One thing nice about taipei which I like is the availability of taxi. there is a number which we can call to book a cab with discount. I tried it by booking a cab from taipei 101 to my hotel in banqiao, total metered fare is twd 700, but he charged only twd 500. no matter where we are in taipei, it's so easy to get a cab.

hi..i jz come back from taiwan yesterday... fun yes...and cold... average temperature 13-14 degree whole day...

can ask me if u have anything to ask. i stayed 4 nights at taipei, 1 night at cingjing and 1 nite at Taichung near Fengjia Night Market.

my whole experience there plus the things that i bought/pay will be written in my blog...but not now la..see when i free. i'll put it here once i have updated

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Added on March 28, 2011, 1:17 ami don't think you can get that cheap. i was talking with one of them while i was in taiwan few days ago, standard one day tour in taipei may cost u NT3500 to NT4000 depending on your itenery. if u found someone not good, they might charge u extra for the toll/entrance fees and additional time that is way over the agreed time and price.

if u want, i can recommend one driver, nice guy but not sure he's booked when u're there...

and btw, 3 days in taiwan only?

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Added on March 28, 2011, 1:33 amDay 1

No way that can happen unless u have booked a super fast driver and also spend maybe 30mins on each location...

i took bus to yehliu, after that bus to keelung to transfer to jiufen. after that take bus to ruifang train station and take train to songshan station. raohe night market and wufenpu fashion area is just walking distance from the station. and that's one day for me...

day 2, i'd suggest that u stay at taipei instead of travelling to taroko and come back

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Added on March 28, 2011, 1:35 ammy own opinion, jz skip that. u can see a lot of flowers in other places..no need to pay the entrance fee jz to see flowers. there are loads of flowers to see in yangminshan, and also shilin official residence which is jz walking distance from shilin mrt station

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Added on March 28, 2011, 1:40 ammy AA flight ticket is Rm174 one way per person, booked last september for flight in march

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Added on March 28, 2011, 2:09 amDay 1.
I think you do not have time to visit taichung after u checked in. There's no MRT. taking public bus could be time consuming. The Night market is quite near to J&I.
Day 2.
Never been there b4, no comment.
Day 3.
I jz came back from there, the fog is very thick to see anything. Just a lake, nothing much to see IMHO. I think no need to spend 1 whole day there.
Day 4.
From SM lake to Hualien, is not convenient at all. u'll waste one whole day travelling which is no no. and there's no HSR from hualien to taipei. i heard wulai got nothing to see also. waterfall? u need to pay to go in and it's dirty. cable car?i heard the gondola made from modyfied old bus.
I think u better catch the early morning bus to cingjing farm and spend the night there. it's more worth it.

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Added on March 28, 2011, 2:11 amif u see shop after the security check, can buy from there. i saw someone bring own drinks/mineral water while i was in the place...

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Added on March 28, 2011, 2:16 amit's only a few ringgit difference. if u stay/work near bukit bintang, then ok la... what if u stay at shah alam/puchong etc... i think ur petrol/toll already cover that.

This post has been edited by jlgoh9: Mar 28 2011, 02:16 AM

Hi mate
I am going taiwan with group of fren total 9 of us including myself.
We plan only in taipei and jiufen for 7 days 6 night.
So far the quotation we get from the travel agency are around 1k+ RM with hotel (breakfast included) and some day trip.
We felt 1k+ is a bit high so we plan to go places on our own as in hotel or min su we can book on our own.
What we felt major problem we face is transportation.
We were planning if we can book a something like a van to accommodate 9 of us and luggage.
And i do know that transport in taipei is convenient the mrt and taxi is awesome.
Just 1 or 2 van is easier like he can bring us wherever we wan to go.
Cause the quotation we get from travel agency have alot of visit to the museums which we dont feel like going to all of them but some yes.
And at night time if there transport then easier if we feel like go partying
I appreciate any1 can leave some information or details that they can provide.

Regards

Transportation is not a problem in Taiwan-lah. They have very efficient metro, bus, taxi (Confirmed by kon) & rail networks.

7days 6 nights in taipei only? you don't need to hire transport for the whole 7days there la.. only do so for the places far away that's not accessible thru MRT such as Jiufen/yehliu/yangmingshan and north side.
9ppl in a van will be quite crowded if u include luggages as well cos i don't think they have vehicle that can fit in all. the next best thing is 19seater bus which is way too big for u guys..
some transport dont work at night after ur late nite partying..even if they do, the might charge u extra

Welcome back! Wonder if you're like me - since returning, already hankering (and planning) to go again next year

Surprised that weather hasn't become 'warmer' now.

Do report and share your blog with us when it is ready, thank you.

IMHO, the current AirAsia promo is already quite good, if you are looking at booking in February 2012 - they still have tickets starting at RM254 one way. I paid RM341-RM401 each way for my recent trip. Now targeting to go with wifey again in March/early April 2012.

7/5 Saturday
DAY 1
9.50am: depart from LCCT KL to TPE
2.45pm: Arrive at Taoyuan Airport ,head to Taichung…
Go feng jia night market. Stay near there.

8/5 Sunday
DAY 2
check out frm homestay, then take bus or train go to Jiayi.
Check in 高山青[阿里山] .

9/5 Monday
DAY 3

Plan 1:
Go Sun Moon lake
Stay Laurel Villa[日月潭]
Go Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村)
*can spend one whole day here?

OR
Plan 2:
Go SML then Go Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村).
then go Ching jing farm and stay overnight here.
*if like this then need to bring my luggage whole day with me before i reach ching jing?

