to the Gorge at around 11am and found the crowds were fine but we did start to see more and more people as the day got on.
There are walks all along the Gorge and your taxi driver should be able to tell you which tracks/sites are open and which are closed. Or if you get the feeling your driver doesn't know, you can always make a stop at the visitor centre at the entrance. Our itinerary (in order) was Shakadang Trail - Swallow Grotto - lunch at Tiansiang - Lushui to Heliu walk - Liwu River Suspension Bridge - Chimu Bridge - Eternal Spring Shrine (with a walk up to the temple). This took us through until about 4.45pm. We were disappointed that we couldn't do the Tunnel of 9 Turns walk as it was closed due to a rockfall. At the time of our trip (Feb 2012) it had been closed for 12 months and likely to remain closed for another 6. They were actually working on clearing another section of road which had been blocked by a landslide when we were there.
The walks were all amazing and it's definitely worth spending the time to do as much as you can. Some will be busy - the Shakadang trail is relatively easy so there will be alot of people on it (including some women who thought it'd be a good idea to wear high heels!), while others such as the Lushui to Heliu walk we saw only one other couple.
Yehliu Geological Park
This is an area on the north coast of Taiwan that is famous for it's rock formations. They are truly spectacular and I have never seen anything like it. Getting there is quite easy - get the bus from the bus station at Taipei Main Station headed towards Jinshan Youth Activity Centre. The bus takes around 30 minutes or so depending on traffic. Dress warm if the weather is wet as the wind blows very hard being near the coast. Once there, head downhill and keep following the main road. Soon enough you will see the aquarium which sorta looks like a stadium on the outside (only with fish and stuff on it). The entrance to the park itself is to the left. There is a pamphlet and stuff which shows all the interesting formations (the Queen's Head, the Fairy Shoe, the Candles, the Pineapple Bun and (my favourite) the Gorilla to name a few.
The Queen's Head is the poster-girl of the site and is the most popular formation there. So popular in fact, that there is a platform built especially for people to take photos with it and a gangway for people to line up on. We had to wait, but only for a few minutes. People would try to cut in but there was a very stern looking attendant who would quickly put them at the back of the line with a gruff word and a wagging finger. Job well done!
Time-wise, we spent about half a day there. We got the bus at about 9am and arrived back in Taipei around 2pm. We also had a fantastic meal there at one of the little restaurants along the main strip. I was skeptical (given most places in tourist hot spots tend to be pretty ordinary) but I was surprised at the quality of the food. All the places there were packed and looked pretty good.
Concluding comments We had a fantastic time in Taiwan and it has its own unique charm. If you speak Mandarin, this is a huge advantage. The language barrier is something we certainly struggled with, even at main tourist sites. However, people are very friendly and willing to help you out if you ask. Also, if you like bubble tea (you know, the stuff they sell at Easy Way and Chatime) you will be in heaven. It seemed like every second shop was a bubble tea store and they are very very cheap so there is no excuse not to drink to your heart's content. The one thing I can assure you will come back with after a visit to Taiwan is an expanded waistline!
