Okay recap, I went to Taiwan in mid July and it was BOMB. Okay I know I went to Taiwan twice over the span of less than a year ikr. But aye, it’s a pretty big place and there’s plenty of mountains and waterfalls in Taiwan. Yup, I’m a sucker for mountains and waterfalls and sunsets/sunrise(if I can wake up in time HAHA). Let’s just say this time, due to unforeseen circumstances, we can’t go to the waterfalls. Here’s what we did:
Day 1(TPE)
Upon arrival we stayed in Taipei for a night and went to the various night markets eg Shilin etc. P.s we landed in TPE around 4pm ish so half the day was already gone. But we made the best of what we have and went to the night markets to burn some cash HAHA. We made sure we went back to the hotel early so that we could be prepared for the next day!
Fun Fact 1: Denis has no patience for indecisive people.
Day 2(ALISHAN)
To get to Alishan, you have to take a the high speed rail to Chiayi which is about 2 hours. The fare was abit pricey, about SGD 50 per pax. The high speed rail was well… not that high speed as I though…it seems pretty slow but well we reached our destination on time and that’s all that matters. Oh yeah did I mention that we almost missed the last bus to Alishan at the Railway station. Ikr. Blame it on bad planning. P.s if you are leaving for Chiayi from Taipei, do wake up real early to catch the 8/9am train. We took the Alishan bus(green colored) and it was another 1 hr to reach Alishan. When we were there, it “seemed” pretty big but then towards the end, we realized it was pretty small. So since we had bad planning in the first place, we reached Alishan a bit too late and we had to catch the last bus that leave from Alishan to Chiayi (cause our hotel is at Chiayi). We decided to explore Alishan the next day instead aka go up the mountain once more the next day).
Note: Do book a hotel at Alishan when you are there, it pretty inaccessible and it saves you alot more time.
But well, that day wasn’t THAT wasted because we purchased the sunrise tickets for the next morning to watch the sunrise. Since we stayed at Chiayi, this means we have to leave the hotel at 1am to watch our sunrise the next day. Ikr.
Chiayi was pretty fun considering there was tons of night markets and food stalls like any other part of Taiwan really HAHA. We ate some wanton noodles and I swear it was pretty goood for a roadside-ish stall. Their wantons were delish(: We pretty much didn’t sleep much since we had to leave our hotel at 1am to catch the sunrise. Dedication. I know.
Day 3
The cab we booked took us up to Alishan at 1am and we reached about 3am. To get to the viewing spot, you have to take a train. By train, I mean the true traditional railway train. It was a pretty unique experience aside from the crowd squeezing in the train. Oh btw the queues to watch the sunrise was INSANELY LONG. Well, I’m no stranger to that, I mean look at Singapore, we queue for literally everything-.-
Train ride there, we waited for the sunrise for about an hour cause it was 4am and the sun only comes out at 530am. So we stood there, cameras on standby. Okay the moment has come.
AHHHH, MY EYES. Okay the sunrise was blinding my eyes -.- It was beautiful but I think…the sunrise that day …not that merciful as usual. Time to run.
Took the train back to Alishan from the viewing site and finally got some time to explore Alishan.
Note: there is a minibus that takes you around Alishan sites at a cost of course, so do take note.
Mountains, scenic views, gold mines yes. I personally loved the woods well cause they were a awesome backdrop for photos hehe. Enjoy(:
The tour around Alishan took about 2 hours and yes PHOTOSSSS!hehe Then we finally left Alishan and made our way back to TPE.
Day 4
Day 4 we slacked pretty much cause yeah…
But we went to some night markets and indulged ourselves in Din Tai Fung at Taipei 101! I think we do not need more intro about Din Tai Fung eh
Ended the day with Shilin night market cause a shopaholic gotta do what she gotta do man
Day 5
Last day at TPE, we decide to go to the Queen’s Head. Yes, you heard it right. Queen’s Head is a geopark in Taipei that has unique stone structures which are formed after the aftermath of erosion. We took the normal train to Keelung from Taipei for about an hour and finally reached Keelung. Keelung is one of Taipei’s famous fishing ports and it has an astonishing spread of seafood in there night markets so foodies take note HAHA
Keelung has a bus that takes you to the Queen’s Head and it’s about an hour ride there. Upon arrival, we had to walk about 500 m to get there and the weather was not merciful at ALL. When we finally reached the Geopark, it started drizzling. Well, ain’t no drizzle gonna stop us from exploring the place so let’s go. Btw, the geopark is pretty big so there’s quite a long stretch to walk. Now, the highlight.
IT FCKING RAINED. By rain, I mean like THUNDERSTORM RAIN. Oh yeah, geopark is near the coast so imagine the intensity of that rain. AND I didn’t bring my umbrella. Congrats denis, you dead. There’s no shelter unless you walk all the way back to the entrance so… yeap…drenched like some dog wtf. Not that the cap helps really, it was dripping water on my face. Well done cap, you only had one job.
Okay after the storm dissipated, we re-entered the park and hallelujah THERE’S A RAINBOW! Okay there better be a rainbow, I got dreached af for this. Took more photos and we had to make a choice. To go back to the hotel in our drenched asses or check out Keelung night markets.
Yes, Keelung it shall be. Come on, it was the last day, no way in hell I’m going home so early (it was 5pm btw). Keelung had tons of seafood but we settled with some tepanyaki and I swear it was pretty goood for a roadside-ish stall. There roasted pork, glutinous rice, snow ice were pretty darn good too. Not forgetting their desserts(: There was mostly food at Keelung so we didn’t shop much. Beside, we need to hurry for the last train back to Taipei. We took the train back and reached Taipei around 11pm? But guess what? I still had some cash to burn so night markets let’s go!
End
It was a pretty eventful trip I’d say even though we didn’t see any waterfall(TAROKO GORGE I’LL SEE YOU NEXT TIME I SWEAR) or some life-endangering activities…it was pretty nice to take some time off from interning and just chill I suppose. Until next time(:
theniecextn. 
Leave a comment