Taiwan: lovely little country off the beaten (western) path
What can I say. Let's start with: Taiwan is an amazing country. If you like the mountains, beautiful nature, good food and friendly people, then Taiwan is the right place for you. It also is definitely off the standard tourist track for western people. So a lot of reasons to go here. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's first do a short (haha) description of my time here.
I arrived in Taipei around midnight and was a bit worried how everything will go. But my friend Ying-chu had prepared me well. On arrival everything went smooth, I caught the bus heading to the Taipei main station directly and was in my hostel around 1:30. My hostel was not really nice so first thing next morning I moved to another one. And this time I picked well. It was a very cool place. I couldn't check in yet but could already do my laundry there. In the afternoon I met with Ying-chu. It was so great to see her again! Readers of my previous blogs may remember her. We managed to meet up in Peru for four times without ever planning it. So here we are, I'm really excited to hear about and experience Ying-chu's hometown. She took me to the historic part of town and gave me an introduction to Taiwan's history and political situation. Although it was slightly raining and compared to the Philippines quite cold, I had a great first day. We planned a bit my next two weeks and then went together with Ying-chu's boyfriend to a nightmarket. I tried the famous oyster omlet, but chose for myself a safer version with shrimps. I was still a bit exhausted from all the traveling and went to bed early. The next morning I got ready to start my trip around the island. Although there is still a lot to explore in and around Taipei, I decided to go down the west coast first, due to the better weather forecast. I had booked a flight out as necessary for the visa (though it is only checked by the airline) and somehow thought that two weeks are enough for such a small country. I realised quickly that it isn't. So I skipped the famous sun moon lake and went down to Chiayi, which is a great place close to the mountains.
One thing I realised quickly: there are basically no organised hiking tours in Taiwan. In Peru you would just go to a little mountain town and find plenty of tour organisers. Here not. The lonely planet states: it is a great place for hiking as you can just go by yourself and don't need a tour. Except for the permits. Basically most of the great hikes here you need to apply for a permit online some time before. Without speaking Chinese this could be difficult. But my main issue: I didn't want to hike alone in a country I don't know. So even with the help of Ying-chu, I couldn't find a way to organise a multi day hike. So we decided my first stop is the Alishan recreational area, which is a well developed mountain area. After one night in Chiayi I packed my daybag, left my big bag at the hostel and made my way to the mountain bus station. The great news: because it is women's day the bus ticket was free! It rained the whole 3 hours bus drive up to Alishan. I was sitting next to a lovely lady from Chiayi, who spoke about five words English. Despite the language barrier, we somehow communicated well and I saw pictures of her whole family. When we arrived it was still raining badly. With our umbrellas we went to the mountain train station and after a short ride in a cool old train we were in the middle of the forest. We walked around and saw some cool old trees. We even passed some cherry blossom trees. Despite the rain we took some pictures and then moved on to the hotel there. I wanted to stay overnight in the mountain, but didn't find an affordable accommodation online. So I went into the first hotel I saw and found out that it really was not affordable. They were so nice to let us ride back to the visitors center with their shuttle bus. After all the rain and cold I was a bit done with this place. But I also wasn't ready to get back to Chiayi. So I decided to go to Fengsihu, a village 40 minutes back, from where you can take a scenic train bank to Chiayi. Before the bus left the lady invited me to lunch and then made sure I take the right bus. In Fengsihu our paths split, but she had invited me for the next day to try a local speciality: pineapple cake.
In Fengsihu I found a hotel which gave me a little discount, which brought to room price to a only slightly painful level. Luckily the rain had stopped and I walked around the little town a bit. Although there wasn't much I still liked it. After a quick dinner I went to bed early. Not only had I to get up for sunrise watching at 3:30 am, but I also was freezing my ass off. After a long shower I called it a night and hid myself under the huge blanket.
