Taiwan Travel Part 1 | 環島第一個部分

February 25, 2023

I’m officially home in the United States and back at St. Olaf, but I want to share stories and pictures from my 21 day trip I took with Hannah around Taiwan. We saw so many beautiful things and met some incredibly kind people along the way. In this first post, I will be covering the first 7 days of our trip.

Day 1: Taipei -> Qingjing/Hehuanshan

Hannah and I woke up bright and early to catch an 8:00 am train to Taizhong. From there, we took a bus to Qingjing farm, an area in the mountains near Hehuanshan. The area is dubbed “Taiwan’s Heidiland” and honestly looks like something out of Switzerland. The Qingjing farm area is fairly touristy, but we didn’t end up seeing much because we were exhausted from a long week. We took time to walk along the Qingjing Skywalk, a lovely trail with beautiful views.

We made our way to our hotel and took a long afternoon nap, waking up in time for a glimpse of sunset. Since we were up in the mountains, the weather was pretty chilly, but thankfully, we had an electric blanket on our bed which was very cozy. We got dinner of beef noodle soup and dumplings at a shop nearby that was very tasty. We also popped into a nearby FamilyMart, (the highest convenience store in Taiwan) to get some snacks for our sunrise tour and hike the next morning. Before bed, we saw some incredible stars.

Hannah won me a turtle :)

View from Qingjing skywalk, beautiful sunny day

Postage stamp

Stars

Sunset from our hotel balcony

Day 2: Hehuanshan -> Puli

This day turned out to be very different from what we had initially planned and hoped for. We woke up at 4:00 am to catch a sunrise tour on Hehuanshan. We were picked up by a shuttle bus at our hotel and drove about 45 minutes up the mountain, only to find cloudy weather, so the sunrise was a bust. We were planning to peel off of the tour, do a hike, and take a bus down the mountain, but the weather had other plans. Unfortunately, the bus company decided not to run the bus down the mountain, so we had no way to get down if we stayed to hike. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I was so bummed. This part of the trip was very meticulously planned because we were reliant on public transportation, and it killed me that we couldn’t go through with our plans. We returned back to our hotel, only to find that we couldn’t get back into our room. Exhausted and hungry, we regrouped with an early breakfast and figured out what to do next.

We decided to take the bus to Puli with a stop along the way. We took time to see the Wan-ta reservoir, a place recommended by my friend Jacob. It was so beautiful! The water was stunningly blue, and the surrounding mountains and greenery was an incredible sight. It would have been fun to do a hike there, but we were exhausted, so we decided to go into Puli.

Very cloudy sunrise

With the mountain view

Hehuanshan marker

Wan-ta reservoir

We arrived at our hostel around 10/11:00 am, and were like “seriously? It’s so early?!” Thankfully, our host allowed us to store our luggage, and we found a lovely café to sit and eat lunch in. Hannah still had a couple assignments to work on from the semester, so after eating, we sat and worked on our respective writing projects (I spent a lot of time catching up on my blog writing).

Puli is not a frequently visited city, and it doesn't have many tourist attractions to see. We ended up asking the two girls working at the café for some recommendations on what to do and where to go, as well as help us call a taxi. One of their recommendations was to visit the Tiandi temple (寶湖宮天地堂地母廟), which was incredibly beautiful! One of its unique characteristics was its green roof. After seeing the temple, we followed a small road through a forest and some country backroads and eventually ended up at the stele of Taiwan’s geographical center which was kind of neat.

We then continued back into town and visited Feeling 18 chocolate and ice cream shop, a famous spot in Puli. We enjoyed some very tasty gelato as the sun went down, and then made our way to dinner at a small dumpling shop recommended by the girls at the café before finishing off the night with a show and some chocolate (a ritual from our trip).

