Taiwan: 11 Days Round The Island Taiwan Trip Itinerary

My blog's traffic has increased significantly after my last post on Taiwan trip sampler, I should get busier with more Taiwan posts for the obvious reason.

Synopsis of my Taiwan trip

I was originally expecting a slow start of the trip and gradually increasing the momentum to allow time for my mom to adjust to my pace in my previously proposed 11 days Taiwan northern central-west trip sampler.

It turned out to be the opposite way, it was a frenzy start and gradually slowing down at the end of the trip.

Again some very last minute rearrangement of my trip this time I traveled East coast and went all the way down to Southern side of Taiwan after being convinced by Willy, the backpacker hostel owner in Taipei, that we should get more out of the journey to the East at this time of traveling.

Taipei 101

The weather was unpredictable, we got a Sunny warm morning with about 25 Degrees of Celsius, all of sudden the sky turned gloomy and the temperature would drop to below 20 Degrees with strong breeze of cold wind.

We spent a few great nights in Taipei, then setting foot in Hualien and Taitung along the East line before finally settling down in Tainan skipping Kaohsiung and Kending for some reasons.

A few places we covered while we were in Taipei City 台北市.

• Taipei 101 台北101
• Ximending 西门町 (Young & trendy district)
• Longshan temple 龙山寺
• Natinal palace museum 台北故宫博物馆
• Dihua street 迪化街 (one of the oldest street in Taipei)
• Zhongxia east road 忠孝东路（东区 Shopping heaven）
• Wufenpu 五分埔 (Best shopping place)
• Yangmingshan national park 阳明山公园
• Xingtian temple 行天宫
• Raohe night market 饶河夜市

There's no particular reason why some destinations were skipped from the original plan, it's just my own preference and last minute decisions from the optional travel list.

From the sight of the buzzing cities with the third tallest building in the world to the magnificent of the natural and historical landmarks, Taiwan never came short of my expectation about her.

I'm amazed especially by Taiwanese's rich culture and politeness, their extraordinary friendliness electrifies me, the people are full of love and most are highly spirited!

Ilha Formosa, The Beautiful Island, claimed by the Portugese sailors centuries ago when they first saw Taiwan, is truly one of the most beautiful travel destination you can not miss!

These pictures will tell us how diverse is Taiwanese cultures are.

Zhongxiao road, one of the most concentrated & busiest streets in Taipei

Xingtian temple 行天宫

七股龙山庙 Qigu Longshan temple near Tainan

Yangmingshan 阳明山

Jiufen old quarter, 九份老街 is the reminiscent of Sapa in Hanoi, about 1.5 hours away from Taipei city centre by bus, Jiufen old quarter is an old quarter situated at the far hilltop near Keelung city. Avoid any weekend trip, this place is flocked by travelers!

We traveled by light rail to Shihlin station and transited with public bus to Jiufen. I'd recommend to spend a few nights staying at Jiufen to use some quiet moments, there are many cheap and remarkable B&B (Bed & Breakfast local house converted hostel, 民宿) providing comfortable accommodation.

Jiufen old quarter 九份老街 is one of the signature of Taiwan

Temple at the entrance of Raohe night market in Taipei 饶河夜市

My favourite Taiwanese signature food is no other than the minced pork rice, 卤肉饭.

Minced pork rice 卤肉饭

It's not until we reached Hualien 花莲 we found out about how magnificent it was about Taroko National Park 太鲁阁国家公园, one of the great wonders in Asia according.

The park is located towards North of Hualien Country, a full day tour to Taroko gorge, 45 minutes from Hualien township with bus or motorbike, is the favourite destination for many hikers and cyclers.

The stunning gorge is known for its sheer marble cliffs, deep, winding tunnels, and the Liwu River which flows through the craggy landscape.  We stopped at the Swallows Grotto, where the section of the highway runs through tunnels carved into the marble vertical sides of the gorge.

One of the few highlights are:

• Taroko Skadang Tracks 砂卡当步道
• Swallow Caves 燕子口
• Tunnel of Nine Turns 九曲洞
• Eternal Spring Shrine 长春寺
• The Bridge of Kind Mother 慈母桥
• Tiansiang Lodge 天祥

Entrance to one of the Asia wonders, Taroko, it means magnificent and beautiful in Truku

Taroko Gorge's remarkview from Skadang tracks 砂卡当步道风景

The East line train has the panoramic views of the East coast beaches and agriculture farms, mostly are paddy fields.

Paddy field along the East coast line

We stopped at Tainan 台南 after Taitung 台东 and traveled out of town to Taijiang National Park 台江国家公园 for the marine life of the famous lagoon.