The next morning I got to the 7/11 where a car would pick me up. They had put the 5 western foreigners in one car. We drove back up to Alishan and got dropped at the train station. Me and a nice couple I had met on the bus waited for the first crazy crowded train to leave and took the last train. Great idea as our train was nearly empty and we didn't have to wait so long up in the cold. We then quickly passed the place where everyone was standing and followed the advice of our hotel to go to the lookout five minutes walking from there. Great choice. It was a beautiful place and way less people there. I learned that the place is so famous because when the sun comes over the mountain it lights up the valley at once. We already knew that our chances are bad to see this mystical moment due to the weather. I still enjoyed it. I then walked with the couple around the park. It was so beautiful. I couldn't recognise the places I had been to the day before. Such a difference in the sun! Although it was not really hiking as it is all paved walks I had a good time. Then I took the bus back to Fengsihu and walked around there with two girls I met on the bus. The train ride back was unfortunately mainly in the clouds but I still enjoyed it a lot. Back in Chiayi I got picked up by the lady I had met the day before and her daughter. Finally we could communicate as the daughters English was great. They took me to this place with Japanese style wood houses. I learned that the workers from the wood industry up in the mountains had lived here and now it is a touristy place. We went into the shop that sells pineapple cakes. We tried some cake and pineapple vinegar. They even got me a gift box with pineapple cake. Unfortunately they don't stay fresh long enough so I will need to eat it myself in the next weeks. They even offered me to stay at their place, but as I already had spent three days of my 14 days in total in the area, I wanted to move on. They took my out for dinner and treated me with lovely dumplings. I still can't believe the generosity of these people who took care of me and treated me like family. We exchanged details (or used the modern way of becoming Facebook friends) and I hope I will be able to pay them back one day when they make their way over to Europe. After they dropped me at my hostel, I got my big backpack and made my way further down the coast to Tainan. It was a short train ride and I even walked the 25 minutes to my hostel. I am so glad that I had sent 4.5 kilos back home when i arrived in Taiwan. I will need to wash a bit more often and won't have a mosquito net and other useful things I nearly never used, but it makes little walks like this with all my luggage possible. I don't have a clue how I managed all of this still, after all I had been up since 3:30 this morning. In my hostel I immediately crashed into bed, being very happy having the room to myself.
The next day I slept in and took it easy. I deserved a bit of rest. Ying-chu had advised me to go to the Anping district first, because you can learn a lot about the history and it was Friday so in the weekend it would be more crowded. I first thought about walking there, but then ended up taking a shuttle bus. I had bought the easy card with Ying-chu, which is the Taipei metro card but you can use it in more and more cities in the country. So taking a bus is very easy, you swipe the card and go.
I Immediately liked the Anping district. It has a good vibe and many places with delicious food. Ying-chu had given me a long list of local specialities I had to try, and I still had a lot of things to do. I started my trip in Fort Zeelandia. Sounds familiar? Yes, it was a Dutch fort. I really can't get away from the Dutchies :-)
I met two people walking through the little museum, where we acknowledged the fact that we can be happy that there is English descriptions, but at the same time were a bit confused, because there was no real story line, the events going back and forth with some repeats. I went to lunch with one of the two and exchanged numbers with the other. After a nice local lunch we went to the next tourist highlight: the tree house. I loved it. An old house had been taken over by trees and now there are pathways built through it. Cool place. Then it was already time to say goodbye again and I tried to get to my next spot on the list: the mangrove tunnel. So I got to the bus stop and luckily the bus should come in 1 minute only. So I waited and waited and... After a while I gave up and made a nice walk to the eternal golden fort. Unfortunately it was a bit boring, but the walk there had been nice anyways. I took the bus back to the hostel, checking out some cool temples on the way.
There I met a local guy who walked with me to the famous department store: it was the first and the highest there (5 storeys) and a little Japanese temple on top. It was a nice little excursion and if you like shopping there were some cool stores inside. But I was really hungry so we made our way to the little stalls that still sold food. I really like to walk through this city. Good mix of traditional and artsy new places. Great food and drinks. And you never feel unsafe.
