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.

Taipei, Taiwan

I hadn't really considered the implications of touching down in Taipei at 00:30 when I booked the flight. The airport was still crazily busy and immigration took a long time to clear. I didn't have the required flight ticket out of Taiwan but they never asked for it, so once I made the front of the queue I quickly got a free 90 day tourist visa. Another stamp in the passport, and another country I could put a tick beside in those on-line 'how many countries have you visited' polls.

Rainbow bridge

All the info I had from the lonely planet and various websites said buses running to the city would stop at midnight, the cost of a taxi was looking at >£20. This turned out to be duff info, a bus to the main bus station in Taipei was scheduled to run every 30-40 mins throughout the night.

The sign tells me that this bus is headed in exactly my direction

The queue for the bus ticket was horrendously long and once I'd bought the ticket the queue for the bus was longer, it snaked around and inside the terminal. This was going to take all night or so I thought.

I spoke to someone in charge, a difficult conversation as his English was only marginally better than my Chinese, I understood because it was so busy they have put extra buses on. And so they had, bus after bus pulled in and the queue soon went down. Where else in the world would a bus company add extra buses after midnight to cater for increased demand?

The bus station was about 1.5 km away from my hotel. No taxis were around so using the maps.me excellent navigation app (travellers should get this and pre load destinations) I found my hotel with little problems, but even so all the waiting around had pushed it to 03:00, and I was tired.

My hotel/hostel was described as one of those capsule hotels where you sleep in a tiny coffin like space. This hotel however was more of a plush backpacker dorm room. You had your privacy with the aid of a curtain to pull across, but you did share the room with plenty of others. The place was quite luxurious, the staff friendly and the price cheap.

I was woken just some 3 hours after falling asleep by a rustling person in my room. He must have gotten every single plastic bag and scrunched it into a small ball. This went on for 5 or 10 minutes, thankfully he left as a very tired Phil was starting to lose patience with him.

To avoid carting around many guidebooks with me, I got the digital edition of Taiwan Lonely Planet. Generally I like the Lonely Planet guides, sometimes I have a love hate relationship with them when it is clear slack research has been done. Getting around using the digital version is much more difficult. I tried to take the walking tour, something I find easy, but swiping left and right between the map and the navigation instructions just isn't the same to me as flicking the pages. Perhaps I'm just old school when it comes to books.

Longshan Temple

Temple Roof

Digital or physical the walking tour had a few mistakes and a few places where I interpreted the instructions incorrectly. The tour once on the right path led me to many fantastic temples and museums and parks. It was a long trail when tired.

Red House

Taipei park

228 Peace Park Taipei

Along the route I took in some Iced bubble tea. It had an acquired taste, the black bits were chewy jelly tapioca, which every now and again you got a lump sucked up the straw.

Bubble Iced Tea - the bubble is tapioca

I asked in the hostel a place to go to see some nightlife, it was Friday night in Taipei after all. I however was having a few nights off the beer after a reasonably busy last few nights in Philippines. I was directed near the red house which was part of my earlier walking tour. I was tired and just wasn't feeling it, so after a walk around I took the underground back near my hostel and found some delicious duck noodles.

Duck Noodles

Another fairly restless night despite been ultra tired meant I decided not to extend my stay here but move on to another part of town. The place I found was great, only a little more expensive, but I got a private room, the hosts were great, it was very secure and located right next to the train station I needed to be at for my next destination a couple of days later.

Language was proving a little difficult, most Taiwanese could speak a little but seemed shy and afraid of making a mistake. I had many conversations speaking via the excellent interpreter that is Google Translate.

I was told of a local specialty, a Taiwan Hamburger, and my host showed me where they were best. It was a mix of pulled pork and fatty belly pork in a very soft and spongy bun, with added ground peanuts, some dark green stuff (presumably seaweed) and coriander. It was a little over £1 and absolutely delicious, so I had another.

The making of the pork bun

Pork Bun

That afternoon I visited Taipei 101, the 5th tallest building in the world. I went up to the top floor and stayed up there for around 3 hours. I was mainly chatting with the locals and visiting Chinese tourists, having a laugh and a joke with them where the language barrier allowed.

On top of the world at Teipei 101

Behind is the Taiphoon and earthquake breaker up Teipei 101

Nice surroundings outside Teipei 101

Sadly the weather wasn't brilliant, it was trying (successfully at times) to rain all day. This meant that the 91st outdoor floor was closed and also spoilt what would have been magnificent views. Whilst I was there it had become dark, so I got to see buildings illuminated in neon signs.

Not my favourite huge building but a good one

On my way home I called into Riohe Night Market. Night markets are similar to town fairs in England, with games for kids and temporary street stalls selling local delicacies. I loved this night market, and it really was an experience to many of my senses. Some of the stalls, my nose told me to move on quickly, others my eyes didn't like the look of what was on offer.

Deep fried seafood stall

I never tried this

Or any of this

One stall had a huge queue making similar, but different pork buns to what I'd had earlier. As I stood in the queue you could almost imagine the commentary Rick Stein would have given this place on his food hero's series.

