The drive to Jiayi down the west coast is very boring. You pass through a lot of the worst of Taiwan before getting to some of the best it has to offer. On the other hand the drive to Taroka, if you go the old way, takes you through Taiwan’s best from the moment you leave Taipei. You still have to drive the Su-ao road. If you feel game enough, it’s very beautiful in parts.
The attraction of Chia-i is the quick train ride, wouldn’t drive there. How bad is the Su-ao road? Is it wide enough for cars going in opposite directions to pass without stopping? Is it a sealed surface? I thought it was a fairly major road?
Yes, it’s two lanes all the way (even four in a few spots, like around Heping), and it’s sealed. But there are usually a lot of gravel trucks between Heping and Suao, racing to get as many trips in as they can in a day. Fortunately that stretch is only about 50km long, and it’s beautiful most of the time.
Except for one spot the Suao road is as Chris described, but the trucks and tourist buses jam up the traffic. Usually the trucks are a little more curtious than the buses and will pull over a little in the rare passing lanes; however, I once counted 156 going the opposite way to me. If you add to that the buses and reckless Taiwan drivers, it makes for a pretty exciting ride. It’s not too bad, but you have to know what to expect and that means expect everything.
Almost decided to just go to Taroko and Taipei, but Muzha man’s last itinery does sound nice. Does anyone know of a car hire company that would allow a one way rental from taipei to taitung, or hualien to taitung?
How about flying back from taitung to taipei, does anyone know a webpage where I could look up prices/schedules/bookings for that, preferably in english. If not is there a way to make a browser substitute simplified chinese for traditional?
Would it be difficult to drive across to Kaoshiung from taitung area and get the high speed train back from there? Is the long loop around the south quicker than going over the mountains.
[quote=“mikedufty”]Almost decided to just go to Taroko and Taipei, but Muzha man’s last itinery does sound nice. Does anyone know of a car hire company that would allow a one way rental from Taipei to Taidong, or Hualian to Taidong?
How about flying back from Taidong to Taipei, does anyone know a webpage where I could look up prices/schedules/bookings for that, preferably in english. If not is there a way to make a browser substitute simplified chinese for traditional?
Would it be difficult to drive across to Kaoshiung (Gaoxiong) from Taidong area and get the high speed train back from there? Is the long loop around the south quicker than going over the mountains.[/quote]
Taitung to Kaohsiung by bus is 4.5 hours so I imagine it will be faster by car. Never done this though. Definitely faster than over the mountains. But why not just fly?
Taitung Airport: www.rcfn.gov.tw/en/en1.asp
This is the number of the tourism board’s free 24 hotline. They have English speaking operators and can answer any question:
0800-011-765
If you just want a car from Hualien to Taitung call the visitor centre in Hualien and ask:
03 836 0634
And that’s it: you owe me a beer! 
My sister is bringing her two kids (8-year-old girl, 17-year-old boy – the boy’s been to China before) for the first two weeks of April.
I’ve already printed aout Mucha Man’s two itineraries in this thread. We have transport and I have 15 years-worth of driving experience here, so the roads don’t faze me at all.
What I’m really looking for now is additional points of interest along those two routes, particularly from the point of view of an 8-year-old. I’ve pencilled in the Hualian Water park thing, Yingge pottery, monkeys at Taroko, the road over Hehuanshan, the Shuili snake kiln, fireflies at Ruili, that kind of thing. I realize of course that not all these will be do-able in the time available.
Any other ideas for places anywhere in Taiwan, including in and around Taipei itself, will be very gratefully received.
Around Taipei you could try Yehliu. Or how about a swim in one of the river spots in Wulai (or Pinglin if you want it really safe)? Bike riding in Pinglin finished with a swim in the river?
There’s a new kite park on the north coast near Bashawan. Biggest kite park in Asia.
Depending on the girl, she may enjoy the Lin Family Mansion down in Banqiao. Nearby is the Nougat Museum with the biggest nougat in the world.
Guqifeng Museum in Hsinchu. Big temple complex with a cool collection. Big jade horses, a pure jade 4-poster bed, these really excellent mini-villages made of wood complete with tiny figures, houses, temples etc. Also a good taxidermi collection including an entire giraffe’s head (from the shoulder’s up). I’m going here again on Tuesday so I’ll let you know if it’s the same.
