Taiwan Trip 2015
I will be sharing my experience travelling to Taiwan in 2015. I've lost around 40 - 50% of the pictures on this trip as I broke my phone during this trip. However, as I said I will find pictures online. Some cities I've visited in this trip includes Taipei, Tainan, Taichung, Kaoshiung and etc.
Capital : Taipei
1. Taipei 101
2. Confusius Temple Taichung
Basic information about Taiwan
National Language : Mandarin
Currency : New Taiwan Dollar (TWD)
Timezone : UTC+8
Calling code : +886
Power outlet : Plug type A
Tap Water : Not Drinkable
Flight
This trip was when I went to Singapore to study in 2016. The airline we took from Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta International Airport is EVA Air, it was a 5 hour and 30 minutes flight. I remember this flight clearly as I was flying onboard the queen of the skies - Boeing 747 - 400, registered as B-16410.
Just an hour before landing in Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport, the Tropical Storm Linfa was just under our aircraft which caused the pilot to divert the aircraft, we were scheduled to land at 10.40 local time but due to the diversion we landed at 11.20 instead.
Cities that I visited
- Taipei (台北)
- Taichung (台中)
- Tainan (台南)
- Kaoshiung (高雄)
- Hualien (花莲)
1. Taipei City
The district that I stayed in is Banqiao ( 板桥), a 50 minutes drive from Taoyuan International Airport, another mode of transport will be the High Speed Railway (HSR) which takes 1 hour 20 minutes a train every 30 minutes interval, this may be the more economical way as it only cost $4 - $6 per person, whereas by taxi it will cost $35 - $45 (all currencies are in US dollars).
Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world from 2004 - 2010, one of the must go if visiting Taipei.
Entrance fee : NTD 600 or USD 20 / pax
Opening Hours : 9 am to 10 pm (local time)
Address: No. 7, Section 5, Xinyi Rd, Xinyi District
2. Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall
This is a memorial place built for the Taiwanese general - Chiang Kai-Shek.
Fun fact about this place is they do not charge any fee a.k.a free of charge.
Entrance Fee : Free of charge
Opening Hours : 9 am to 6 pm
Address : No. 21號, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
3. Shilin Night Market
One of Taiwan's famous night market, Shilin night market operates from 5 pm to 1 am daily. It is located at No 101, Jihe Road, Shilin District, Taipei City. Must trys includes the famous stinky tofu (臭豆腐), oyster mee sua, fried oyster egg, and etc.
There are many more attractions in Taipei City but it will take a lot of time to list everything out.
2. Taichung City
The city 160 kilometers away from Taipei can be reached by bus, HSR, and car. Journey on the bus will take 2.5 hours if the traffic condition is good, it will cost approximately 300 NTD. Journey by HSR will take 50 minutes and will cost 700 NTD for economy class and 1000 NTD for business class. Lastly, journey by car will take 2.5 hours if the traffic condition is good, toll fees will cost round 240 NTD and petrol will cost around 500 NTD. There is no reason to travel by plane as the fastest and cheapest way will be by HSR.
1. Taroko National Park
One of the nine national park in Taiwan. As far as I remember there is no entrance fee to this park. The park spans to Taichung, Hualien and Nantou
Entrance fee : Free of Charge ( Not Confirmed )
Opening Hours: 24 hours
Address:972, Taiwan, Hualien County, Xiulin Township, 富世291號
A temple built in the 1970s with the Song Dynasty's style, the layout of the temple is similar to the Confusius Temple in the Qufu, Shandong Province in China. There are 3 ways to visit the temple - by taxi, foot, or bus. It is a 20 - 30 minutes walk from the main train station. By taxi it is about 25 minutes journey from the HSR station and will cost about 300 NTD. Lastly, by bus service number 41, 99, 142, 63, and 67. Entrance fee to the temple is free and it is opened from 9 am to 5 pm. It is located at No. 30號, Section 2, Shuangshi Road, North District, Taichung City, Taiwan 404.
3. Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)
The Sun Moon Lake, can be visited by bus from Kancheng station (walkable distance from the Taichung HSR station). The journey from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake will take around 90 minutes and will cost 200 NTD for one way and 350 NTD for round trip. The picture beside is taken from one of the temple in northern bank of the Sun Moon Lake
(Wen Wu Temple). I can't remember the entrance fee to the lake.
There are many more attractions in Taipei City but it will take a lot of time to list everything out.
3. Tainan
I did nothing much at this city as it was a transit.
4. Kaoshiung
This city is reachable from Taipei using the HSR which will take around 2 hours and cost about 1500 NTD. Also can be reached by car, it will take 4 hours from Taipei. So, it is clear that the HSR is more efficient to travel from Taipei to Kaoshiung.
1. Fo Guang Shan (佛光山)
A buddhist monastery and a 36 meter high Buddha statue, it is a must go when you visist Kaoshiung. As far as I remember it is free to visit the Fo Guang Shan unless you pay for the buggy that brings you form the bottom to the top. It costs round 50 - 100 NTD per pax. It is opened from 9 am to 6 pm. It is located at No. 1號, Tongling Road, Dashu District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 84049.
2. Yu Shan National Park
It is reachable from Kaoshiung by car, it is a 3 hours journey passing the Chia Yi city (嘉義市). What you can do in Yu Shan National Park is to see the sunrise which cost around 1000 - 1200 NTD (not confirmed).
There are many more attractions in Taipei City but it will take a lot of time to list everything out.
5. Hualien City
There are 2 ways to visit Hualien, number 1 is by train which takes around 2 hours from Taipei and costs around 450 NTD for one way, both Puyuma and Taroko express provide the service. The second way is by plane, which takes 50 minutes from Taipei Songshan Airport, these flights are operated by UNI air, the subsidary airline of EVA air, the one way ticket will typically cost around 900 NTD.
1. Taroko National Park
As said in the previous part, Taroko National Park is also accessible from Hualien which is a 58 minutes drive from Hualien.
- THE END -
The itinerary I've created for your reference
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