10/5 Tuesday
DAY 4
Go Taroko (太鲁阁国家公园)
Then go back taibei

anyone stay here before? --> 白色满屋（豪华双人套房) website : http://eyang007.myweb.hinet.net/ email : aa27050131@yahoo.com.tw

Please advice. thanks

FYI - 九族文化村 is really HUGE & u may spend one entire day there. One day cannot get to travel 日月潭 & 九族文化村 together. For this SML & 九族文化村 , I would recommend to consider 2 nights. Pls take note that the distance and public transport in Tai Chung is not so convenience compare to Taipei City. The Express Bus from Tai Chung High Speed Train Station is already 2 hours to reach SML's Visitor's Center. (the final destination in SML for the express bus). The distance for SML to Cing Jing is about 2.5 to 3 hours. Most of those route are mountain roads therefore the speed of transport cannot drive too fast.

Queen's head in Flora Expo to share with you all exclusively.

i think there's not much to see in SML, and i went thru 九族文化村 in less than 2 hours. Unless u plan to play at the theme park which i see no point since we have theme park here in genting. if u are into cultural, u may spend more time in the village.

i think ure gonna spend half a day travelling from chiayi to SML, so u only can spend another 1/2 day at 九族文化村 and SML. go straight to 九族文化村, pay the entrance fee of NT550/person, walk up and look see the village, then take the gondola to SML. then work your way through it. If u coming from SML to 九族文化村, i think u need to pay NT300 2 way jz for the gondola ride and still not including the entrance ticket to 九族文化村.(someone correct me if i'm wrong here)

and after that, i think u need to hire car to go across the mountains to get to taroko, which will take u more than 1/2 day to reach taroko and i'm not sure u have time to visit taroko and get back to taipei in time or not.

i'd suggest give up taroko or alishan. choose either one

Ya i know haha
Cause go taizong go and return need like 1 day+?
OR any advise?

edited

This post has been edited by babybolster: Mar 29 2011, 01:33 AM

The public transport is easily accessible in Taiwan Island. However for those rural area, the distance and route could taken up 1/2 day and most of the places are closed at 5pm. Therefore it is good to take the early bus/taxi out to destination point.

The weather still cool. :-)

Hi all, just want to ask for your opinion. Is it save if i travel to Taiwan alone? I just went to South Korea last week with my friend& i think it is okay for female solo traveller. Oh,by the way i dont speak chinese (they use mandarin & cantonese there?)

Taipei is abit shabby comparing wth Seoul. Both also having superb Metro system wth Seoul having much extensive networs ..well can't goes wrong wth World top 5 largest Metro..haha

Taiwan ppl speak Mandarin & hokkien wth Hakka as the 3rd most spoken languarge. Cantonese probably limited to Tourist spot.

So if you survive Seoul, you should be able to cope wth Taiwan too although you can't speak Chinese. I'm not sure how good is their English bcos I communicated either in mandarin or Hokkien there. I can't read & write chinese BTW..

Thank you stimix. I guess i have to learn Chinese seriously now^_^(listening& speaking of course)

As long as the train can cover the attraction places. Planning to go there around November-February

i wanted to go cingjing on 18/5 .. but heard that's the transportation is not that convenient...
what is your transportation to get there...

I''m thinking to hire a driver which cost 4000twd...
only 2 of us...
im finding ppl who wanted to share car with us...
will be going chocolate and wine factory @ puli, so as the hot spring...

All is speak Chinese and some Hokkien.... But they don't really understand English.... I also planned to go for another time.... Planning for my next trip... Is it the chocolate factory at puli???

yes there is... u can see long queue there. but there's no show or what to let u see how chocolate is made... u just go there and buy chocolate. i see no point going there also. u can get cheaper and nice choc at duty free shop.

yes, there might be long queue there and you may think it's nice, that why the long queue, but in reality, that's not it. they only allow one person/small group to go in at a time... if the ppl take 20 mins to pick n choose choc, ppl queuing outside will need to wait 20 mins... and so on.. bad lucj if u're at the back of the line. wasting time only

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Added on March 29, 2011, 3:27 pmif u leave taichung early enough(if u stayed there 1 nite), u can get to puli within 1 hour..switch bus to cingjing which take maybe 1 - 1.5 hrs depending on where u stop. i think u can leave ur luggage at your minsu first and check in later.

if u coming from taipei, there are 2 options.
1. take 7am(7.30am latest) HSR to taichung. there's a 8.40am bus to cingjing at taichung HSR station. if u miss that, u need to wait till 12.40pm for the next one. if u really missed the first bus and can't wait for the next one, u need to transfer to taichung train station(maybe 40mins by bus, 20mins by taxi) where the bus station is just opposite the station. take the bus to puli(around 1 hr), then switch bus to cingjing(1-1.5hrs).
2. take express bus direct to cingjing from taipei main terminal. but the bus leaves at 6.40am. yes, it's damn early. the journey takes 4.5 hrs, maybe there are a few stops in between. expected to reach cingjing about 11.30am. price? i think about NT750-NT1200.

i personally didnt go to puli wine factory but i don't think i'll enjoy there. sounds boring to me..hehe

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Added on March 29, 2011, 3:35 pmi think it's quite safe in taipei for a female to travel alone. not sure at other places.

you can try to speak english. no harm. if u're less than 30 yrs old, u can apply for a volunteer to bring you around for tour. they are uni students and will speak to u in english. it's their way to learn their culture and also to brush up their english skills

This post has been edited by jlgoh9: Mar 29 2011, 03:35 PM

Hi,

i am planning to go CingJing on 15/4 for 1 night from taipei.
May i know how did u travel from Taipei to CingJing? did u take the Ego bus?

How's the view in CingJing and what other activities did u do there?

The next day, I will depart to HeHuanSan to Taroko to hualien from Cingjing.

Please advise on the best transportation to CingJing Farm.
TQ