The next morning I met the girl that I met in Fort Zeelandia again. We decided to skip the unreliable touristy bus and take the city bikes. And it's so easy: put in your credit card and for a small fee you get a bike. We enjoyed the 15km ride to the mangroves. After visiting another cool temple there and listening to some kids play the drums in front of it I went to the little boat ride. Sarah decided to bike a bit around as she gets easily seasick. So I ended up being the only white person on the tourist boat taking you into the mangroves. It was a nice 30 minutes boat ride, I didn't feel like missing out a lot from the Chinese nonstop commentary. When the lady got really excited I followed her pointer and saw little crabs or birds. The Chinese tourists were a little bit part of my sightseeing tour :-)
While cycling back to town Sarah and my way split again as our travels were going in opposite directions. I could have easily spent more time in Tainan, but as I had only two weeks in total I decided to move on. So I packed my bag and walked to the train station. With my bag being lighter now I decided I can do a little detour via the Confucius temple. It was a nice walk, I found another cool and artsy street but I was very glad when I arrived at the train station. After all it was getting a bit hot and the bags heavy.
A short 30 minutes train ride and I arrived in Kaoshiung, the second biggest city of Taiwan. My expectations were low as people described it as an ugly metropole. I really liked it though. My hostel was nice, although again I didn't really meet English speaking people there. So I started my first exploration and went to the famous Famosa Boulevard metro station. The light installation was really cool. As it was already getting dark outside I walked to the public park, where there was another light installation. Nothing spectacular but I enjoyed taking some pictures and listening to a couple making music. I tried to find a bar afterwards, but the only one I found had a minimum consumption, which was way higher than the one beer I wanted. After all it had been long day, so I gave up and went back to the hostel. The next day I got myself again one of the city bikes and here it was even free the first 30 minutes. So I made my way to the governors place. A cute little piece of history, with nice views back in the city. I had a coffee with a very nice Korean family and their German exchange student and his mother. She was very lovely but her son is a spoilt brat and a waste of the schools money to get him to Taiwan. So I said goodbye after a while and made my way to Cijin island. It's just a 5 minutes ferry ride and the local beach retreat. It was like entering into a different world with hundreds of seafood and tourist souvenir stalls. I made it through that road quickly and enjoyed then my walk on the beach. Some brave people went swimming, for me the feet were enough. I tried to walk back on the other side of the island, but unfortunately there was no beach and I had to walk on the street, in the heat. The cool thing: I found a huge wall with paintings of local food and history. Even Ying-chu didn't know that one :-)
Back on the mainland I started to discover the art district, which is a former industrial area. Again I liked it very much, especially the little art market. As I just had sent my stuff home I didn't want to buy new stuff already, but I could have spent quite some money there. I rested a bit at the park and thought about what to do next. Unfortunately I came up too late with the plan to watch sunset from the Kaoshiung 85 tower. I still biked there, but then just couldn't motivate myself to go up. So I went back to the hostel and followed the advise of the guy at the reception: get a beer at the supermarket and drink it on the hostel couch.
Again I could have stayed longer, but as my time was short I decided to move on. I skipped the southern tip of Taiwan and crossed over to the east coast. People had advised me to skip the city of Taitung and take a bus 40 minutes up the coast to Dulan. I met nice people on the bus and enjoyed the scenic coastal road. I checked in to my hostel, went for sesame noodles as lunch and directly followed the advice to go to the cape cafe. It was a 30 minutes walk, half along the main road and half along a cute rural road with rice fields around it. The cafe was at a beautiful place, a small cliff with great ocean views. I spent my afternoon reading and relaxing. For the next morning I booked me a surfing lesson. If I can't hike as much as I wanted at least let's try something new.
So here I am, 7am at the surf hostel. After a while my surf teacher comes in with bad news: not a good day for beginners. I thought about going back to bed, but they offered me a tea so I stayed around. At the moment Dulan is not really crowded, my hostel is pretty empty. At this hostel however there are around 6 travellers working, so there is always someone around.
