Sunday,
14 September 2014
We
woke up early today and went down for breakfast just after 7. Taiwanese
breakfast is very healthy: congee with condiments, pau, vegetables and bread
with jam and butter. We left at 07:40 and made our way to Gancheng station (it
was actually a bus stop; the bus station was across the road). SM had
picked a brochure with details on Sun
Moon Lake pass where you pay only NTD360 for a pass containing a boat voucher
(worth NTD300), a Sun Moon Lake Ropeway round-trip voucher (worth NTD300), a
round-the-lake bus voucher (worth NTD80) and Shuishe-Xiangshan Bus one-way
voucher (worth NTD26). What a bargain! You can buy the pass at Nantou Bus office
(directly behind the bus stop) or at the Visitor Information Centre at Sun Moon
Lake. The bus arrived at 07:50 and I used my EasyCard to pay for my bus fare.
The bus was quite full and reflective of the popularity of the lake.
We
arrived at Shuishe Visitor Centre at 09:40 and after storing our bags (there’s
a luggage room at the Visitor Information Centre and you can store your bags at
no charge at all), we walked to Shuishe Pier. The boat left just after 10:30
and it stopped at Syunguang Temple Pier before continuing on to Ito Thao Pier.
We actually got down at Syunguang Temple Pier (in our defence, the announcement
was in Mandarin and we didn’t know the boat was following the reverse route).
Fortunately for us, we managed to rush back and re-board the boat to Ito Thao
before it left. We disembarked at Ito Thao and walked to the Ropeway Station
and queued for the cable car up. The cable car ride gave us a bird’s eye view
of the lake and the hills. As we didn’t pay for the pass that includes the
Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village (it would cost us about NTD650 if I recall
correctly if we bought entrance ticket on the spot), we decided to ride the
cable car back down.
We
took the Lakeside Trail back to Ito Thao Pier and took the boat back to Shuishe
Pier. We collected our bags from the luggage room and sat down to wait for the
13:20 King Bus to Taipei. We could of course take the Nantou Bus back to
Taichung and travel to Taipei by train but we would reach Taipei slightly later
compared to if we had just taken the bus plus it would cost us slightly more.
The fare by King Bus was NTD460 and you have to buy the ticket at the ticket
counter (can’t use EasyCard on this bus). The lady at the ticket counter had
informed SM that it would take more than 4 hours to reach Taipei. ‘Whoa,’ I
said, ‘Good thing we are early and leaving at 13:20 and not later.’
The
bus arrived and we boarded and at first the bus was quite empty but it later
stopped at Puli, I think, and a lot of passengers got on. So many passengers in
fact that the bus was almost full within an hour of leaving Sun Moon Lake. And
true enough, we arrived at Taipei West Bus Station at 17:25. I thought Taipei
West Bus Station was the same as Taipei Bus Station and we spent a long time
staring at the map, confused. Oh, we did try asking people but surprise,
surprise, a lot of the locals couldn’t speak English. In this sense, even the
locals of Kaohsiung, Tainan and Taichung are better in their command of
English. A cabbie showed us the rough direction, another said it was too far to
walk to, but finally we managed to get directions and our bearings sorted.
We
arrived at EasyMind Guest House at the 12th floor of a building
further down Chengde Road at 17:55 and checked in. Our room was a tiny one with
bunk beds and bunk lockers. It did have a balcony though. After prayers, we
rushed out and took the MRT to Zhongxiao Dunhua Station and went to find Ai-Jia
Qingzhen Beef Noodle Place, a halal beef noodles restaurant we had read about
but alas, after walking a few blocks, we found the right address alright but
the restaurant had closed with another in its place. Just our rotten luck then.
We
retraced our steps back to the MRT station and took the MRT to Taipei City
Hall. From there, we took bus no. 5 to Taipei 101. There used to be a free
shuttle bus from Taipei City Hall to Taipei 101 but no longer. We had dinner at
the food court at Taipei 101 and went to look for Star*ucks (I read that you
get to travel up the building to where Star*ucks is and not have to pay for the
trip up to the observatory deck) but we were out of luck again as there
Star*ucks no longer has an outlet there. We left after dinner for we had an
early start the next morning anyway – although we actually ended up trying out
the different routes to Taipei West Bus Station to familiarise ourselves (the
airport bus back to the airport leaves from Taipei West Bus Station. When we
rode it from the airport, it dropped us at another entrance to Taipei Main
Station). I had an early flight on Tuesday morning.
