My mum and her husband are visiting me at CNY. I’m worried about long traffic jams and booked-up or overcrowded hotels and tourist facilities.
For a start, they’re arriving at around 5pm on Friday 27th January, the day before the holiday week starts. I have to get them back to Taichung on public transport. Will south-bound traffic be absolutely crazy that evening? Would it be worth them changing the flight to one a few hours earlier despite hefty charges from the travel agent? (They can’t change the date but an earlier flight the same day might be possible.)
Secondly, I’m getting stressed about what we can actually do and see during the period. When Mum visited two years ago, it was during CNY as well, but that time we toured north Taiwan (less crowded) by motorbike (cutting through lines of traffic). This time they want to rent a car and go to Nantou for a few days. I worry that we might spend most of the time sitting in the car.
Any creative suggestions for where to go and what to do? I think Mum could be persuaded away from Nantou if I had a better idea. She’d like to go to a hot springs place at some point. She gets tired very easily.
[quote=“Miranda”]Won’t the travelling all be done by then? Aren’t the 26 and 27 January off?[/quote]Not according to this: cpa.gov.tw/cpa2004/egfix/EEW60001.html
[quote=“AWOL”]you could book a train ticket now[/quote]I think they only allow you to book a month in advance. Had a hard time booking train tickets last CNY. There were mostly sold out within a few minutes of booking opening. Perhaps it was those automated multiple ticket booking systems that there was a bit of a hoo-haa about recently.
There are buses direct to Taichung from the airport, no? Don’t imagine they’d be all that busy, because most people will be heading to the airport, not home from it. Traffic will be bad, because the 27th is D-day; the first night of the holiday. Give you plenty of time to catch up, should you come up to meet them, though maybe not under the most pleasant circumstances. :s
[quote=“citizen k”]There are buses direct to Taichung from the airport, no?[/quote]Right.[quote=“citizen k”]Don’t imagine they’d be all that busy, because most people will be heading to the airport, not home from it.[/quote]Good point.[quote=“citizen k”]Traffic will be bad, because the 27th is D-day; the first night of the holiday. Give you plenty of time to catch up, should you come up to meet them, though maybe not under the most pleasant circumstances. :s[/quote]I know it’ll be bad and I’m just wondering how bad. An hour or so late would be bearable but if it’s going to take much longer than that I’m wondering whether it might not be better for them to change the flight despite the cost.
Regarding what to do during their visit, JD’s idea of domestic flight is an interesting one though there remains the problem of where to stay while down south.
Somebody mentioned to me that actually Sun Moon Lake might not be too horrendously busy and that more people might go further south. Any thoughts on that?
[quote=“jdsmith”]Kending? There are great B&Bs off the main street that are great and not too pricey.
I do not know names but I have directions. [/quote]I’ve heard and seen photos of the good B & Bs in Kending. (I stayed at a mediocre one when I was there. A sea view was promised and a sea view was indeed available – a thin ribbon of blue above a row of apartments, visible by standing on tiptoe.)
But wherever we stay I think I ought to book in advance. I’m just thinking of last CNY’s experience. My friend phoned 10 hotels in Taidong, 2 weeks before CNY, and all except the last one were fully booked. The reason that the last one was not fully booked was probably that, as we discovered, it had cockroaches and unhelpful staff. And we still had to pay 3000 for a room.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“jdsmith”]Kending? There are great B&Bs off the main street that are great and not too pricey.
I do not know names but I have directions. [/quote]I’ve heard and seen photos of the good B & Bs in Kending. (I stayed at a mediocre one when I was there. A sea view was promised and a sea view was indeed available – a thin ribbon of blue above a row of apartments, visible by standing on tiptoe.)
But wherever we stay I think I ought to book in advance. I’m just thinking of last CNY’s experience. My friend phoned 10 hotels in Taidong, 2 weeks before CNY, and all except the last one were fully booked. The reason that the last one was not fully booked was probably that, as we discovered, it had cockroaches and unhelpful staff. And we still had to pay 3000 for a room.[/quote]
Absolutely book in advance. The places I know are just off the main street. Can’t see the beach but can walk to it.
Reserved express train tickets, cost about ntd 600 one way. Took 2nd morning train from taichung (06.50) and arrived at fongliao station at about 11.30. quite a nice train but for a long trip route, has no restaurant. better if you bring something to chew for this 4 hrs trip. Then we took a bus direct to kenting for another 1 hr 15’, cost about ntd 300. the bus station is just a step away from fongliao train station.