In the afternoon I had signed up for a little hike from my hostel. We were 4 girls on the hike. It was an easy relaxed walk up the river bed with some minor scrambling. One of the girls struggled a bit, so we took it very slow. The scenery was just amazing! At the end we had a beautiful small waterfall, where we rested before we headed back down. Once back on the road we got lucky and a local woman we had met on the hike offered to take us back to town in her car. It was a good day in beautiful nature. We all had dinner together and had a beer at the hostel to round up the day. The next day I had planned to hike mount Dulan with three girls. All of them are working at the hostel or cafe in town, but luckily had their day off. So we rented two scooters and drove to the starting point of the hike. The scooter ride was already fun, some parts being really steep and with a great view back on the coast. The hike was similar: quite steep, in the beginning with some great coastal views and through thick forest. With the fog it felt like walking through an enchanted forest. Unfortunately I noticed quickly that I hadn't been hiking much lately. The 5 hour up and down were quite tiring for me, but ay least in very good company. Going down we noticed we were starving and decided to make use of the scooters and drive a bit further to Donghe town to try the famous Baoze. It got a bit chilly on the ride, so we were really glad when we arrived 30 minutes later. We tried our first Baoze, which is basically a bun with filling. We wanted to try one from the other store, only to find out it was closed. When we came back we had to find out that most varieties had sold out already. No more peanut filling :-( ah well, all of them are good! After that we rode back to Dulan, had some more food and then wanted to call it an early night. However, there was a house party somewhere in Dulan and everyone was going. I didn't feel like party but me and some girls agreed to join for one beer. When we arrived there everyone was already quite drunk and I was sure I won't stay long. But then we had an amazing encounter with a local guy from a tribe. He had brought his handmade guitar and bass. He played us a song and was very happy to tell us his story. He collects drift wood and really made an art out of finding the right wood for the right part of the instrument. Really cool! Time flew and it was a great night. Luckily I still made it to bed before midnight.
Because the next morning it was my second try for surfing lessons! Same as last time: 7am at the hostel. And this time successfully. There was one more guy joining the lesson. It was a great morning. I had tried surfing before, about 10 years ago. With no teacher. And I just didn't manage to stand up. This time it was great. I knew what I had to do and could book quickly first successes. Around lunch time the lesson was finished, but we could use the board all day. I stayed at the beach cafe, had lunch there and read my book. When the guys came back in the afternoon I nearly didn't join them. It wasn't really warm and the waves didn't look good. Luckily they convinced me and we had a good time in the water. It is amazing when you sit on your board, turn around and for the first time see the coastline from the other side. The mountains in the clouds just looked amazing.
By this time I had already extended my stay in Dulan twice and was about to stay another night or two. But time was running up. I had booked a flight to Borneo in only a couple of days and still wanted to visit the Taroko gorge and wanted to spend some time with Ying-chu in Taipei. So again I ended up changing my flight, pushing it a week further. This meant I could do one more day of surfing and then make my way to Taipei on Saturday. It would mean I had to go back partially for doing the Taroko gorge, but as Ying-chu was leaving for a trip to Korea beginning of the week I decided to do it this way. The next morning and afternoon I tried to improve my surfing skills. It was another nice day with good people. There were two things in my Dulan To-Do list I hadn't done yet: try a craft beer at the sugar factory and a bonfire at the beach. I had nearly given up as the craft beer place was always closed when I tried and everyone was positive about bonfires but it never actually happened. So I tried one last time and succeeded! With 4-6 people we went to the craft beer place. Nice bar and the beer was good. Something different from the standard, a bit boring, local beer. We were all not really in a party mood, but I tried anyways: how about a bonfire on the beach? And people said yes! So we went back to the hostel, told some more people, got some beer at 7/11 and off we are. A short walk to the beach, collecting some drift wood and soon after the fire is on. It was a fun and relaxed evening, we ended up being a nice crowd of 10-20 people. So now everything of my to To-do list is done and I can finally leave.
The next morning I took it easy, packed my bag and did a last walk to my favourite cafe: the cape cafe. Then the standard travellers story: take a bus, train, metro... I had decided to go to yet another hostel in Taipei, in another part of the city and a bit cheaper. It was a nice place with friendly people. I went for a quick dinner at the night market and then went to bed early.
The next morning I met up with Ying-chu to explore the city. We decided to take the gondola up a hill and hike back down to the city. We rented some cheap city bikes to get to the gondola, which was a relaxed 30 minutes bike ride along a river. The gondola was nice, despite the loud locals in the cabin and the city being hidden behind fog. Up on top we started with a famous green tea icecream, yummy! Then we walked around and I really enjoyed it. Beautiful nature and good views. From time to time Taipei 101 even was visible through the clouds. After our walk we decided to take a bus to the area of Taipei 10, to see it from closer. We got off at an art district and walked around little art stalls. Again, if I hadn't just sent a package back home I could have done some nice souvenir shopping. Next stop was Taipei 101, but as it was partially still in fog I decided not to go up. Seems to be a pattern for me. Despite being there twice already, I never went up the KL Petronas towers. A nice little attraction next to the tower was a school bus from a famous kids books artist. Very cute.