Sanyi. Walk through the old railway tunnels (1km each, completely black in the centre). Let the kids make lei cha at the village. I think the Youtong trees will be blooming in April too. Very pretty.
Puli: the paper factory. More like a cottage industry. She can make her own paper.
Also in Puli the modern Chung Tai Chan Temple. It’s got some amazing stuff. A 7 story pure teak pagoda, a vast chamber with plaques on the wall that change colors, massive modern statues, etc. Again depending on the kids, they could find it rivetting Certainly very visually stimulating. And the nuns there speak English and can give you a tour and introduce the kids to all the stuff and a little about Buddhism. No harm introducing them to a bit of foreign thought and culture in a safe, warm environment.
Down the east coast:
Maitaian near Hualien Sugar Factory for a traditional hot pot in a basket that uses heated stones to boil the water. The restaurant is pretty cool too and every table has little animal carvings under the glass.
Cow Mountain Beach. Stay in the driftwood cabins. Like a treefort.
Shitiping and Xiao Yehliu for exploring.
Taimali Beach south of Taitung for a big bonfire (tons of driftwood on the beach).
Chihben Forest Recreation Area. Lots of monkeys but also the Reeves Munctjac. Now I’m sure you’re thinking, wow! a Reeves Munctjac is just what my niece wants to see. But the deer makes a pretty funny barking sound like a dog. Even if you don’t see one walking through a forest full of barking beer is pretty funny. And the old banyan forest is like something out of the Ent chapter in Lord of the Rings.
Juming Museum has a lot of kid friendly stuff including all those parachute guys. And I think the nearby Teresa Teng gravesite has one of those huge keyboards you can step on to play a tune (ask Chris as he was there recently).
The dog temple (18 Lords Temple). Kind of ugly but she won’t care. If she’s a dog lover she’ll get a kick out of being blessed by a dog.
What about Yangmingshan to see the fumaroles? They are pretty bizarre and really smelly (my nephew would love it just for the smell).
Barbie Museum?
World Police Museum?
Superb, MM. Lovely ideas there. Don’t hesitate to add more if you think of any. Anywhere in Taiwan is good. This is really excellent! 
Lots of good tips from MM there.
I’ll make a point of seconding this one:[quote=“Muzha Man”]Chihben Forest Recreation Area. Lots of monkeys but also the Reeves Munctjac. Now I’m sure you’re thinking, wow! a Reeves Munctjac is just what my niece wants to see. But the deer makes a pretty funny barking sound like a dog. Even if you don’t see one walking through a forest full of barking beer is pretty funny. And the old banyan forest is like something out of the Ent chapter in Lord of the Rings.[/quote]The forest recreation area is fairly compact but does indeed have lots of monkeys and various other interesting animals. And there are plenty of hot spring hotels just down the valley if you’re into that kind of thing.
Another thought – what about Green Island? I guess that there must be kids’ snorkelling equipment available, though obviously you’d need to keep a close eye on safety. The island itself is nice, with quite a few bits to explore. And I think it’s relatively safer to ride a scooter there compared with the rest of Taiwan, at least on weekdays. The kids might also like the ocean hot springs – I found it fascinating to see the hot spring water bubbling up from the sand.
If you do go to Green Island, make sure the kids take appropriate travel sickness medication through. The journey’s not much fun otherwise.
I’d thought of Green Island. But I was there about 18 years ago and while it was nice, I’ve heard that it’s since been completely trashed by overdevelopment and that’s not something I want to see. Also, I heard they’ve started charging money for the hotsprings and have trashed that with development, too. They were indeed nice when they were natural, though.
After much consideration of options, and a slightly stressful 3 hr drive this weekend, we’ve decided to just spend 2 nights near taroko gorge, and the rest of the trip around taipei. The address for our relatives is yangmingshan, does that mean it is near the yangmingshan things people recommend hear, or is there a suburb called yangmingshan that is somewhere else?
We are thinking of staying at the teyra.com.tw/news.html hotel recommended elsewhere on this forum, the leader cabins sounded very nice, but a bit too expensive.
Does anyone know when the faster tilting trains to Haulien are likely to start operating, or if they have already?
