The Beauty of Taiwan
Taiwan – Taroko Gorge – Eternal Spring Shrine
When we arrived in Taiwan we had planned to go around the island clockwise, heading down the east coast and then heading up the west coast. Unfortunately, public transportation had other ideas. We had already booked our accommodation in and transportation to Taroko Gorge on the east coast. But when we tried to find transportation from Taroko Gorge it was all sold out. We could have still gotten to our next stop, but it would have involved several transfers and we didn’t really want to deal with it. So we switched to the west coast instead. Since Taiwan is a small enough island, it wasn’t too far. So, we spent the first half of the week in Taroko Gorge on the east coast, then the second half in Taichung on the west Coast.
1. Go
The most convenient thing about transportation in Taiwan is that you can use the same card for most of it. We picked up EasyCard in Taipei and were delighted when we could use it on the bus in Taichung… and at tea shops, 7-11, malls, you name it.
- Train – 540 km. Taipei to Xincheng to Taichung.
- Metro – 7 km. To the train station in Taipei
- City bus – 46 km. Around Taroko and around Taichung.
- Taxi – 4 km. To our hostel in Taroko Gorge.
- Foot – 104,000 steps in 7 days (approx. 52 miles)
2. See
Taroko Gorge is one of the most visited spots in all of Taiwan. It is spectacularly beautiful, but difficult to navigate without your own transportation. There is a public bus that comes about every hour, but it was never on time so we spent a lot of time waiting for the bus. Many of the trails we wanted to hike we closed due to recent damage from rain and wind. Despite the inconveniences, it was a fun visit. Many of the trails are cut into the cliff sides, making for an exciting time. One trail went through a long curved tunnel only wide enough for one person and long enough to be dark in the middle.
We loved Taipei so much, that we were excited to visit another Taiwanese city. Taichung is not nearly as touristy as Taipei and has way less English, but we’ve really enjoyed it. It has more green spaces, the streets are wider, and the food is really good. We also liked that there weren’t as many things to see in Taichung so we could just wander around. We wandered around the large Confucius Temple and the Fine Arts Museum.
3. Eat
The tiny village we stayed in at the bottom of Taroko Gorge was surprisingly lacking in good food. Other than a fun breakfast place, the food was really mediocre and we ended up having instant noodles from 7-11 rather than eating out. The breakfast place had no pictures or English on the menu, so we just walked up and held up two fingers. They served us eggs rolled up in a crepe-like-pancake with soy sauce. It was the best thing we ate our whole time in Taroko.
Taichung has delicious food. We stuck mostly to street food, but also went to a fancy tea house for a late lunch before the museum. At the Yizhong market we had really tasty street food including dumplings, buns, sandwiches (steamed bun stuffed with egg and pork), and wheel cakes. There is an entire street lined with Sun Cake (sweet pastry) shops where we may have over indulged. Beef noodles are everywhere, but we had some especially good bowls here, one with knife cut noodles (thicker than usual).
Taiwan – Taichung – Yizhong Market
4. Drink
Taichung is where bubble tea and pearl tea were invented and made famous. Some versions have milk, so we have to be careful with what we order, but we have been able to try some delicious variations. Since there is very little English, we have no idea what we have tried. One was a chocolate milk tea with tapioca balls, while another was more like lemonade with unidentifiable fruit in it. So good!
We are getting a bit addicted to bottled iced tea. We have tried a few kinds and found our favorites. Luckily they are sold at every 7-11.
5. Sleep
In Taroko, we chose to stay at the only budget option, which meant dorm beds. It was fine, but a bit noisy. Our place in Taichung was a private room with a bathroom above a shopping mall. It was surprisingly quiet for the location. The staff was very excited to practice their English and share all the fun things to do in Taichung (we don’t think they get many tourists here).
6. Move
Since we’ve been able to slow down, we’ve tried to get in a few more workouts. When we have private rooms, we do a quick circuit. Other than that, we have been on our feet a lot more than we were used to in New Zealand.
Check out Pat’s CADENCE Week 22 post (coming soon) for details about this week.
7. Etcetera
Taiwanese are so friendly! All the staff at our hostels have been very helpful helping us plan our days. But even beyond that, people at train stations and bus stops see us and ask if they can help us find our way. One little old man come up to us at the bus stop and asked where we were going. We said we were taking the bus to the Fine Arts Museum, but it didn’t come for 20 minutes, so we were waiting. He agreed, then asked more questions about our travel and started to give us advice. He knew just about everything, “…You take the bus, it’s NT$35 and takes 90 minutes….” He even waited with us to make sure we got on the right bus.
We are obviously foreigners (even more so than in South America), and people take notice. Most people under 40 have studied English in school, so most people at least know their numbers, Hello, and Goodbye. Shop keepers will speak to us in limited English and try to say the price in English. Kids like to say Hello and Goodbye along with any other random English words they know.
Check out our Flickr album to see all our photos from this week.
Nomadic Cadence 
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