Eastern Taiwan

Leaving the capital city Taipei may have been a little premature as I had a number of attractions left to visit, but I had already bought my onward train ticket a few days back. That is the first time in weeks I'd planned anything (other than a flight of the Philippines) more than a couple of hours in advance. My plan was to circumnavigate Taiwan in a clockwise direction, and would plan a few days at the end of the trip back in Taipei to finish the missing attractions.

The train was everything that a traveler would need, it was clean, efficient, lots of leg room and best of all cheap. The ticket was printed in both Chinese and English so it was easy to see which carriage and seat was yours.

Train to Hualien

I didn't have accommodation when I arrived in Hualien but I had singled out 2 or 3 places with available rooms as per Booking.com. The first one I tried, was probably the best and had the best reviews but I wasn't a big fan of the location, and also it wasn't clear which of the 5 stories the hotel rooms were located and no signs in English to give you any clues.

The next gaff I managed to negotiate the price down from £16 a night as quoted on the internet to £10. For that I got a huge double room with additional sofa bed, wardrobe, table and chairs, plenty of living space and a decent sized bathroom. Where I stayed the previous night would have been able to manage that space and create a dozen or so private rooms. It was all very dated but was clean enough.

Bicycle shot

Included in the room rate was free bicycle hire which I took advantage of to find out about a day trip the next day and then to cycle to and along the coast for a good few miles. It wasn't that impressive or at least as impressive as the bloke in the homestay led me to believe.  I did find a nice cycle path which took me almost all the way back to where I was staying and ran alongside the river.

The river route, pleasant and not too hot as the afternoon clouds had rolled in

A new town and a new night market. This night market was easier to negotiate as the stalls were not so tightly packed as they were in Taipei. Once again my tried and trusted method of seeing the biggest queue and joining it worked again.

Hualien Night Market

The first thing I had was a pepper beef wrap, is probably the closest thing you could describe it as. They placed mustard, vegetables, beef, ground peanuts on the bread and folded it into an easy to eat sausage shape. Very tasty and great value for £1.

My pepper beef wrap

The second and final thing I had was about an inch slab of bread dropped in an egg mixture and toasted. The middle was then cut out of the bread and filled with beef, chicken or pork and then resealed. It was the Taiwan equivalent to a Gregg's pasty. Again it was very tasty but seriously heavy. I needed the full 3km walk back to my hotel to digest what I'd eaten. Price £1.10 including a free glass of cold milk tea.

Taiwan version of a Gregg's Steak Bake

Whilst on my bike ride I noticed a decent looking bar just around the corner from my homestay. I hadn't been to a bar in Taiwan and it was my 5th night so I called in and had a beer. I was impressed with the price of the beer, it was £2 for a large bottle, before coming to Taiwan I thought it was going to be very expensive but at this price a beer here and there wasn't going to break the budget. I got talking with one fairly eccentric French lad who had some great stories and idea's of travelling with next to no money. The trouble was he had no charisma, and his stories came across as been dull, when in reality he had enough material to write a book.

First Taiwan Beer in a bar

That night at around 4 in the morning I was awoken by an earthquake which shook the room for 5 or 10 seconds after it woke me, it was fairly gentle rocking, not too much to worry about. A few years back I was in Santiago, Chile and experienced a much more aggressive earthquake. Still this was a little unnerving as there is so very little that you can do, by the time you have realised that you are in a small earthquake, it has stopped.

The early wake up from the earthquake alerted me to something, I was covered in bites hundreds of them on my legs. The were too small to be mosquito, but they were itchy as hell.I couldn't find any evidence of anything in the room, maybe they were bed bugs or something like that?

My day trip the following day was to the Taroko Gorge. Tours were 700-1,000 Taiwan Dollars (£14 - £20) for a half day / full day tour. I'd read you could get a day ticket on the public buses for 250 (£5) and the public bus covers the same route. My French friend from the bar said it wasn't worth the money, but two other guys also in the bar said the public bus was excellent and takes you to all the places the private tours go.

I took the cheap option and it was fantastic. Maybe a little more waiting around (for the next bus) than you would have if it was an organised tour, but I probably got to see 3/4 of everything to see in a full day. I could have squeezed in one more stop on the way back but it looked like it was going to rain so I abandoned it for the day.

Entrance to Taroko Gorge visitors centre

My first stop for the day was to walk the Shakadang Trail. This walk follows the turquoise river running through the valley. The walk was very hot but very nice, the walkway was often sheltered by the cliffs. The walk was closed half way due to damage in the last typhoon season,you needed a special pre-arranged permit to continue. A little shop selling local drinks marked the end of the trial. I chose cold Oolong tea which although didn't taste good, prevented me from drinking it all in one go as I would have if it had been water.