The dense of mangroves and salt fields near the inland sea of Qi-gu 七股 are also the highlights where we unexpectedly met by troops of locals celebrating the God's birthday where the locals marched and danced their Gods out from their respective temples to greet the birthday of another God.

Celebration of God's birthday

Taijiang roadside where the gentle wind welcomed us

Fort Provintia 赤崁楼 in Tainan

Taiwan Round The Island Trip Itinerary

It covers the Northern, Central-east and Southern part of Taiwan.

Day 1 - Arrival in Taoyuen > Taipei
Day 2 - Taipei
Day 3 - Taipei > Jiufen
Day 4 - Taipei
Day 5 - Taipei > Hualien
Day 6 - Hualien
Day 7 - Hualien > Taitung
Day 8 - Taitung > Tainan
Day 9 - Tainan
Day 10 - Tainan
Day 11 - Tainan > Taoyuan > Kuala Lumpur

Main Attractions


View [Taiwan] Backpack itinerary sampler in a larger map

Overall Expenditures

Living standard in Taiwan is considerably OK, Taiwanese beer is as cheap as TWD$450/500ml per can! Well that's my simplest correlation, haha!

• Accommodation - TWD$400 - 700/night/person
• Motorbike rental - TWD$500-600/day
• Food - TWD$250-500/day/person

We spent most of the nights at backpacker hostels, they are generally clean and with highly passionated hostel helpers sharing all the tips required for your trip. 

Information about a city is easily available as the travel info center usually being setup at train or MRT stations.

Rental of motorbike at certain cities are highly recommended to save traveling time, the providers are all over the place near train stations. 

Resourceful Reference

One of the handiest reference site I've visited frequently when I was studying about Taiwan is Kafkaesque's blog, the 30+ year-old European blogger who moved to Taiwan couple of years ago is really thorough about Taiwan.

There is a great Chinese forum giving every little good tips about the best deals and hot travel spots in Taiwan, Backpacker Taiwan Forum. Forumers are very helpful in recommending amazing places for visit, best deal of your packages and accommodation with humble reviews through their own experience, the discussion goes beyond Taiwan to other regional countries as well.

Well, until we meet again in my next blog, I should say that Taiwan is truly remarkable, a livable place as described by my good friend, Derek. And no doubt, Taiwanese is one of the warmest people on the planet you'd want to meet.

Exploring Hanoi Old Quarter Streets & Halong Bay Excursion

As soon as you step into Hanoi Old Quarter, you would notice that everything is centered around the old town.

One of the most beautiful colonial cities, very lively, comprising nearly 40 streets packed with shops selling all kinds of goods, often becomes the start or the end of the traveling point in Vietnam.

It's considerably quieter than Ho Chin Minh, yet retaining its vibrant atmosphere in an antique quarter. I felt exceptionally excited because this was my first solo backpack trip and first couch surfing experience.

The buildings were greatly preserved & vibrant, some were face lifted 

Modern & antique

The people were generally nice and approachable, those who weren't English literate might shy away if you ask for help, I was sure it's easy to get help.

The total Hanoi population was around 6 million according to the tour guide on the bus to Halong Bay, and Wikipedia said so too.

It was also believed that the total number of motor bikes hit nearly 4 million units in Hanoi alone, air pollution was at its highest rate, red alert!

Local seller

One of the commonly seen activities was the local sellers roaming around the town on foot or bike carrying goods with them to sell to the locals & travelers, there were fruits, shirts, pants, sandals & etc.

I would recommend anyone to take your time to walk the town, explore the beauty of the busy streets yourself at your own pace. Plus, a little research of the historical background of the streets and houses would absolutely help lifting your overall experience to the fullest in the Old Quarter.

Chinese chess lovers on the street

Although many of the streets no longer sell the products after which they were name, some still do. There's a list of the street names & its descriptions.

Today, the Old Quarter has become the unique classical feature of Hanoi, and one of the desired tourist destinations in Hanoi. I was in love with this little antique yet vibrant city very much, it's full of life!

Local selling carrying goods walking down the street

If you are a lazy, and with little time to spare, the cyclo/trishaw is an alternative to explore the town at ease, $1 per ride for 15-30min.

Typical passageway that links to houses at the back

Quiet alley

Tien on Call

Tien was my personal motorbike driver, recommended by Dr. Tuyet, he was a reliable person that anyone could count on. He helped me to negotiate prices on goods, taught me some useful Vietnamese language, very handy at times.

He’s so cute, we had real good time hanging out together at restaurants and bars, trying to guess what the other said because he spoke limited English, so we occasionally ought to draw on paper just to to be sure we were communicating correctly.