The next morning I struggled to get out of bed again. Ying-chu was back to studying for her job interview and I wanted to hike up a mountain. But as it was already late I changed my plans and joined a girl I met at the hostel to Tamsin. She wasn't interested in cycling so we just took the metro there and then walked around. After a while we decided to take the bus along the coastal road and visit the geopark in Yehliu. Unfortunately we were a bit unlucky. First we had to take a bus back to Tamsin and then our bus along the coast had a flat tire after only 10 minutes. We had to wait nearly 30 minutes for the next bus to come. So our idea of getting out any place we like along the route and get in the next bus 1 hour later was not possible anymore. We arrived at Yehliu 15 minutes before 5, which was the last entrance. They told us we could stay in the park until the sun goes down, so we entered. In the beginning it was very crowded. But then I decided to take a path a bit further and suddenly was all on my own! The next 40 minutes I met maybe 5 people. The path was beautiful, with big butterflies and amazing sea views. I went all the way to the end and back. On the way back I could watch a beautiful sunset. I tried to hurry as the girl from the hostel waited for me at the beginning but I kept on being distracted by taking pictures of amazing views. Back at the touristy part with cool rock formations, it was as well completely empty when I came back. A couple of shots and then I hurried back to the entrance to meet with the girl. We walked back to the bus station and just caught the bus back to Taipei. Luckily I had bought some fruit on the way as we were starving.
Back in Taipei I was to meet with Ying-chu and her boyfriend for dinner, but as the bus was a bit faster than expected I still had some time. So I walked parts of the way and when I passed a nice sports bar, I went in for a beer. Fun to watch baseball and American football for a bit. The dinner with Ying-chu and her boyfriend was amazing. Good company and delicious food. She had brought me to a place with indigenous food and it was so good. After dinner we had to take a picture with an 'aboriginal' guy who had played a role in a movie it seems. I wouldn't have wanted to walk past him in a dark alley :-)
The next morning I checked out of my hostel. I left my big bag there, as I would be flying out of Taipei in less than a weeks time anyways. Following another advise of Ying-chu, I've decide to make a day trip to Pixie. Every year there is a big lantern festival, but it is also a nice mountain village and you can light the lanterns anytime. I took a train to the starting point of the mountain train. Until I had put my bag in a locker I just missed the train. As the train goes every hour I went for lunch there. One hour later I was on the mountain train and only a couple minutes later at the first stop: the cat village. I didn't really get the fuzz about the cats, so I walked along the river past an old mine and just enjoyed the misty mountain woods atmosphere. Luckily it wasn't raining too bad. An hour later I was on the train again. I had thought about skipping Shifen waterfalls as it was getting late again, but Ying-chu called it a must, so I got off the train. And I'm glad I did. The first meters along the track were fascinating crazy. Everywhere you could see the lanterns, people write something on it and then let it rise on the train tracks. All accompanied by taking hundreds of pictures of course. It was really a bit crazy, so I started to make my way to the waterfall. Taxis want to take you there, but it was just a 10 minutes walk, so I decided to walk. The weather was still slight rain, but luckily not too cold. I enjoyed the walk and once I arrived at the waterfall, I understood what Ying-chu ment. They were really nice. Not as big as Iguazu or Niagara, but still very beautiful. I took a couple of pictures and then headed back to the train station. Unfortunately it took me just a bit more than one hour, so I had missed the train again. I spent the rest of the hour by watching people paint their lanterns and enjoyed a nice tea to warm up. I had decided against making my own latern, as I had seen the remainings of the lanterns everywhere around the place in the woods. It is nice to watch, but it makes also a hell of a mess.
