I've recently been on a trip to Taiwan with one of my high school BFF's. It was a 9-day trip around the island. Even though it wasn't quite enough to explore all around the island, at least we got the chance to see some of their famous tourism objects.
In this post, I'd like to share as much information as I can recall: budget, itinerary and special tips.
I didn't take notes on all the details, but I think this would be enough to give a clear picture of the trip and help you plan your trip.
1. Flight ticket
I booked Tiger Air round-trip flights from Jakarta to Taipei for 5 - 14 May 2016. I booked the ticket in October 2015 for Rp 7.2 mio for 2 persons (appr. US$ 550 with only 1 x 15kg luggage). There was a stopover in Singapore and the price did not include luggage transfer. So, we had to get our luggage after the immigration counter and check-in again at the check-in counter. Since we had to spend a night in Singapore before our early morning flight to Taipei (at 8.45 AM), we decided to sleep at the airport.
 |
| Waiting for boarding time
2. Itinerary
May 6 - 7 : Taipei, Energy Inn Hostel in Ximen Ding - US$ 59/ 2 nights/ 4-bed female dorm with private bathroom + breakfast
May 8 : Kaohsiung, Sunwise Hotel Kaohsiung, near Kaohsiung Main Station (MRT & Train) - NT$ 780/ 1 night/ double room with private bathroom + breakfast
May 9 : Chiayi, Light Hostel Chiayi, near Chiayi Train Station - NT$ 1,300/1 night/ 4-bed female dorm with private bathroom + breakfast
May 10 - 11 : Taichung, Starship Business Hotel, near Taichung Train Station - NT$ 2,200/ 2 nights/ double room with private bathroom + breakfast
May 12 - 13 : Taipei, Backpackers Hostel, in Ximen Ding - NT$ 3,000/2 nights/twin room with private bathroom - no breakfast
May 14 : Singapore, 1-night stay at Bliss Hotel in Chinatown, in front of Chinatown MRT station - S$ 128/ 1 night/ twin room with private bathroom - no breakfast.
Energy Inn, Tapei (dorm beds)
Energy Inn, Taipei (bathroom)
Light Hostel, Chiayi (bathroom)
Light Hostel, Chiayi (dorm beds)
Starship Business Hotel, Taichung
3. Transportation within Taiwan
MRT in Taipei & Kaohsiung : NT$ 12 - 30/trip depending on distance. I recommend to buy Easy Card for faster access to MRT & buses and save transportation expense. The card costs NT$ 100, non-refundable.
Taiwan High Speed Railway (THSR) : take HSR for a long trip as far as Taipei to Kaohsiung (Zuo Ying station). I bought the HSR ticket at Backpackers Hostel and got 20% discount (normal price almost NT$ 1,500).
Taiwan Train : No need to book in advance for this. Just buy it at the ticket counter and ask for the earliest schedule to your destination. The train costs me around NT$ 100-200ish/ each trip with reserved seats. Sometimes they sell non-reserved seat tickets for short distance travel.
Bus : I took bus from Chiayi to Alishan & from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake.
Chiayi - Alishan : NT$ ... /person/single trip. Bus station located in front of Chiayi train station.
Taichung - Sun Moon Lake : NT$ 189/person/single trip. Bus stop in front of Taichung train station.
Sun Moon Lake - Taichung : NT 500/single trip by taxi.
Taoyuan Airport - Taipei Main Station (city centre) : NT$ 125/person/single trip by airport bus. Buy ticket at a counter near the bus stop at airport exit.
4. Meals & drinks
You will never have to worry about meals in Taiwan. There is either street vendor or convenient store (7-11, Family Mart, Hi-Life) at every inch of Taiwan. At late night or early morning, the convenient stores are still open and provide sandwiches, sushi/onigiri, kuo tie, fried chicken, fish meatball and even bento box. The store assistants always offer to heat it in the oven. The prices are reasonable (around NT$ 20-100).
Snacks and coffee from convenient stores all over Taiwan :D
By the time I stepped my foot on Taiwan's ground, I already felt that something awesome was going to happen again. And yes, all the good old memories came back and I suddenly felt terribly happy and I think I fell in love with Taiwan all over again :")
Cheers,
~dolliechic~
|