Tiandi temple

Our small hike

Geographical center of Taiwan

Tiandi temple from above

A beautiful farmland view from our hike

Day 3: Puli

The morning started off with a typical breakfast, and then we made our way back to the geographical center of Taiwan to do a leisurely hike. As we were making our way down the mountain, Hannah realized she had dropped a warm shirt along the way and ran off to get it (neglecting to take her phone in the process). She eventually found it after running all the way back to the top! After a short rest in the hostel, we got lunch and drinks at a small coffee shop (again, recommended by the girls). The environment in the shop was so homey! We were welcomed by the owners, a very sweet couple. In addition to what we ordered, they also gave us a few samples of different coffees from around the world. As we were getting ready to leave around 6 pm, the owner made me a shot of espresso which I reluctantly drank. This ended up being a mistake, because I couldn’t fall asleep until about 2 am that night, but the espresso was surprisingly good (especially since I’m not a coffee drinker). It was sad to say goodbye to the owners…they were so kind to us, and will always hold a special place in my heart.

View over Puli from our morning hike

At Young Café

Iced mocha

Day 4: Puli -> Taichung

After a lovely breakfast at a shop recommended by the girls from the first cafe, we said goodbye to Puli and went to Taichung. Puli was such an unexpected surprise—we met so many kind people, and got some much needed rest after an intense week of final exams. When we arrived in Taichung, we dropped off our luggage and went out to explore! First, we went to a craft market at the train station and did some shopping. Afterward, we caught a bus to the 921 Earthquake Museum, about an hour outside of Taichung. It is built at the epicenter and fault line of the 921 earthquake (passing through a schoolyard) that happened in Taiwan in 1999, the most devastating recent earthquake in the country. The museum chronicles the history of the earthquake and reconstruction efforts after the fact. It also has a lot of educational materials on earthquake causes, safety, and other natural disaster preparedness.

Fault line of the 921 earthquake through an elementary school track

Twisted train tracks preserved from the earthquake

After the museum, we went to a small “art park” where there were more cute shops selling handmade things. We then made our way back into the city and ate KFC for our new years dinner. KFC is a bit of a phenomenon in East Asia, and Hannah had never tried it. After dinner, we snagged some boba and made it back to our hotel, watched our show, and went to bed just after midnight.

Library of Asia University

In the"art park"

KFC

Boba!

Lanterns on the river

Day 5: Taichung

I woke up with an awful cold…it was brutal. We decided to press on, but it turned out to be a complete bust. My guidebook recommended visiting the Taiwan Glass Museum, about an hour and a half from Taichung. It seemed a bit far, but Hannah really enjoys art and it seemed interesting enough. We got there, and it was a complete bust! We saw some glass creations, but it was not worth the long commute, plus, I was super sick at this point. We begrudgingly made our way back to Taichung, and went to another random corner of the city to visit a boba shop I had heard about and wanted to try. Before boba, we found a very tasty dinner which was much needed after a long day. We made our way over to the boba shop, only to find that it would take them an hour to make our drinks! I think they ran out of boba or something…anyway, I like boba, but I was not willing to wait an hour. Completely defeated, we found some really tasty fruit tea and made our way back to our hotel. We also found another “art park” that had a small stall from a snack shop we like in Taipei which cheered us up. It was really an awful day, but the end wasn’t too bad.

Glass Taiwan

Mirrors

Dinner after a long day

Day 6: Taichung -> Taipei

After breakfast, we wanted to go to an art museum, but it ended up being closed which was so frustrating, especially after a crappy day the day before. Not to mention, I had barely slept and felt so crummy. Instead, we found the Taiwan Sun Cake Museum which had a small photography installation. We also visited Taichung park and Miyahara Ice Cream. I also ordered boba from the shop I had tried to visit the day before…it was very good boba, and I’m glad I got a chance to try it. Unfortunately, we still had lots of time to kill, so we walked along the Taiwan Connection Walkway, a path along old train tracks similar to Chicago’s 606. Due to the holiday, there were no trains, so we took a bus back to Taipei and went to bed nice and early.

Giant goat in Taichung park

Taiwan connection walkway

Cute dino graffiti

Day 7: Taipei

We had initially planned to not return to Taipei during our trip, but that plan changed when Allen’s (Wendy’s husband) eldest brother passed away. Hannah and I agreed that we would return to Taipei to attend his funeral and pay last respects. It also worked out really well as a rest day for me since I was so sick. It was also really good to be there to support Allen and Wendy during a difficult time. Hannah and I also went to SunnyHills Pineapple Cakes for a peaceful afternoon treat. That evening, I did one last outing with my roommate before she went home to India.

Part 2 coming soon! Food and boba from the first leg of the trip are up!