When I took the next train it was already getting dark. I thought about just getting out at the next stop for a couple minutes and take the next train back to the city, but then stuck with the original plan. I took the train to the final stop and then walked 20-30 minutes back to Pixie. Here as well they tried to sell their lanterns, but as it was already getting late, unfortunately everything was closing up already. After a little wait I could take the last train down, got my bag at the train station and took one more train to a little town close to Ylan. I had booked a night at a nice surfers hostel, which my surfing teacher in Dulan had recommended. Luckily it was only a couple minutes walk and the guy at the hostel welcomed me warmly. I was their only guest today. He had a friend over to watch a movie and I joined. It was great to sleep in the dorm by myself, falling asleep to the sound of the ocean! The next morning I got up and after breakfast rented a surfboard for some more practice. The guy from the hostel had a student, so luckily I wasn't alone in the water. The waves were not really great, but at least I got a bit of practice. After 1-2 hours I got cold and went out for lunch. I got along very well with the girl that had taken the lessons and I enjoyed the day a lot. We were sitting on the boardwalk, drinking tea, talking, reading and just enjoying the rural life and beach view. I was thinking about staying one more day, but as the weather wasn't really good and waves were not expected to improve, I decided to move on. I took a train in the early evening to Hualien. My plan there was to stay for two nights to discover the famous Taroko Gorge. When I arrived, I checked in to my hostel, went out for a quick dinner and then went to bed early. I had planned to catch the first bus up to the gorge to be there before all the tourists. I thought about joining a group tour, but there was only one available in Chinese and so I decided to just do it on my own.
Unfortunately I nearly didn't sleep that night, so I ended up on the 9am bus instead of the 7am bus. After 30 minutes I arrived at the first stop, where the hike that I had chosen starts. It was meant to be a 3-4 hours hike and I was really excited about it. So I tried to get ahead of all the Chinese tour bus tourists and walked quickly ahead. It was beautiful, although I hadn't expected to walk on such prepared paths. And after 20 minutes I already arrived at the point where the path was damaged and I had to turn around. I had read online, that you can't do the whole hike, but hadn't expected to bring it down to more or less a 45 minutes walk in total. So I turned around and walked back to the bus stop. Seems like today will be a lot of short strolls and not real hiking, like I had hoped for. It turned out that the hike where you needed a permit for (which I hadn't taken care of early enough), was the only path that you can actually call a hike. Anyways, many more nice walks to explore. I met a very nice girl at the bus stop. She had taken the 8am bus, but just missed the bus with which I came in the park, so she had to wait a full hour for the next one. We took the bus up a winding road to the last stop. It was a nice drive, though by far not as scary as the lonely planet had described it. We started our next walk there, which turned out to be a very nice one. We went through a tunnel and along parts of the gorge to a little waterfall. We seemed to be lucky and were walking most of the time all by ourselves. After this walk we had a good lunch in the town there and then took the next bus back. Halfway back we got out for one last walk - the most famous part of the gorge. It was beautiful, with nice views on the marble gorge, but also weirdly along the road and with a lot of bus tourists that were driven as far as the bus could get. After this we headed back to town and I have to say: I understand why the Taroko gorge is famous. It is beautiful marble stone, nice views and beautiful nature. I wished that it wasn't made up that much for tourists. What is wrong with a normal walking path? Do you need to flatten everything so that tourists in flip-flops can walk there?
Back at my hostel, I prepared myself for the adventure I had planned for the next three days. I heard from so many people how amazing it is to bike down the east coast from Hualien to Taitung. I chatted with some girls I had met, who had done the trip and discussed the different options with Ying-Chu. Did I want to do the easier coastal road all the way down? Or do I dare to do the more challenging but also more exciting road along the mountains? I decided to see what the guys at the bike rental will say and decide spontaneously.