My supper getting made

Dough was beaten flat on steel surfaces, before been passed to someone to add a handful of spring onions, then a handful of pork was added and the bread rolled into a perfect shaped bun. A sprinkling of sesame seeds and then places of the side of a burning hot ovens. It was good to watch whilst I waited in line. Delicious too at £1, a bargain.

Just needs to be put in the oven now

Delicious but very very hot (temperature not spice

On the way back I caught a Chinese style show, I had no idea what was going on, but watched for a bit. It was a hybrid of a Punch and Judy show and an Opera.

Chinese show

Another early night, another night without beers, but I was woken firstly by a group of 20 noisy Chinese who had been sampling the beer it seemed, and then a fire a few buildings away meant 6 fire engines with full sirens blasting for a hour or so at about 02:00.

So my first 3 nights in Taiwan I had very little sleep. This still didn't stop me from taking a full day trip in. I did It all on the metro (MRT). First stop in the northernmost station on the lines was Tamsui. It was really nice here, traditional old buildings, churches, temples and a fort.

Tamsui

Tamsui University

Tamsui Cathedral

The walk back was just as entertaining as I walked along the riverside, which had plenty going on, almost a UK seaside town feel to it , from years gone by. With it been Sunday, many locals were having a day out.

A few stops towards town was Beitou a town built around thermal pools. Lots of the buildings had a 1970's concrete theme, but there were nice modern eco-buildings.

Hot spring valley

I took a walk along Thermal Valley which led to a turquoise/green lake which was so hot it had steam coming from it. Locals used to cook eggs in the lake but too many injuries led to safety fences been erected.

Steaming hot springs

There are many thermal pools and spas where you can bathe in the thermal pools. Some more pricey than others. I choose the public pools which for 80p offered great value. It had 6 pools. Very cold, cold, hot, very hot, boiling and ridiculous. I managed to stay about 5mins in the one I labelled boiling, I did dip my toe in the ridiculous pool, and thought better of it.

Hot spring pools

I calculated that I had gone through 48 MRT stations that day all for about half the price of a single trip on the London Underground. The Easy card is a must for any visitors to Taiwan, it makes it cheaper and is much more convenient. I got to use it on buses throughout Taiwan.

Another trip to the night market, another pork bun, some sausages washed down with some cranberry juice it was an early night at 21:30.  I had the hotel to myself this night, and was looking forward to a full uninterrupted night. Just as I was having a glass of water on the balcony the owner arrived with a few beers, a couple of hours later the early night was well out of the window.

Sausage man

At last a Taiwan Beer

Peter the owner arrived at the hotel with some breakfast for me as a present. It was thin Singapore style noodles, with a HOT chili flavour, various other things were in the soup, some I tried, but others didn't look do-able.

I loved my stay in Taipei, had a great time, just the two beers and if I return at the end of the trip (likely), I will stay again in the 2nd hotel.

Next up is my time spent in Eastern Taiwan.

Last few days in the Philippines

With my last 6 nights in the Philippines I was looking forward to visiting Bohol and Cebu. Bohol has a number of attractions all possible to be done by public transport. With that in mind I stayed in Tagbilaran the Island capital and use it as my transport hub.

Philippine flag flying proudly over the beautiful Virgin Island

I stumbled on a gem of a find for accommodation, Nisa Travellers Inn had single rooms for just 500 Peso (about £8), had hot water showers (separate) and included breakfast. It had a large common room where it was easy to meet and chat with other travellers which were a nice mix of holiday making Filipinos and foreign travellers.

The ferry I caught went via Dumaguete (which was an earlier destination of mine) and it took quite a long time to get to Bohol.

Before dark I looked to find anything that resembled any kind of nightlife. I had on a place in mind, but couldn't find it despite having walked past it 3 or 4 times. Even when I did locate it, it looked rough and edgy from the outside. It was with great trepidation that I went inside and up the dark back stairs to the bar. Inside however it was really nice. The people were friendly and the live band was good.

Best bar in Bohol - singers weren't bad either

I fancied a tourism day and I wanted to do it all on public transport. Catching a cheap tricycle ride to the bus station I hopped on the local bus to Carmon, 2 hours for 80p. I love the local buses in the Philippines the non ac kind are even cheaper and with all the windows fully down it lets fresh cool air rush through the bus. One problem with the buses is compared to the buses in England the seats that are meant for 2, fit 3 locals. Sometimes I had an unpleasant ride, If possible I tried to tactically choose seats where I was going to get a bit more room. Locals are very friendly on the buses and usually you spend the whole journey having a good laugh with them.

Chocolate Hills

Getting off at the Chocolate Hills complex look-out point, I got to see hundreds of cone shaped hills which were brownish due to the dry climate. From the top it was impressive, sadly my photo's haven't done it the justice it deserved.

More Chocolate Hills

Jumping (quite literally) onto a bus pulling away I was bound for my next stop the Tarsier Sanctuary. Tarsiers are native to Bohol and are said to be the inspiration behind the film ET. 