Shakadang Trial

River running through the gorge

A short wait of 20 minutes or so and the bus picked me up and took me to the next stop. The drive was magnificent the road snaked around very high mountains and offered fabulous views.

The next stop was Bulowan, here there was a small trial and nice views high up in the mountains. Due to road repairs from recent landslides I would have to stay at this stop for two hours while the road was closed. There was just about enough to do for 30-40 minutes so the rest of the time I had lunch with a nice view.

Decent view

Lunch with a view

Once the bus finally came (because the road had been closed for 2 hours 3 came along all at once), I went to the highlight of the day Swallow Grotto. The gorge twists and turns at this point and the steep marble walls of the gorge are some 600m high. Signs were up everywhere informing you to wear a hardhat as rock falls were frequent. Everyone doing this by organised tour were handed out hard hats as they alighted the bus. No hard hats were provided on the public bus. It was a little unnerving to see 90% of the many people here with a safety helmet and just the ones doing it on the cheap braving it. I'm not sure how much protection a hard hat would be should a boulder come down at you from 600m.

Small bridge very high up over the river

The views were literally breathtaking. This small foot bridge across the gorge was closed, something I was thankful of as it would have been a must do, but was something I really didn't fancy. Because of another road closure I had to stay here for 2 hours also, but I went for a walk with a Dutch geezer, through many short road tunnels in the face of the gorge. Each one opened up to a spectacular view.

600 metre high marble walls, this photo only captures half of it

Great views from our walk

So that was Hualain and Taroko National park done, and it was a great place. I did take away another group of bites from that evening taking my total well over the double hundred so I was pleased to be moving on to Taitung the next day.

I found accommodation easy in Taitung, the first place I went to was more than a little strange, they had a tame pigeon and a rabbit running up and down on the check-in desk. Despite this it looked good, but the price seemed to be a little expensive in terms of value for money. Next door was half the price, not as good, but it had air conditioning and most importantly no bugs. They gave me a free bike and a map to explore the city and surrounding parks.

Bike cam in the park (apologies for the stray finger but I was moving at the time)

Taitung Lake

The night market here was much smaller than in other cities and I walked up and down several times before I determined what I fancied to eat. I opted for BBQ pork, egg, noodles and vegetables and a watery soup for a starter. It wasn't long after eating this I found myself hurrying back to my hotel as it hadn't agreed with me.

Night market food in Taitung

I had considered staying in an art district about an hours drive from Taitung called Doulan, instead I went there for a day trip. Doulan has a big art and craft beer scene with mountains behind and a beach in front.

After taking in the art workshops I took a walk up into the mountains. There is a cafe perched towards the top of the mountain which I'd read offered great views. The weather walking in the direction of the mountain looked terrible, very dark thick clouds, turning around looking out to the coast it looked a glorious day.

Rice fields with the mountain in the background

I continued with my walk which was a steady claim not too strenuous, although it was incredibly humid and muggy. It was a pleasant walk going past rice fields and pineapple farms. I was less than 250 meters from the cafe at the top when, from in the trees I heard some snorting and screeching. I could just about make out a large animal but couldn't tell what it was. If this animals job was to scare people off from going further up the mountain, then I must say he was very good at it.

Pineapple farm

With that I retreated and made my way back down the mountain and back to the roadside where I had to make do with a 7-11 drink with less impressive views. On the way down I did encounter another animal, a huge grey black snake that was curled up on the side of the path. He was quite a big one and I wasn't hanging around to take a photo.

I had about an hour before the next bus back to Taitung so I took a walk to the beach. The beach was further than I thought and by the time I'd made it to the sea, dipped my toes in the cold water and back up into town I had just missed the bus. The next bus was soon on its way after I had a beer chatting to a couple of local staff. Doulan was a nice place, but I'm glad I didn't stick to my original plan of a 3 nighter there. Saturday nights in the old sugar factory are supposed to be very good, with live music and local beers, but it wouldn't have been worth staying for so long.

Doulan black sand beach

After suffering with the food the day before, I skipped the night market and played it safe at a local restaurant which had good Trip Adviser reviews. There is a little art district in Taitung that has hundreds of coloured lanterns lighting the surrounding park.