Here I am, Friday morning, standing at the bike shop, ready for my adventure. The guy looks a bit weirdly at me, when I tell him I want a bike to ride to Taitung. No bikes left, Madam. What? I really hadn't thought this could happen. I tried to find another bike shop that rents one way, but couldn't find one. So here I am, no clue what I'll do for the next three days, which are also my last days in Taiwan. Walking past hundreds of scooters for rent, I get an idea: hey, why not do the same plan but the easy way? I had to ask 2-3 agencies for a scooter rental, as some don't rent to people without a Taiwanese drivers licence or want to keep your passport. But then I found one that looked good, spoke English and rented me a scooter for a descent price. They were really nice, gave me a powerful one as I had a long way to go, explained me the way out of town and even gave me a raincoat, just in case. I did my last shopping in town and then I'm on my way. Google maps tells me the way and I'm enjoying the ride. Taiwan has not too much traffic and not the typical Sout-East Asia road crazyness. Once I left town and got on highway 93, I was completely by myself. It was a really nice ride, it was warm enough and only at some point raining a little bit. I made a lot of short stops on the way and a bit longer one at a sugar factory and wetlands that Ying-Chu had recommended. I arrived in Yuli, having no place to stay as everything I found online was crazy expensive. So I went to the train station, where there is always free wifi in Taiwan. I asked google for hotels closeby and found a cafe and hotel just around the corner. The girl there didn't speak any english, so we communicated via google translate. And it worked. She showed me my room, explained me where I can get some food and told me her boss who speaks English will be there later. Perfect. Before dinner I decided to do one more little tour: I took my scooter for a short ride to the hot springs. After a long day on the scooter that was exactly what I needed.
Back in town I went for dinner and then back to relax at the bar. It was a lovely cafe/bar place, a very old building but lovely decorated.
The next morning I got back on my scooter with the idea to do some hiking. When I was the first time in this area I wanted to do the hike, but again you need a permit if you do the overnight one. So I decided I'll just go there and do a short walk there. I arrived and it was a beautiful place. Finally pure nature and I got really lucky with sunshine. I met some local people who love hiking and started to walk with them. Unfortunately they had the permit, so they could do the full walk. I had to turn around after roughly 2-3 hours. I got a bit worried about walking back alone, as there are bears around (although very rare), but hey, that's me. I don't mind to walk alone, but only if I know people are around and will miss me if I don't make it to the end by some time. After 5 minutes walking I noticed that I was stupid. There were so many people on the path. It turned out we were just the first ones, so that's why we hadn't seen anyone so far, we had been ahead of everyone. I really enjoyed the walk back in the sun.
Then I'm back on my scooter and on the way back to Dulan. Remember the nice surfer place I already stayed longer than planned? Well, it is on the way to Taitung, so I had decided I'll spend 1-2 more nights there as a relaxed end of my Taiwan trip. The road to Dulan was amazing. It was a windy mountain road and I started in beautiful sunshine. 45 minutes before I reached Dulan the weather turned and I seriously considered turning around. It looked like really heavy rain coming down any minute. Grrrrr. So I started to drive a bit faster, hoping to make my way to Dulan before the rain. I made a stop on the way in Donghe, for a treat of yummy Baoze. I had my first 2 there and bought a couple more Peanut ones for my friends in Dulan. And lucky as I am, I made it to Dulan without getting wet.
It was really nice to be back and surprise the people I had met before. It somehow felt directly like coming home. And I had timed my return well, at the hostel was a big party as it was the owners daughters birthday today. We were all invited to a barbecue on the rooftop. It turned out to be a very cool night, which ended up at some locals store where we tried to buy some more drinks at midnight. It was strange and fun, they nearly didn't speak English but we drank together and they shared their fish soup. At 2am we went to bed and decided to move the next mornings surf session from 6am to 7am. Surprisingly Dan, who works at the surf shop and me both made it up at 7 am and met with a girl I had met before in Taipei, who came over for surfing as well. We got ready - and noticed that the van is not there. Hmm, 3 people, 3 boards, 30 minutes walking to the beach in heavy rain? No thank you. We somehow kept hanging around until 10am and then decided we're going back to bed. At lunch I got up again and joined the people to the Vietnamese place for yummy food. In the afternoon it suddenly got hectic as everyone went out to surf. As the waves were meant to be too big for me, I decided not to go with them. So me and a girl from the hostel took the scooter and followed the guys. We had a relaxed afternoon at the beach, watching the guys surf and just talk and relax. Unfortunately it got quite chilly after a while and so we headed back to the hostel. As I had to get up early the next day to return the scooter in Hualien, I skipped the movie night at the hostel and went to bed early.