Monday,
15 September 2014
We
left at 06:35 and walked to Taipei Main Station, via Taipei City Mall (which is
linked to Taipei Bus Station). This is an easier route in my opinion as it
means we walk in indoor comfort the minute we enter Taipei City Mall. Just
follow the signs to Taipei Main Station or the TRA (Taiwan Railways
Administration referring to normal trains) or HSR (High Speed Rail for the high
speed trains) signs. You’ll need to get down the escalator at one point and
cross over (below the street-level road) to Taipei Main Station.
We arrived at 06:55, just in time for
our 07:08 train to Hualien. Hualien is on the east side of the island and
latitude-wise is further south than Taichung. We reached Hualien at 10:01 and
after asking at the Visitor Information Centre, rushed off to take the 10:20
shuttle bus which went to Taroko Gorge. A one-day Easy Go Shuttle Bus costs
NTD250 (a two-day pass costs NTD400) and we bought our tickets at the counter
near the bus stop. The bus was small and quite full. It took us two hours (!)
to get to Yanzikou Trail where the Swallow Grotto is. It took us fifteen
minutes longer as there was a landslide along a stretch of the route and we had
to stop as only vehicles travelling in one direction could use that stretch at
any one time.
As we had sat through five hours of
journey, we stretched our legs by walking along the trail and looking over the
gorge. There was a service area about 600 metres away from where we got off the
bus. We walked for about 1.5 km before turning back. We took the 13:35 bus but
got down at Xincheng Station instead of travelling further to Hualien Station. Had
we known, we would have just bought train tickets to Xincheng instead of
Hualien. Hualien is further south and you need to travel longer on the shuttle
bus to get to Taroko Gorge. The ticket back to Taipei cost less too than if we
had taken the train from Hualien. We managed to buy the 15:31 train tickets
back to Taipei but had to change seats (not change trains) at Luodong Station. Well,
we’d rather change seats than take a later train.
We arrived at Taipei Main Station at
16:39 and walked back to the guest house.
We went out that evening after evening
prayers and after timing how long it took to walk to Taipei West Bus Station,
we took the MRT to Shilin to check out Shilin Night Market. Again, we
discovered that the local city folks don’t speak much English and we had dinner
only with some help from a girl. After dinner, we browsed some stalls at the
covered Shilin Market and bought some souvenirs. Well, just two t-shirts and
two magnets for me. We returned back to Taipei Main Station from Jiantan
Station. I bought some sushi after returning my EasyCard at the Information
Counter at the MRT station. Then we walked back to the guest house.
I went to bed after 10 pm as I had another
early start the next morning.
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
I was woken up by loud noises from the
lounge sometime after 1 am and was quite pissed. Somehow I managed to fall
asleep again before getting up at 04:15. Had a quick shower before performing
morning prayers and finishing my packing. SM decided to accompany me and we
left at 5. The streets were deserted save for some cleaners sweeping the street.
We went into Taipei City Mall but had to de-tour a bit as some areas were still
closed and at the Main Station, we had to de-tour too. So much for plotting a
trolley-bag route to Taipei West Bus Station for the past two evenings! We reached
Taipei West Bus Station at 05:23 and the bus to the airport was already there. I
quickly handed my ticket and boarded the bus and the bus left a couple of
minutes later.
We reached the airport at 06:05 and I went
to drop off my bag. For some reason, we cannot check in power banks so I had to
get my power bank out and carry it with me. I had some sushi before clearing
security and despite the apparent long queue, it was a fast process. There were
many comfortable sofas, free Internet stations, shops, washrooms, even a room
called Ladies’ Dressing Table, nursing room and massage room. Amazing. I cleared
immigration after that and proceeded to browse some duty-free shops before
making my way to the gate. I spotted a sign for prayer room and found it was
close to Gates B1-3.
We boarded at 07:35 and the plane took
off at 08:00. I dozed off for a short while and when I woke up, watched The Fault
In Our Stars. I wouldn’t watch it at the theatre; I’d prefer watching something
fun and happy if I have to pay for it.
We landed at 12:35 and my bag came out
at 12:50. I took the bus to KL Sentral before making my way home. That was it,
my second trip to Taiwan. And what a satisfying trip it was too!
|