Laterns in Taitung Park

Nicely done Taitung

Feeling infinantly better than I did the previous evening, I found a little beer bar that was serving 600ml bottles for just £1.45. A geezer was in there who had just bought a nice looking horse from Poland. The horse was a great attraction with the locals who don't get to see very many. The guy who had it allowed the interested folk to ride on the horse and pose for many selfies, an addiction it seems in Asia these days. I said to him that he should charge for short horse rides and make money from it. He later went on to tell me that the horse lives inside his house as he has nowhere else to keep it.

Japanese/Taiwean beer, with horse in background.

It was a nice few days in Eastern Taiwan, Taitung wasn't my favorite place ever, but that maybe because I lost a few hours after eating at the night market. Next I was to head to the very south of the Island to a beach resort popular with locals on weekends for a Friday and Saturday night stay.

A hidden Gem - Sugar Beach

Sugar beach

Following a late start due to the lure of the thermal baths at Mambukal, I set about my optimistic and epic journey to Sugar Beach. In truth I was always chasing my planned itinerary. But after the 2 buses and Jeepney ride, I saw a wonderful sunset as my journey was reaching conclusion. Trouble was it then took a massive detour and by the time I was due to alight the bus it was already pitch black dark and didn't fancy the 3km ride from a random village by tricycle followed by a paddle boat across the river and then look for accommodation.

Instead I opted to stay on the bus to Sipalay the next big resort and look for accommodation in the town and resume my travel plans the next day.

Sipalay beach

A quick check on booking.com, agoda and Airbnb, showed me a reasonably priced gaff near the bus station. A quick check in and off I went looking for food.

It was 7:50pm, and I asked in the hotel restaurant what time they were serving food until.

"I will just check with the chef sir"

2 mins later "8:30'sir"

So I ordered my meal and waited.

The waitress came back a few mins later and said "sorry we have none left of your choice, so I ordered something the waitress said was available, 10 mins later she came back and said "sorry sir, kitchen closed"

Sipalay beach had many local tourists, and I managed to get food elsewhere at a ridiculously cheap price, tasty too. It was a place the Lonely Planet says you have no reason to visit other than to catch a bus, but I thought it was a nice setting and I think the criticism was overly harsh.

Sipalay, not a bad place considering its write up in the Lonely Planet

I then went to the busiest bar on the beach front and got well in with some local lads who had been drinking a while it seemed. One guy was insistent that he bought me a drink, which out of politeness I refused. However it quickly turned 360° and ended up him wanting me to buy him and his mates beers, at which point I paid my small bill, made excuses and had an early night.

The next morning I took full advantage of having the pool to myself, had a swim and relax before continuing my journey to Sugar Beach. Each travel leg I managed to shave a considerable amount from the Lonely Planet guidelines by negotiating the price down.

Nice morning in the pool

I was glad I hadn't embarked on this remaining portion of my journey the night before, when I saw the complexity in getting to the beach. Down a very poor dirt track for about 3 km and across a river in a paddle boat. Both 'drivers' tried and failed to rip me off, but at night I would have had considerably less bargaining power.

Journey across the river

Just around the corner is Sugar Beach

I found accommodation easily enough at my preferred destination. A lovely resort that had some cheap (very cheap) Pica huts made from bamboo and coconut tree leaves. The hut was about the size of a standard garden shed, with a mattress on the floor and a mosquito net to prevent the inevitable bites due to the large gaps in the hut walls and roof.

My Pica hut 

This net did a fine job of keeping the bugs out

Sugar beach was quiet, very quiet, at times I had the place to myself. With beautiful sand fringed by coconut trees and warm sea, it was lovely. The 2nd day (Saturday) it did fill up with day and weekend trippers from the Philippines. The were all friendly and invited me to the feast they were having and I joined in with a game of volleyball.

Lazing in the hammock

I caught a little too much sun messing around in the sea having a swim. A cool breeze hit the bay making it feel cooler than it obviously was.

Nice spot this Sugar Beach

The owner of my hotel (Canadian) rocked up the next day and I spent a long time chatting with him. After the staff saw me with the owner and seemingly knowing him, the staff who were already excellent, treated me like a king for the rest of the stay.

Nice little bar on the rocks

I got taken to a cave, which otherwise I would not known existed, then shown around the nearby locals village. Drinks in the bar were good value especially when the owner was buying them. He was a bit of a confident 'businessman' and entertained me and the girls that worked at the resort with a series of magic tricks and presumably exaggerated stories.

Hidden attraction the cave at Sugar Beach

The staff in the place were really good fun, polite and confident enough to tease me over my apparent fear of the huge lizards (Gecko's) that were about. Normally I don't mind these as they eat the bugs and mosquitoes in your room. These fellas however must have eaten some mosquitoes in their time. They were about a foot long and 2 inches wide. Quick on their feet also, which made me a little jumpy, much to the humor of the staff.

