180315 to 17 Taiwan Trip 3/3
Day 6: 170315 Thursday – Chiayi to Tainan
Waking up in the village homestay was really peaceful, there were only sounds of birds.
We had some breakfast at 8:00am and left at 8:35am.
We reached Budai Port at 9:30am.
First stop, the High-heel Shoe Church. Very strange…
We saw some oyster farms in the bay.
Next stop, the Budai Fish Market. We bought fried shishamo and oysters for snacks.
We reached Hao Mei Li Village at 11:05am. The villagers painted 3D perspective murals and floor art to attract tourists.
We bought a bottle of the Taiwanese marble-cap-soda. Tastes like medicine.
11:50am, and we visited the Jing Zhai Jiao Salt Fields.
David learned that salt can be very heavy.
Then we got on to Qigu to walk on the S$20million worth Salt Mountain at 12:30pm.
There was an exhibit of the trains they used for salt transportation within the salt fields.
And foot operated water lifts.
Next stop, the Sicao Wetlands, where we took a boat ride to view the mangroves at 2:45pm.
First signs of rain this trip, after 5 days of hot weather.
We drove on to Tainan, and reached Anping for touhua snack at 3:00pm, followed by a late lunch at Wen Zhang Beef Soup at 3:30pm. Both are famous places for great food.
After lunch, we visited the Anping Treehouse at 4:05pm, in drizzly weather.
The old sugar factory is now a museum.
The tree house is part of the sugar factory complex.
The house has been heavily overrun by banyan trees.
The children had a great time running about.
Next stop, the Anping Fort, reaching at 6:55pm.
We learned that the original Dutch pointed-fort was torn down by the Japanese and rebuilt as a brick fort. This is local hero Zheng Cheng Gong.
We climbed up the watch tower and saw good views of Tainan.
Painting of the original fort.
We left the fort at 5:30pm, and the rain got rather heavy.
We checked into Sky Blue Hotel at 5:55pm and rested for a short while.
With pouring rain, we couldn’t go to the street market for dinner. So, we walked to a nearby shopping centre, Yuan Dong, and had a restaurant dinner at Bygreen Lemongrass hotpot at 6:50pm.
We returned to the hotel after dinner at 8:05pm and slept at 11:00pm.
Day 7: 170316 Friday – Tainan to Kaohsiung
We woke at 7:55am (a little late, tired after 6 days and nights).
The driver took us to Dan Dan hamburger for local fast-food breakfast at 8:45am and it was great. YowCH then went with the driver to a local bank to change more Taiwan Dollars (there are no money changers on the streets in Taiwan).
Our first tour spot is the Tianliao Moon World, which we reached at 10:50am. As this is the last day the driver is with us, we took a family photo with him.
The landscape looks like the moon surface because it is mostly worn-down mud-rocks which is not good for any vegetation. Essentially badlands.
We hiked into the park and climbed up these high stairs. The view from the top is fantastic!
Unfortunately for us, the temperature was rather high (27°C) and burning sunlight, rather uncomfortably hot.
We climbed another hill before we exited the park.
We left Moon World at 12:15pm.
We reached Meinong Hakka Village at 12:40pm.
We had Hakka food for lunch at 1:00pm.
And we made our own Lei Cha (paying money to suffer!).
And painted umbrellas.
We left the Hakka Village at 4:30pm and rushed to Qiaotou.
We reached Qiaotou at 3:00pm, just in time to watch the 10 Drums band drums performance. This place is yet another converted old sugar factory.
Here’s the drums band.
We were even given basic drums lesson!
We left Qiaotou at 4:30pm and drove to Kaohsiung.
At Kaohsiung, we checked into Lily Hotel at 5:30pm. The driver than left us for his next assignment in Taipei.
We went out to Liuhe Street for street food dinner at 6:45pm.
White bitter gourd juice and papaya milk drink.
Famous seafood porridge.
We returned to the hotel at 8:45pm and slept at 11:45pm after final packing.
Day 8: 170317 Saturday – Kaohsiung, Donggang and departure
Last day of our trip, we woke at 7:00am and had breakfast in the hotel. Then as YowCH took Samuel out for a walk, we learnt that the hotel breakfast was bought from an extremely popular (long queue) soupy bao and fried onion pancake shop further down the road.
We were then picked up by the replacement driver, Mr Ivan Weng at 9:05am.
He took us to the Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Cultural Park, reaching at 10:20am.
We took a shuttle bus to catch the cultural performance.
At the end of the performance, audiences were invited to join in the tribal dance.
The show ended at about 11:50am. We then took the bus back to the entrance.
We walked the Shanchuanliuli Suspension Bridge from 12:00pm to 12:30pm.
As usual of Taiwan, the rivers were dry in spring.
You can see the old (and abandoned) bridge lower than the current nice bridge.
We reached Donggang at 1:30pm and had lunch at Ah Rong Seafood Restaurant.
Next stop, the gold-plated gate of Donglonggong, reaching at 2:25pm.
There is also a shrine to the king of boats in the compound.
We left Donggang at 2:45pm and headed to Liutui, our last tour place. The highways were rather empty.
Hakkaland is the nice recreational park at Liutui, were we arrived at 3:15pm. We saw some Hakka cultures, and saw the tradition rice and vegetables farms.
After Hakkaland, we were brought to the Pineapple Cakes, Vigor Kubo in Kaohsiung, as we entered the city, traffic became heavy.
We bought some cakes and biscuits at Vigor Kobo, while we were there between 6:50pm and 5:30pm.
The driver then took us to have dinner before our flight. We ate Shan Tou handmade noodles at 5:40pm and left for the airport at 6:15pm.
We reached the airport at 6:45pm, and with minor queues, we comfortably checked-in and cleared immigration.
The flight took off at 8:25pm and landed at 12:05am (50 mins ahead of schedule).
We had our supper at McD in Changi Airport, before taking a Maxicab home at 1:30am.
We reached home at 1:55am, and managed to unpack by 2:30am, hitting the beds at 3:00am.
We thank God for:
1. A good time on holiday as a family.
2. Having met and spent time with the Phans, and they paid for hotel of first 2 nights.
3. Lack of large groups of tourists, especially from China.
4. A great driver/tour guide who, knows lots of stuff and brought us to good food.
5. Nice weather to walk around, although hotter than expected.
6. Great food and fantastic sceneries and attractions.
7. A fantastic learning experience for the children.
We spent a total of about $7,470.00 for this trip.
Breakdown:
- Air-tickets (Scoot): $2,950.00
- Hotels (5 nights, first 2 nights paid by Phans): $580.00
- Driver/tour-guide (including tips): $1,920.00
- Transport in Singapore to-and-fro airport: $120.00
- Expenses during tour (fees, food, souvenirs): $1,900.00
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