160318 to 20 Taiwan Trip 3/3
Day 6: 18 March 2016 (Friday)
YowCH and Grace woke at about 7.00am, followed by the children at 7.40am. It was a very wet morning.
We had simple breakfast at the B&B rooftop at 8.45am, and roamed the streets from 9.20am. We bought some cute ocarinas and cuttlefish snacks.
Jiufen is very nice, here are two animated scenes of the hill-side town in daylight, cloudy day, night and in fog (taken in our short 2-day stay).
At 10.30am the driver picked us to visit the Gold Museum, only 10 minutes away, on a very curvy mountain road.
We had fun learning about gold mining and toured the gold mine tunnel. The place is again Japanese design.
The driver then picked us at 12.10pm and drove another short distance to the Golden Waterfall for some photos.
We left the area at 12.25pm, drove by Yinyang Bay and reached Yeliu at 1.05pm. We headed for lunch first at Queen Restaurant where we had fresh seafood.
After the luxurious lunch, we walked to the Yeliu Geopark and entered at 2.30pm in the rather heavy rain.
The stone formations were really amazing.
We were still walking about in the cold rain while most of the other tourists (mostly from China, gave up and left).
There were exposed fossils, too.
Another section, further north of the site.
As the rain died down, the tourists started coming back into the park. However, the queue to the famous “Queen’s head” never wavered. We took a photo from the back, instead.
Samuel posed with a leopard formation (a replica) which is visible above water only 18 days in a year during the lowest tides.
We left the place at 4.00pm, and shopped at the tourist stalls just outside, buying some cuttlefish, roast garden snails, sausages and black-sugar drinks.
We returned to the car at 4.15pm and reached Jiufen at 5.05pm where we had taro balls dessert.
Sunset at Jiufen:
A short off-loading of stuff in our room and we roamed the Old Street again, snacking for dinner, having some pancakes, bubble tea, dragon fruit juice and fries.
We returned to the room at 7.20pm, showered and rested, plus hung our clothes out to dry. Esther and David did homework and we slept at 10.30pm.
By now, YowCH and David were also starting to get the flu.
Day 7: 19 March 2016 (Saturday)
We woke at 7.30am and packed our luggage, followed by breakfast at the B&B at 8.35am. By 9.20am we checked out and boarded the car at 9.35am. The driver brought along his son, Shao En, who is thirteen years old.
Our first stop for the last day was Shifen Waterfall which we reached at 10.15am, and hiked about 30 minutes to reach. After some nice photos and some snacks courtesy of the driver, we left at 11.20am.
Next stop, Shifen town, 11:30am.
We decorated a tian-deng (lantern) which unfortunately caught fire at the ground. The sales guy replaced immediately with another.
We had lunch at a local coffee shop at 12.00noon and then roamed the railway tracks until 1.10pm. We bought some souvenirs, corn, keychains and sausages.
After a short drive, we reached north of Taipei city at about 1.55pm. Grace, YowCH and Samuel went in with the driver and bought some local products, packed into a carton for checking-in.
At 2.45pm, we reached Beitou Geothermal Hot Spring area to see the sulfuric spring. Again, Joseph stayed in the car with the driver, but Shao En walked with us.
A short drive down the road was the Beitou Hot Spring Museum. We had a good educational tour of the museum restored from an old Japanese bath-house. Poor Joseph stayed in the car with the driver, again.
We left for Taoyuan at 3.50pm. The road was rather foggy and it rained quite continuously.
We reached Gateway City Suites hotel at 4.40pm and checked into room 812. The driver even offered to pick us from the hotel to the airport the next morning!
We repacked and the boys had a bath.
At 5.40pm, YowCH’s cousin arrived with his children, and we had dinner at the hotel (buffet) and some fellowship time in the room.
After the Phans went home at about 9.15pm, we downloaded photos, showered, repacked and David did homework, all sleeping by 10.30pm.
Day 8: 20 March 2016 (Sunday)
We woke early at 6.30am on the last day, Sunday, to pack up our luggage.
We got ready by 7.15am, and we skipped breakfast as we were rather sick or tired by now. The driver picked us up at 7.45am, and we reached Taoyuan Airport Terminal 1 at 7.50am (hotel is very near the airport). After a short queue, we checked in by 8.35am and Grace bought some muachi while YowCH went with Esther and David to get some 7-eleven breakfast.
Again, after a short queue, we cleared immigration at 9.10am and reached Gate B1R at 9.30am, to board the bus to the plane. We boarded the plane at 9.50am and seated at 11A-11F. Flight IT511 took off at 10.15am.
After a rather uneventful flight, we landed at Changi Airport at 2.50pm, and by 3.25pm, we have cleared immigration and waited for dad. Dad picked us at 3.35pm and after dropping dad off at Sorrento, we reached home at 4.15pm. Everyone pitched in to unpack, and we cleared most of our luggage and goodies by 6.00pm.
Thank God for a nice holiday where we had time with YowCH’s cousin and family, enjoyed the good sceneries and food for Taiwan, met a great driver and his son, learned much about Taiwan and had great family time together, while strengthening our Chinese language. Joseph missed some fun due to his flu, but he was very strong and complained very little even with a bad flu. YowCH and David were both hit with flu upon landing in Singapore and needed a few days to recover.
Learning experience:
Bring waterproof jackets or raincoats and umbrellas, walkie-talkies and torchlights are very useful, engage local tour-guide cum driver (knowledgeable and helpful), stay in simple hotels (cheap and fun), eat street meals (tasty and cheap). Bring more vitamin C tablets, first-aid kit, basic medicines, and rubber glue to repair shoes. Local drivers will have wi-fi (bring along USB powerbanks). Taiwan has 7-elevens everywhere, and at very reasonable prices, hence no lack of snacks, drinks, sundry or even simple meals!
Accounts:
Tigerair tickets for 6: $2506.80
Hotel stays through Agoda:
1. New California (2 nights, 4 pax, 2 Q) $308.03
2. Shin Kong Chao Feng (2 nights 4 pax, 4 SS) $386.84
3. King 13 B&B (1 night, 6 pax, 3 Q) $160.69
4. Yingmu B&B (2 nights, 4 pax, 2 Q) $303.84
5. Gateway City Suites (1 night, 2 pax, 2 Q) $112.33
Wifi from Visiondata: $81.00 (@$9/day)
NT$65,908.00 (including NT$38,000.00 for driver) ~$2853.00
Trip total cost: ~$6720.00 for 6 persons with 7 full days and 8 nights.
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