HUGE Gecko's

I was asked by the owner to join him and some other guests on an all expense paid, island hopping and snorkeling trip be next day. I was too polite and too English in a way, which lead to me leaving the resort before they came back. I was annoyed with myself, throughout my travels I wanted to force myself to accept the many opportunities to come my way. In my defense I did have another monster day of travelling lined up so wanted to get away at a reasonable time. It would probably have meant staying another day with more drinks and magic on the night

So in the last couple of weeks I've been to two very beautiful and contrasting beach resorts, one massively developed (Boracay) this one much quieter. So which beach did I prefer?

Sand and sea quality Boracay just edges it, but Sugar beach was near perfect. Nightlife I preferred Sugar beach with its quiet nightlife where you get to meet and know everyone. Sugar beach is not a party destination and should remain that way in my opinion. The remoteness of Sugar Beach keeps the place special. Great for scuba diving apparently if that is your thing. Importantly to me both have magnificent sunsets to enjoy.

Philippines do sunsets exceptionally well

Another ambitious travelling day was to follow. Just as well I skipped the free boat trip as it took ages to get to Dumaguete. Back to town I took the hard route walking then a paddle boat over the river and a tricycle ride up the dusty and very bumpy beach track and into town. An alternative option was to get charter a boat to take me direct. This was 300 Peso, in both directions I got it for 120. So that was a total saving of 460 Peso (>£7) which paid for a nights accommodation.

Got to say I've loved other places more

With it been Sunday, buses weren't that frequent, but once the first one came they almost lined up as connections. I had to get three buses in total, 1.5 hours, 2.5 hours  and 2 hours. I took the unwise, even foolish over confident step at the start of the journey by buying a coconut pie from a street seller, 2 in fact as he didn't have change. The pie just looked like a standard meat pie you get in England but the filling was hot fresh coconut, the slimey stuff you get in fresh green coconuts before they have dried out. They were delicious and my stomach never suffered from the experience.

I stayed somewhere a bit nicer in Dumaguete, it was nice to get good night sleep and feel properly clean when you come out of the shower. It was well worth the £12 room charge.

All that travelling tired me out. Continuing the upscaling theme I had dinner in a highly recommended restaurant with homemade ginger lemonade which was delicious.

Fine Dining

A good sleep after an early night and I was feeling revitalised. I took in the sights of Dumagete which took about 2 hours (dragging it out), went back and did a bit of studying on the internet, which set me up nicely for another nap. 

Dumaguete Cathedral

Dumaguete Bell Tower

This hotel was really great to meet other travellers, I got onto long conversations on numerous occasions with people from round the world, sharing travel tips and stories.

Squid for just a few quid for lunch

Would I recommend Dumagete to other travels, yes but only as a stop over to break the journey. On the night walking along the seafront there is plenty going on with makeshift stalls and street food. A nice vibe of people going for an evening stroll.

Nice statue by the promenade

Next blog covers my time on Siquijor Island, famed for witchcraft and me partying hard at the annual fiesta.

Beach life in Boracay

Deciding a route through the Philippines has been a tough job, so much to see and do. I wanted to get one of the two iconic beach resorts in during my stay either Boracay or Palawan. I choose Boracay as I had a vague over land and sea route from here for the rest of my 4 week stay. Boracay was one flight, Palawan would have needed two.

Boracay Beach - home for 4 nights

Following my flight from Manila to Kalibo on the neighbouring island, my first introduction to Boracay and its tourism orientated pricing was at the ferry terminal before I got onto the island. I bought my ferry ticket for 25 Peso (38p) before side stepping to the next counter where I had to pay 75 Peso (£1.14) for an environmental ticket, one sidestep later I was another 100 Peso (£1.52) lighter this time it was a ferry terminal fee. To my knowledge the terminal fee was to pay for someone to collect my 25 Peso ticket from me and a further two forms that I'd had to fill out.

My first  view of Boracay from the boat

The boat ride was a nice trip, fairly short and worth the fee be it 38p or £3.04. To get to my resort you had to take a tricycle, which is a small motorcycle with a side car attached. A shared trip was 20 Peso a personal one was 150 Peso.

I choose a shared one and was pointed to a sidecar that was already overflowing with 9 Philippine guests and their luggage. It was amazing how they all managed to get in, let alone me join them. Anyhow I chucked my bag on the roof, and managed to squeeze half an arse cheek onto the back of the sidecar and away we went for an uncomfortable ride.

