Took advantage of a deal to Taiwan - here's what I learned about it
This summer, you might remember when fares to Taiwan dropped drastically, nearly 40% cheaper than had been available in previous years. We booked our flights for the first half of November, when the weather is apparently the best (not super hot, and not typhoon season).
To be honest, I didn't know a whole lot about Taiwan, and after I booked it I wondered if there would be enough to do there for 13 nights. When you think of Taiwan it's hard not to picture the stereotypical 'Made in Taiwan' image of a nation with factories producing cheap consumer products (in reality they've now transitioned into successful high-tech industries).
After some quick research though I was relieved to find that there was more than plenty to see and do.
Here are some of the things I learned...
It's a hiker's paradise
When I first conjured up images of Taiwan in my mind, I didn't really think of great hiking. There are some amazing outdoor hiking areas though, such as Taroko Gorge...
We biked up and down the gorge, which runs about 20km.
One of the best hikes in the park is the Jhuilu Old Trail. There's some pretty narrow sections with steep drop offs.
Another great hiking area is the Pingxi district, just outside of Taipei. The hikes there all have ladders and ropes to access the crags, making them a lot of fun.
This ladder here...
is used to access this crag...
(you can see people standing on the top)
It has some really nice beaches
Down on the southern end of Taiwan, there's an area called Kenting with some really nice beaches. This is the view from our modestly priced hotel ($70/night)...
Ensuring I get a sock tan...
The beaches are not as spectacular as say, in Thailand, but still very nice.
You should use GPS coordinates to find places
Entering addresses in English won't work on your GPS, so what you need to do before you leave is locate the places you want to go using Google Maps. Then right-click on the map and select 'What's here?'. This will give you the exact GPS coordinates.
Take these with you and enter them in your GPS. It's really the only chance you'll have of finding restaurants, etc, which can be an impossible task using street signs.
Before we left I made a Google map of places we wanted to check out...
http://tinyurl.com/3kmmocm
and printed off the GPS coordinates to give us any chance of being able to find the place we were looking for.
There were still a few mishaps, because Google Maps isn't always perfect for locating places either. But the GPS still came in handy a fair number of times.
The people are warm and friendly
They really are. Any time we looked remotely lost someone would rush over to help us. Everyone was genuine and nobody was looking to rip you off or make a quick buck.
You're off the Western tourist circuit, but not the Chinese one
Outside of Taipei, I can count on one hand the number of caucasians we saw. Even in Taipei, it was rare. But at the more touristy sites what you did see were endless buses with tour groups from China. I think until recently they legally had to be a part of a tour group to visit Taiwan. Many times, we felt like the only independent tourists around.
7-11 is king
Before we left I had read about how many 7-11 stores there were. We started counting on arrival and made a little game of it. I joked at the start that I wanted to spot a hundred of them on our trip. The final count was 135. Crazy considering we were only in a large city for 4 nights.
Food is cheap
While accommodations didn't seem overly cheap (although definitely reasonable), we ate many delicious meals for the equivalent of $5 or less.
Mmmmmm.... noodles....
DinTaiFung was probably our favorite. They have branches in Hong Kong that have been awarded a Michelin star, but originated in Taiwan. They're famous for their Xiaolongbao, aka dumplings.
Transit is ridiculously efficient
The longest we ever waited at a subway stop to board was 4 minutes. Usually it was 2 or less. I also liked that people would line up efficiently in 'lanes' while people on the subway car departed, instead of just a mad mash up of human bodies.
There's also a high speed train that can get you from the north end of the island to the south end in 90 minutes, traveling at 300km/h.
Other highlights
- The world's second fastest elevator at Taipei 101 (the second tallest building in the world, next to the one in Dubai).
I also liked the 700 ton damper ball that prevents the building from swaying too much. It acts like a giant pendulum to counteract the building's movement.
- 'Monkey Mountain' at the edge of Kaohsiung city. A 1000 hectare park area on the edge of the city where people looking for a bit of fresh air and exercise share the outdoors with families of monkeys.
I would definitely recommend Taiwan to anyone, especially those that like the outdoors, particularly hiking. Or to anyone looking to be off the typical SE Asia backpacker circuit.
We earned 14,000 Aeroplan miles on this trip, which is worth about $300 in flights. Considering the flight was $750 roundtrip after taxes, that's pretty decent!
