Taiwan 9 Days - Taipei, Yilan, Tainan

Taiwan 9 Days Itinerary

Days of travel: 9 Days

Start Date: 3^rd of March 2012 1955

End Date: 12^th of March 2012 0100

From Singapore to Taipei, Taoyuan Airport: Return travel via Jetstar

First day:

Reached Taoyuan airport at 4^th March 0025.

Made our way to Bus terminal.

Took da you bus to Taipei MRT station.

15 minutes walk to hotel. We stayed at XiMen hotel. It can be booked via agoda.com. Price is 43 per pax for a double-bed room. Room is spacious. Walk in rate is NT1650. (reached hotel at abt 130am)

Day2: 4^th March

What we do:

Went to PingXi. One way train tix is NT76 from Taipei to Ruifang. The connecting train ride from from rui fang to qing dong is NT52. It is an all day pass and you can get off at any stop and get on the train as you like. We went to qing dong, followed by ping xi and shifen. We enjoyed our sky lantern stint at qing dong, enjoyed a walk down the old street of ping xi and ate our dinner at shifen while enjoying others letting go of their sky lanterns. We were too late for san diao ling which required another mammoth task of walking and climbing thus we skipped that.

 

What we suggest:

Thus on hindsight, we figured that for those who would like to explore this part of Taiwan, you should get off at Sandiaoling and do a hike. Sandiaoling stands for 3 cliffs. You can do a search on it to decide whether it is worth the effort. If I figure it correctly, you will be able to reach shifen after the hike. You might want to enjoy a light meal after the hike. After that, take the train to Ping Xi as the old street is not to be missed. Sky lantern can be released at QingDong, PingXi or Shifen.

We explored XiMenDing at night which is around the place where we stayed. A must try is the Ah Zhong mian sian. 

We heard that the delicacy can only be found in this store as there are no franchises sold to anywhere else. Although we never tried the duck noodle at the corner, we figured that it is good since there always seem to have a crowd in the stall.

Day 3: 5^th March

What we do:

We took the train from Taipei train station to LuoTong. Our hotel is Yitai. There is a visitor centre inside the train station. It might be worth to take a few brochures to plan your itinerary. Unfortunately, the guide is not really good in English so to those English speaking folks, you might want to try our route.  Or you can try out ours!

The first day is in Luo tong is a cycling path to YunDong Gong Yuan (Luo tong Sports Park). Our hotel provided us with the bicycles. Roads in Yilan County are generally safe for cycling. From the sports park, there is a cycling path along the Bizitou Embankment. There was not much of a view along the cycling track but when we were there, it was very wind. It is truly an amazing feeling.

Turning left towards ZhongShan Leisure Agricultural Area Visitor Centre after following signs that direct us to the Plum Blossom Lake. As going to the lake required some additional effort, we decided to skip that and follow the direction of the Agri Area. Upon reaching Wanshan Rd, the sky became dark and we decided to go back to Luotong City by following Wanshan Rd.

There were many roadside stalls selling PingLang. A king Auntie offered me one free sample. It tasted horrible. But I think for those who have never tried it, it is worth a taste. The taste is like eating grass. You have to nip off the head of the nut before chewing.

We passed by this milk tea stall.  I think it is at the intersection of Nanchang St and Wan hua Rd. 

We have a milk tea which costs about NT35. It has aloe vera, pearls, and other ingredients. There were some stools by the road and we rested our legs over there. While sitting down and chatting, a rubbish truck with the all to obvious music went past. We saw how the Taiwanese are into recycling. There were two trucks, one yellow and the behind one is white. The white truck is for recyclable materials while the yellow one is for trash. Stall helpers/ owners queued up for their turns to throw their unwanted “trash” into the two different trucks. I must tell you that we are impressed.

The day ended with the milk tea owner telling us to have a must-eat seafood meal across the street. These are the dishes that we ordered.

 

We also went to the only night market in Luo tong. One of the most memorable snacks that we ate is the ChaoDaPai Ji Pah which means very big chicken fillet. It is so big that even the plastic bag pales in comparison.

                             
 

Day 4: 6^th March

A train ride to JiaoXi for hot spring is our main aim for the day. We brought our swimming attire. Alighting at JiaoXi train station, we rented a motorbike which comes with a free map from the bike rental store outside the station. The rental fee for a day is NT500. With our transport vehicle and armed with the map, we decided to explore the place before going for a soothing bath.

We went to explore a waterfall. It is called WufengQi waterfall.

 

Figure 1: Second level waterfall

                             

Figure 2: Last level

There are 3 different levels of the waterfall. The picture shows above is the 2^nd level. The last level requires some hiking through flights and flights of stairs. But it is worth it. Swimming is allowed but there are dangers signs prompting one to take note of the slippery rocks. I went down the chilly water but did not stay too long. It was too cold, especially on a cold day.