Late afternoon I was hungry, and in looking for somewhere with local foods and definitely avoid the McDonald's, Subway, TGI Fridays and Pizza places that line the the beach front. I started hunting down the alleys that lead from the main road to the beach. I came across the fish market and that did a perfect job for my supper (most nights).

The fish market had a dozen or so stalls selling lobster, tiger prawns, squids and various fishes and was surrounded by local restaurants that for a small fee would charge you for cooking what you'd purchased at the market.

Lobster or giant prawns

I bought 0.5kg of prawns 11 big sized in total and accepted the first price of 375 Peso (over £6), I should have haggled the price down further or used the other traders a leverage to lower the price. I paid small fee about 100 I think to get the prawns cooked in garlic and chili. They were delightful, I had wished I'd ordered a side dish, but it was just prawns, prawns, prawns washed down by a couple of cheap beers.

Prawns for supper

All the messing about eating the prawns made me almost miss the sunset, which as I was later to find out that Boracay does one hell of a sunset. I walked the full length of the beach in both directions, taking a mental note of live music, entertainment, drink prices and promotions for subsequent evenings.

Just missed the sunset on day one

At the furthest point away possible, it started to rain heavy, which is when my investigation mission turned into a sampling mission, as I dived into the nearest bar which had an excellent band on. An excellent way to seek refuge from the rain which soon passed.

The next day I went for a wonder to the other side of the island, it is only a ten minute walk to Bulabog Beach where I was very surprised at how windy this side of the island was. The wind was perfect for some water sorts including hundreds of kite surfers which were nice to watch.

Back in my side of the island I decided to see how far North I could walk. Around a path, over a few rocks brought me to delightful small beach cove Diniwid Beach set with hotels and restaurants clinging into the steep hills surrounding the bay. After looking on the map more beaches are further North but getting from Diniwid to them didn't seem possible.

The beach from the sea

Boracay from a hole in the cliff on my way to Diniwid

All that walking built up a nice thirst, and following the previous evenings reccy I knew where and when to go to hunt out the cheapest beers whilst and after watching a glorious sunset. The beach bars either had a band on or a solo singer or fire dancers twirling chains with fire on them.

The sunsets on another glorious day

Fire dancing in action

The next morning I had the thing that solo travelers dread, money worries. I tried to transfer some cash from my current account to my trusty travel account that is the Norwich and Peterborough. But in doing so managed to lock my current account due to forgetting the password.

The reason I have a travel account is it gives you free cash withdrawals* from ATMs all around the world. Due to a mix up I hadn't got my current account bank card with me. A quick call though and I was back activated and back in the money. It did give me around 4 hours of worry whilst I waited for UK bank opening hours.

* In Philippines they do something a bit naughty in my opinion, withdrawing 10,000 Peso (£150) appears on your statement as 10,200 so you do get stung for about £3 each time. Elsewhere on my travels recently I've seen the same in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. At least I don't suffer any of my own bank charges on top of this top off (rant over).

Once again the day was spent walking on the beautiful white sand fringed with coconut trees, stopping every now and again to cool off in the sea. The sand was perfect in Boracay, almost as soft and white as powder. The sea was also perfect chrystal clear and almost bath water warm.

Boracay beach

View from the very shallow waters

Which one to have for dinner

My final night in Boracay I got sat on a bean bag on the beach, and I watched one more magnificent light show as the sun sets. No sooner had I ordered my 2 for 1 beers a bloke rocked up with a didgeridoo, then his mates all plonked themselves down with drums and played some hypnotic tune as the sun went down. Shame they kept blocking my views, but they did draw a healthy crowd.

Man with didgeridoo and his drummer mates

So it was 20:30 on my last night and I was shattered, could I really go to bed this early on such a party island on a Fridays night? No, I didn't think so either. I went to one of the cheaper post sun down bars and got on the local run and cokes. With a healthy crowd in there, I soon got talking to fellow travellers and got a second wind which saw me through to a respectable bedtime.

So my thoughts on Boracay, it is a beautiful place, I loved the shallow clear sea, the soft white sand and the coconut trees. It was great for nightlife and it could be done fairly reasonably if you played the happy hour game. As a 'solo' destination I've been to plenty places where I've found mixing easier.

Looking back now a week or so after leaving I'm really glad I went, probably the nicest beach I've been to, but on my next visit to Philippines I will go to Palawan to compare.

Quick snap of a sand sculpture before I got asked for a tip

Decent spot for the afternoon

Supper one evening

15 minutes later

Sunset at Boracay

Sunset draws in the crowds