A Tarsier hides from the camera and the sun

Again my photo's aren't great, but these little fellas are tiny and nocturnal. You could get reasonably close to them, but they were hidden under the shade of trees.

Best I could mange on my smartphone

Next stop was Loboc. This bus ride was particularly interesting as it was spent with a local mother trying to fix me up with her 24 year old daughter, very nice she was too.

Loboc river cruise

Loboc wasn't really on my radar for the day, but when the bus went through earlier I saw a wide turquoise river passed through it. Speaking with others travellers that day they said it was a nice place to walk and you could take a tourist cruise on the river.

Kids hanging on to the side of our boat

Time was getting on a bit, so I opted for the cruise. It was touristy, but I liked it. It slowly went through beautiful scenery. Local kids were diving in the water and got pulled along by the ropes attached to the boat. Some kids would traverse up coconut trees hanging over the river and jump in to entertain the passengers.

Kid jumping into the river

We stopped off at a local dance group who put on a short performance of traditional dancing. 

Dancing girls

Catching the bus back to Tagbilaran and then a Jeepney to close to my hotel, I'd had an excellent day out, very cheap and enjoyable. I love self organised day trips.

Jeepney selfie

I stayed an extra night in Tagbilaran, not because I had lined up anything extra to see, but I liked the hotel which was cheap with lovely receptionists, I'd made lots of mates during my time in the common room, and really I couldn't decide where to go next.

My extra day was Sunday, I spent it wandering shopping malls, testing out the theory on how easy it is to get chatting to women in malls. It was, I didn't need any shopping, but it was quite a relaxing and enjoyable day. The evening was very quiet. I spent it recharging the batteries of my laptop and phone and more importantly my own battery which had been running on low power for a few days.

Bohol, Philippines

My last 3 days were to be in Cebu (22nd biggest city in Philippines) or head south to a connecting (by road bridge) island Panglao for 2 days by the sea and 1 night in Cebu. All the people I spoke with said it was a no-brainer, so I headed to the beach.

Again I wanted to do it local style and by Jeepney. 2 Vietnamese girls came with me from the hotel. This ride was a classic experience. I counted 37 passengers crammed in the Jeepney, plus there would be others buried under the mass of people. There were also a few on the roof along with my bag, which I was worried about as I'd left my wallet and passport easily accessible. I needn't have worried as it remained untouched.

Not much room in this Jeepney ride

I didn't have anywhere to sleep, the Vietnamese girl I liked the best (and had got on very well with) said I should try the same hotel as them, which I did. She asked for me whilst checking in, and came out and told me they only had the super deluxe room so I went elsewhere. Alona was a small place we were both there for 2 nights so I was bound to meet up again later. I never, which was a great shame.

Alona Beach

Finding some cheaper accommodation and saving about £10 I used this to book 2 tours. I hadn't been on an organised tourist trip all the time I'd been travelling since the end of Feb, in fact I think it is something where Philippines lacks a little for the solo traveller. However most things are easily done cheap on public transport.

The first tour I took in was a firefly trip along the river. I'd read up on how best to photograph fireflies but didn't understand any of it, I think the website I was reading was for the serious photographers with SLR cameras not just a smartphone. The trip was good, I was joined by 3 Danish girls, a German girl and a Chinese family.

The fireflies were impressive, looking like Christmas lights in the trees. My photo's were dire, just a black screen, no matter which mode I tried to take them. The guide was very informative about the fireflies and the tribes that live in the area.

Fireflies at night!

This trip finished at close to 10pm and my other trip was a 6 am start, so when the German girl asked if I want to join her for a drink I did the sensible thing and said yes of course. Seriously though I was sensible to call it a night after a couple.

The next trip was a dolphin watching and island hopping trip. The dolphins did play along after a while and we got to see quite a few. The rest of the trip was ok, the highlight been when we visited Virgin island, a small beautiful island with a religious theme.

Dolphin watching

Virgin Island

That evening was one of my favourite nights in the Philippines. I ate for ridiculously cheap by the beach with a load of locals, had drinks in a small bar again chatting to mainly locals and finished with a nightcap across the road from my hotel, again meeting some lovely people.

The next day was mainly a travelling day, doing it like the locals by catching a Jeepney then the ferry to Cebu.  One bad taste on the ferry was I think I was ripped off at the baggage check in. I was certain I was overcharged but I had little time to query it. It was just £1.50 after all.

On the ferry I met a girl from London who told me of somewhere cheap and good to stay in Cebu. It was a great recommendation however the area around wasn't the best so I had an early night.

My last day in the Philippines I took the opportunity for another cheap haircut 80p and went to look at the sights. My half day tour of Cebu was probably suffucient.

It was the 450th anniversary of something religious and a street carnival was celebrating this fact. A nice way to end my stay.

Fiesta selfie

Cebu Carnival

I loved ever minute of my stay in Philippines, the highlight was definitely the people and in particular the smiles. The greetings you got from locals instantly transformed your day. I was ready to move into a new country, Taiwan, but it wasn't long after leaving Philippines I missed it enormously.

Philippines I will be back.