Moving on, explored the place around the waterfall and found this nice temple that sits on top of a hill.

 

Feeling hungry already, we rode to Yilan for our late lunch.

 

Asking around, the locals told us that the place is famous for its garlic noodle (Suan Wei rou Geng). It is worth a try. But I think Singapore Lor Mee is nicer.

 

We went back to JiaoXi to search for a cheap and good place for a relaxing hot spring bath. We got a deal of NT300 for a private hot spring area.

There is also a public area for foot spa. It is free! Temperature is 51 degC.

We have our dinner at some food stalls near JiaoXi train station. Our dinner was 8 dumplings and a sweet and spicy soup. It is not fantastic.

 

We ended the day with the same night market and the same chicken fillet. It goes to show how nice it is. Must Try!

A special note: If you are following our itinerary, remember to ask about the train schedule from LuoTong to Tainan. A return ticket usually cost less than buying 2 one-way tickets. For our case, we bought for the same train ride; we bought from Luotong to Taipei and a return ticket from Taipei to Tainan. It came up to about NT1500 per pax.

Day 5: 7^th March

The day was spent on the train. There are only 2 trains from Yilan county to Tainan. The ride was about 6 hours. We were on the ride at about 9+ am and reached Tainan at around 3+pm. There is splendid scenery along the East Coast line but after Taipei station, it is mostly farmlands. You can see a couple of windmills though.

We stayed at Premier hotel in Tainan. The walk in rate is NT1600 for a two pax room per night. Bicycles are provided by the hotel. After checking in the hotel, we went to visit some of the oldest temples of Taiwan. Tainan is one of the oldest cities of Taiwan. Doing a Google check on Tainan will show that it was the capital of Taiwan before Taipei. It has its fair bit of history but I will not be talking about it here.

Premier hotel is ChengGong Rd. Walking along this road will lead to Simen Traffic Circle. Along the way, there are ChihKan Tower and Da Tianhou Temple. These are some oldest historical monuments that are still pretty much well-preserved. Walking further leads us to WuSheng Night market which is only open on Wed and Sat. We had steak spaghetti at the Night market.

 

  Day 6: 8^th March

This day, we planned a trip to AnPing old Street. It is a defunct Port. There is some nice food over here. Try to find them and take a walk across the old street. The place is not really big and can be roamed easily by foot. Food at An Ping!

 

 

The Fish skin soup is ok. I like the fried prawn roll. Some local delicacies that you can bring home is the egg roll. The packaging is very nice!

Some pictures of AnPing.

 

 

 

One place to mention in Anping Old Street is this place called Tung Xing Yang Fang which means some name of a bank. What is interesting of this place is that it is being transformed into a beer garden. History of the Dutch is displayed in the building.

 

The night market that we explored on Day 6 is Flower Garden Night market which is only open on Thurs and Sunday. 

While walking to the night market, it is worth to visit this place. Should go this place at night. It is known as Street Art museum.

 

The following are some games that we played in Tainan. It is one of the more traditional night market across Taiwan!

 

 

Day 7: 9^th March

We took the morning train to Taipei. We went back to stayed at Ximen hotel. Our itinerary for the day is WufenPu and Shida Night market. Wufenpu is a wholesale market which gets really busy in the afternoon till night. Some bargaining can be done here.

Shida night market is special. It is very different from the rest of the night markets. We had dinner here. There are two stalls that sells braised food. One can select their food items and pass them to the chefs. It is somewhat like Singapore Niang tou Fu. But this is way much better. These two stalls are easily recognizable by their queues of flocks of customers in front of their stalls. 

 

At the sides of the market are some shop-houses that sell clothes. It exudes an air of Japanese style. It is worth a visit.

Day 8: 10^th March

This is the second last day before our flight back to Singapore. We plan a trip to Keelung. 

It is North East of Taipei and can be easily reached by train. Take a bus to WangYou Gu. 

This is a must visit place. We have our late lunch at the seafood stalls near the seafood market – Bisha Fishing Port. The price is affordable.

 

We also visited MiaoKou night market. One can get some bargain of out-of-season clothes. Good quality and good price.  

Night is a visit to the all too famous Shilin Market. The place has seen become somewhat like a food court with food stalls at the basement and clothes and accessories at the ground floor. Ventilation is a bit poor and the crowd control is bad. But it is still worth a visit. Must-eat items include, oyster omelette, sausages, chicken fillet, pork filled buns, etc.

There is a souvenir shop at Shilin night market which sells rather cheap local goodies. Good for bringing home for friends and relatives.

Day 9: 11^th March

This day we decided to eat the famous, XiaoLongBao of DingTaiFung. 

There are a few branches. We had ours at SoGo FuXing Branch.

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