Around Taiwan – Sun Moon Lake

We decided to take a day trip to Sun Moon Lake* (leaving from Taichung), as it is one of Taiwan’s main water attractions. And we were not disappointed!

*Take the Nantou (Taiwan Tourist) bus not far from the Main Taichung Train Station – the information desk will give you directions.

Once we got there it was clear that they had looked after this body of water very carefully. The whole lake was pristine blue clear water with very little of it’s lake edge used. Taiwan has carefully built a cycle track/walk-way along one side of the lake (no hills) for you to explore at your own pace or use the water taxi’s to go to two other locations on the lake.

The first thing we found out is that there is no swimming in the lake. They want to keep the lake free from disturbance as it is a man source of food for locals and the edges of the lake are silty. They also have quite a lot of boat traffic and do not want any one to get hit by a boat. You can however book a spot on one side of the island to swim in its waters – you will need to book this in advance and have transport to get there. The only time swimming is legal is in September with the annual lake swim challenge. However, if you accidentally fall in…

When you arrive there is a small tourist village where you can find accommodation, hire a bike to ride, grab some food or head down to the pier to catch a water taxi.

We headed straight to the boats and set out for the other side of the island where the first stop did not disappoint. Here we would find a bustling little market with some local delights! Of course we had to try – when in Rome!

Then we headed for the gondola’s to get a higher view of the lake. What we didn’t know is that the rain had decided to set in just as we were nearing the highest vantage point.

At the end of the gondola was the Aboriginal (native) Village / Show which we did not have time for but we could see that there were quite a few similarities to South American and even Maori carvings on their buildings. I think you would need a good half a day to go through this tourist attraction.

This all took a bit of time so we didn’t get to stop off at the last water taxi destination and walk up to a monument erected for Chiang Kai-Shek (quite a steep walk). Darn. Another time (perhaps).

A real gem of a day-trip and you will want the whole day to explore. So get on the bus early.

Around Taiwan – Taichung

So I decided that it was time to do a little bit of exploring so I went to the next closest big city – Taichung.

It was very easy to get to via the HSR (High Speed Rail) system. You can book tickets in advance (I used klook.com because they give you a discount for advanced bookings). Unless there is a public holiday or special event you should always be able to get a seat. and you can just purchase on the day. There are plenty of local trains (cheaper too) that also come out of Taipei and head south to Taichung.

Taichung was the second stop out of Taipei, a mere 30-40mins. Unfortunately I fell asleep and missed the stop, so went all the way to the bottom of the island (Kaohsiung – second biggest city) fortunately they kindly let me get on the next train back to Taichung (for free).

Taichung is a new growing city. With one of the largest and oldest universities in the Taiwan it seems to have a younger feel about it (as only university cities can do). They also have some great antique shops where you can find some quirky items.

The first thing I noticed was how clean everything felt. The air, footpaths, roads and shops seemed much cleaner than where I live in Taipei, which was a welcoming start. Even though there were quite a few universities and students, there wasn’t many scooters on the roads, compared to Taipei – which I found out later was because of the high numbers of foreign students not being able to drive in Taiwan.

Staying in a great little backpackers in the Tunghai (pronounced Dunghai) University area (www.tlifehostel.com) was a good choice as it was close to a student area where all food is cheap, accessible and delicious! All the restaurants and takeaways were so well presented you could have your pick of food styles. Below is a local spot where they also sell alcohol (not always and option in Taiwan), we had spicy chicken with nuts, beef with vegetables and a local leafy green which I can’t remember the name of.

The weather here is much more stable and settled than Taipei’s due to the large mountain ranges providing protection from the east. So it was very pleasant change from the humidity and continuous rain showers that I had been experiencing in Taipei.

Taichung doesn’t have a MRT (Metro) system but it does have a pretty robust bus system that works a lot like the MRT in Taipei.

It was really nice place to visit and a slightly slower pace. I definitely will come again!

New Taipei City – Wifi / Internet

Unless you have some great flatmates that will share their WiFi with you, best to get your own. Just pop down to your local MyPhone shop and get a pre-pay sim card that comes with data. I found that I couldn’t always hotspot to my flatmates wifi cause certain times of day/night the connections slow down – I’m guessing because the families are home and everyone is using it. Plus I had to be where they were at all times if I needed it.

Haven’t found any internet cafes but I’m guessing that is because it is so easy to get pre-paid data.

And you will need data for bus timetables, map directions and to contact people. They use Line App for most conversations rather than calling or texting.

New Taipei City – Food

The great thing about Taipei is that no matter where you live you have everything you need within about 5-10mins of home. At the bottom of our apartment block* we have two dairy’s and a toddlers english school. Across the road every morning there is the fruit and veg markets and a pharmacy. Up the road is a 7-11 (American convenience store) however they do a lot more than sell dairy items. You can pay your utilities here, withdraw foreign currency from he ATM’s and get cooked food! It really is a one stop shop.

And of course there are restaurants and street food for Africa! Unlike some other Asian countries I find that Taiwan doesn’t assault the senses with strange smells and fragrances. So when you do smell something yummy go with your instinct and try it out. A lot of the food here is fried so be careful how much you eat cause the oil isn’t always changed often.

Some of the great things I have already experienced are their bakery breads, beef noodles and their teas (bubble tea, oolong, mountain red, green tea). They also have really good Korean and Japanese restaurants, which make ordering particularly easy, as there are pictures of every dish so you know what exactly you are getting.

One thing to watch out for is the use of blood in their soups. You can identify if it does because it will look like heavy grey-brown congealed egg-whites. If you want to be on the safe side ask the waiter to make sure it has no blood.

However, all tourist must try the Taiwanese specialty dish “stinky tofu” the smell is foul but if you get it deep fried (hold your nose) its not so bad. Try it once to impress the locals.

*Moved house but pretty much a similar set up below our apartment.