Tien, my next best Vietnamese friend

I promised him more businesses for him, if you are going to Hanoi & need a ride, please call him at +84 0978221346, he should be able to help you ordering food (cheaper than you order yourself), teach you some useful local words, most importantly roam around the town with his motorbike for a relatively cheap rate, only $8-12, 5-8 hours. Please tip him!

We hanged out at Puku earlier on my first day, a Cafe Pub with WiFi, here I finally felt I was connecting back to the world with my friends & family. Posted a few tweets and photos on Facebook then chilled with Tien, it's beer time! Heinneken 30,000 VND or RM7!

Puku, cafe & bar with wifi

Cozy little cafe

This shaky image was taken with the help from Tien while we were chilling at the cafe in the evening

You should tell him when to come back to pick you up from where he left you if you wish to stay on longer to spend time at a place. He's a very handy assistant, he helped me to buy my train tickets to Sapa while I spent my own time walking down the street at Hoan Kiem Lake, the legendary turtle lake.

Halong Bay Excursion

"Halong Bay" is literally translated as "bay of the descending dragons". Most people come to Halong Bay on a tour.

For about USD50 you can get a standard two nights stay of backpacker accommodation, and the prices varied depending on the type of quality you are getting, the junk, the food, the bed.

I woke up in the morning on my second day and Tien was there to take me to the travel agency to catch the bus with other travelers for the famous Halong Bay excursion.

Halong Bay is situated 170km east to Hanoi, traveling by minibus not more than 4 hours, and they stopped once at the souvenir center so we could use a break.

The idea is a few days of cruising around Halong Bay, one of the most magnificent natural splendours of Asia. The best way to appreciate Halong Bay is by boat or junk whatever you name it.

Few could fail to be impressed with Halong Bay, with over 2,000 limestone islands jutting out of the green waters.

IndoChina junk at Halong Bay

Halong Bay, the splendors of Asia

It was easy to book Halong Bay package, the agencies were everywhere. The fee for me was $40/pax for one night, $60 for two nights, shared room with or without air conditioning, inclusive of two lunches, dinner, breakfast and transportation. The package also included a stop for visiting Hang Song Sut cave.

Indulging Asian food

Soon after boarding the junk, lunch was served, they could even cater for vegetarian and non-seafood lover. The tour guide would request you to inform them earlier on the journey to Halong Bay so they could make the special arrangement for you.

Crap shell

Crispy spring roll

Steam lala

Crispy fried chicken

Steam fish

Friend tofu

The drinks on boat were ordered and paid separately, wasn’t sure how much was a can of Coke or Pepsi, but a can of Tiger beer was fairly cheap at 30,000 VND, less than RM7. Beers were simply irresistible!

The view from the upper deck on the junk was sensational, weather was fantastic, we had the Sun sticking out and was around 23 degrees.

The blue sky

The clusters lime stones at Halong Bay

Dock at Hang Sung Sot cave

The day was usually getting darker around 5pm, and it should be completely dark by 6.30pm.

The soft soothing wind, the sound of the waters flapping over the boat. The junk’s engine should have stopped by now, having my own sweetest moment at the top of the deck all by myself before dinner, the mind was exceptionally calm & relaxed…

The light in the dark would guide us through the storm

The night with laughters and beers

The night was exceptionally quiet, I was able to listen to the music being played from the junk rested about 100 meters away. They played some oldies..

Then dinner was served.

Steamed sweet shrimp

French fries

Cucumber

Fried tofu

Crunchy fried potatoes

Fried chicken slice

I met some of the most fascinating individuals from all around the world with plenty of backpacking experience, they were unbelievable!

The newly wed lovely Israeli, traveling for couple of weeks for honey moon

Every Israeli man or women has to take part in servicing the military. The men would serve up to minimum 3 years after high school, and the women 2 years.

French mid wives, entering 4th week of their 6 weeks Asian trip, they would work and travel at any part of the world

The night usually ended with laughters and beers, every individual I came across they must have some exciting stories to tell, some talked about their trip, or homeland, or people they had met along the way, or their dogs and cats.

The clear night sky was the greatest thing we had on that night, relaxing under the shining stars.

The next day I exchanged contacts with some of my new friends, left group after breakfast and went on to another junk with a Switzerland uncle as the rest would spend another night at Cat Ba Island which I didn’t sign up for.

We spent an hour kayaking around the limestone islands, watch out for the big boats around you, make sure you don’t get in their ways and run down by them.

Returning to the jetty at noon was also enjoyable, I took pleasure of relaxing on the deck, the Sun and the gentle breeze were my friends. We then headed for a fine lunch before the bus took us on 3 hours drive back to Hanoi.

Viet house restaurant

Lunch before leaving Halong

Crispy spring roll

Sweet orange soup

Golden fried shrimp

My incredible experience in Halong Bay excursion ended here.

Halong Bay outfit!