The next morning at 6:45 I am on my scooter and on the way to Hualien. This time I took the coastal road, with beautiful views. I started with nice sunshine, but unfortunately on the way the sun left me and it became very cold. At 10:30 I arrived in Hualien and everyone who has been riding a scooter knows that it is just not a very nice thing to do for 3-4 hours straight. So I was happy I could finally take my layers off and warm up a bit in the sun. Then I'm on a train again, back to Taipei. I picked up my big backpack at the last hostel I stayed and after a shower went to meet for a last dinner with Ying-Chu. She had just arrived back from her trip to Korea and I would be flying out the next morning at 6am. We met at a Dim Sum place and when I saw it, it seemed familiar. After a little while, I realized that it was the same chain that I went to in KL with Timo on my first weekend of this trip. I loved the place, so I was very happy that this would be my last dinner in Taiwan. I had a great evening with great food and loved to catch up with Ying-Chu one last time. Then I'm already on the bus to the hostel, as the last check in is at 9am. I went to my 4th hostel in Taipei, as this one is only 5 minutes from the airport and as I had to be there very early, that was my best choice. The place was nice and I had a good couple of hours of sleep before it is finally time to say goodbye to Taiwan.
Puh, three weeks of travelling is really a lot to tell. It's already more than 3 weeks ago, that I left Taiwan now and this is a great chance to look back. There are parts that I really loved about this little country, but there were also parts I struggled with. Here some examples
Hiking:
Taiwan is an amazing country to hike. Beautiful nature and 100 peaks over 3000m. As the lonely planet describes: very easy to do on your own, you don't need guides. That however left me with the problem, that there are no tours you can book. In Peru I would just go to the next town and book a hiking tour. Here, that does not exist. So if you don't want to hike alone, you need to come with someone! And then the permits. A lot of the trails require a permit, which is very difficult to get if you are not a local. That starts from trying to apply for it without knowing Chinese and goes to the point that it seems very unlikely that you actually get the permit if you don't have a local with you. I didn't bother with this at all, as I already fell over the not hiking alone bit, but I met meany people struggling with the permits. And one more thing: you need to plan ahead, as the permits need some time to get. I hate planning ahead.
So I ended up hiking way less than I had planned to. In the end it meant I did a lot of other things that I hadn't expected (like surfing), but there was always a bit of regret on not being able to explore the beautiful mountains better.
Off the beaten path:
I've always been complaining that I want to get off the beaten path. In Taiwan I got off the beaten path for westerners. This has some positive effects, but also means that sometimes you are really alone. You meet less people to travel with and infrastructure may not always be as you wish. It also means less people speak English, but I have to say that it wasn't a problem at all. Despite many people not speaking English, there were so many helpful and lovely people I met. Talking via google translate or just hands and feet, somehow you can always communicate. What really annoyed me is that despite it being off the beaten path for westerners, it definitely isn't for Asians. A lot of Chinese and Korean tourists. And unfortunately exactly the kind of tourists that I try to avoid so much. Bus tours, meaning big groups, often quite loud, thousands of fotos, being taken by bus everywhere, experiencing everything as easy as possible. A world I don't really fit in, so I tried to avoid these places as much as possible.
Food & people:
This one is a very positive one. Ok, there is some food I didn't like or didn't even try. But I really enjoyed the local food culture in Taiwan. It really seems to be a very important part of the culture and everyday life. I found really good food, every region had its own specialty and I have enjoyed it a lot. It was always part of the To-Do list I got from Ying-Chu and I failed to tick off everything on it, as I would have come back with 10 kilos more. I love the friendliness of the people and I find them also fascinating. Taiwan has been ruled by so many other countries and even now, they are independent but not officially accepted by most countries of this world. The Taiwanese seem to have found a nice and relaxed way to accept this and to be happy for their independence. Last but not least, usually I don't like cities too much, but in Taiwan I really enjoyed exploring the cities, which were full of art,a bit of history and great food to discover. However be careful with expecting too much of local sights. They are often nice but not spectacular and explanations in English, if they exist, are often not the best quality.
Overall, I am very glad I went to Taiwan. It was a very different experience than I had in any other country on my trip. My personal situation (not liking to be too much alone and being scared of hiking alone) made this trip sometimes a bit of a challenge, but I also enjoyed my time here a lot. I can advise anyone to go here, just maybe plan a bit more ahead than I did.
Lovely reflection on a little pool on a rock formation, Yehliu geop
Weird light installation somewhere in Taiwan
A lot of tunnels to walk through in the Taroko gorge 
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