Spent 2 nights at caesars park, next to this hotel is howard beach. about the same rate. later on we realized that thouh they have “private” beach plus all the facilities, incl nice small cafe, they miss 1 majot thing for a beach: the SUNSET ! yes, you CANT see sunset from here. major turnoff for me.
one good thing is that this hotel has “half day city tour pax” around kenting area. cost about ntd 600. or find lots of offer to rent a car or scooter. for places to visit, some ideas you can find here : ats04.ee.nthu.edu.tw/%7Eats04/intro_kt.htm
theres a hotspring as well but had no chance to go there.
you might be able to book train ticket online here: railway.hinet.net/
this is other link: train.twtraffic.com.tw/TaiTrain/ … /time.html
both has english version. but better if you go directly to chung train station.
the 2 good places to eat : warung didi, casual south east asians, and smokey joe at howard beach
back to hotel, I think chateau is much better. it’s on the beachside side and I guess it has a sunset view. will choose this one on next visit.
left kenting at about 15.30 to catch the train that would take us back to taichung, leaving fongciao at 17.30. be careful that the bus is unscheduled.
Thanks for the links and ideas. Kending sounds nice but I have come up with an alternative plan that I would like to run by people.
The criteria: Mum gets tired easily, however she and both I get bored fairly easily so need some interesting stuff to do. She would like to go to a hot springs place, and also Sun Moon Lake if possible. (Also jade market and night market but we can do those things in Taichung).
So, my idea is to head NORTH to Taipei on the Friday evening she arrives. Presumably north-bound traffic will be OK and if we stay in Taipei over the next few days (CNY day is on the Sunday) it shouldn’t be too busy and there are plenty of interesting and cultural things to do in and around Taipei. Hope we could get to hot springs at Wulai or Beitou without too much trouble.
Then back to Taichung on the Tuesday, do stuff here until the Friday then drive a rented car down to Sun Moon Lake and stay the weekend there (obviously we could go to Shuili/Jiji as well and if we didn’t get to hot springs while up north we could take a day trip to Lushan instead.) Hoping that as the Friday is not an official day off work some people will choose to go back to work then so the SML area will not be too crowded.
I’d appreciate any further comments on the feasibility of these plans!
We’ll be doing our camping/gypsy travelling show over the new year…So, as last year you are welcome to join us wherever we end up pitching. But I want to be able to plunge into the sea and enjoy some sun, so we’ll probably be down Kenting way.
That’s a great idea Joe. Head North. Taipei was practically deserted last CNY. I would suggest booking way in advance for the hotspring hotels in Wulai or Beitoe. Both places are quite beautiful but not cheap and they book well in advance for CNY. Do a search for hotsprings and you should come up with many leads/recommendations.
[quote=“joesax”]…So, my idea is to head NORTH to Taipei on the Friday evening she arrives. Presumably north-bound traffic will be OK and if we stay in Taipei over the next few days (CNY day is on the Sunday) it shouldn’t be too busy and there are plenty of interesting and cultural things to do in and around Taipei. Hope we could get to hot springs at Wulai or Beitou without too much trouble.
Then back to Taichung on the Tuesday, do stuff here until the Friday then drive a rented car down to Sun Moon Lake and stay the weekend there (obviously we could go to Shuili/Jiji as well and if we didn’t get to hot springs while up north we could take a day trip to Lushan instead.) Hoping that as the Friday is not an official day off work some people will choose to go back to work then so the SML area will not be too crowded.[/quote]We did exactly this and it worked out fine. Beitou was almost deserted on CNY eve, and Longshan Temple was very busy and exciting on CNY day, though we had to be careful to avoid incense burns. Went to the National Palace Museum on the day after and the traffic was pretty bad going to and returning from Yangmingshan, but anyway on the bus it doesn’t really matter.
I’d really recommend this to anyone else who has relatives staying over future Chinese New Year vacations: stay in Taipei around the date of CNY itself but do travelling further afield either a few days before or a few days after.
[/quote]I’ve heard and seen photos of the good B & Bs in Kending. (I stayed at a mediocre one when I was there. A sea view was promised and a sea view was indeed available – a thin ribbon of blue above a row of apartments, visible by standing on tiptoe.)