[quote=“mikedufty”]After much consideration of options, and a slightly stressful 3 hr drive this weekend, we’ve decided to just spend 2 nights near taroko gorge, and the rest of the trip around Taipei. The address for our relatives is yangmingshan, does that mean it is near the yangmingshan things people recommend hear, or is there a suburb called yangmingshan that is somewhere else?
We are thinking of staying at the teyra.com.tw/news.html hotel recommended elsewhere on this forum, the leader cabins sounded very nice, but a bit too expensive.
Does anyone know when the faster tilting trains to Hualian are likely to start operating, or if they have already?[/quote]
Not sure about the train but yangmingshan is yangmingshan. You should get your friends to pick up a book called Yangmingshan, by Richard Saunders. It is the complete introduction to the park by a guy who knows and loves it inside out.
Do make sure to go to Tienlai hot springs on the back side. www.tienlai.com.tw
So man of sand, how did the trip go with the kids?
Lovely, despite the crappy weather. Slightly unambitious though, as the younger one wasn’t 8 but a much more attention-intensive 6. First night in Wuchi at the in-laws, with a trip to the fish market. Next day a leisurely drive up to the Chingjing Farm area to spend the night at Victoria “Reak” (I think it was supposed to be “Peak”). Nice wooden building, comfortable. Dorm-sized wood-clad room with 3 double beds and a nice bathroom. Woke up early for the sea of clouds, which obliged. Drove up over Hehuanshan and down the Chungheng in thick fog and rain with lots of stops. Lots of rockfalls and waterfalls. Absolutely stunning, though. Were going to stay at Buloluan but got waylaid by the midweek special prices and nice bathrooms at the Formosa Taroko (NT$6,000, reduced by 30%). Walked a few of the nearby trails next morning as the road below was blocked by a rockfall, saw some wild monkeys, caught a chain snake, went up to Buluoluan on the way down and fell in love with the place, although I don’t think it would be so quiet and tranquil on the weekend, but it was a very very nice place to sit outside under the awning of the main hall with a couple of beers in front of a burning log. Drove up the Suhua for a bit of excitement for my sister on the way home. Seems she’s not used to being tailgated at 70 on a steep twisty downhill by an overloaded artic intent on passing on a blind bend.
All in all, a nice break.
Which brings me to the reason I wanted to contact you. Any leads on nice – I mean NICE – places for a weekend getaway, like this weekend? No further than Yilan or, say, Miaoli. NT$6,000 per room, tops. Dog-friendly. Tall order I know, but I thought maybe you’d have a lead or two. Cheers.
I like the cut of this place’s jib, but I don’t think they have any accommodation.
http://www.bulaubulau.com/ Be nice though if there were somewhere lovely to stay nearby so we could eat there.
Alright ya pushy bugger. I’ve been thinking but the dog-friednly stipulation and NICE has me stumped. All I can think of are cabins, such as the ones at Wuling Farm or Mingchih.
The place near Wushih Harbour I mentioned in another thread is lovely (the lion museum place) but I don’t think they will let you take a dog.
I’d check out the 40 Best B&Bs in Taiwan for a place closer. Since these are all private residences they may be dog friendly. I checked out about half (mostly in the east and south sorry) and they have all been up to scratch, some truly lovely.
202.39.225.132/jsp/Eng/html/sear … ?layer3=24
Unfortuately they aren’t listing them by region anymore but you know the areas.
Thanks, MM. That’s a comprehensive list you linked there. I’m sure we’ll find something suitable. Excellent!
[quote=“mikedufty”]After much consideration of options, and a slightly stressful 3 hr drive this weekend, we’ve decided to just spend 2 nights near taroko gorge, and the rest of the trip around Taipei. The address for our relatives is yangmingshan, does that mean it is near the yangmingshan things people recommend hear, or is there a suburb called yangmingshan that is somewhere else?
We are thinking of staying at the teyra.com.tw/news.html hotel recommended elsewhere on this forum, the leader cabins sounded very nice, but a bit too expensive.
Does anyone know when the faster tilting trains to Hualian are likely to start operating, or if they have already?[/quote]
If you’re in and around Taroko Gorge and Hualian, there’s a great “minority hostel” (Minshe) on the highway by the ocean near some weird amusement park. The food is fresh, delicious, and the lodgings plain, but clean and cute. It’s right beside the beach for some sand, bonfire, and swimming.
Mucha,
Is your friend’s B&B in Yuli the “Wisdom Garden” and does she speak English?
home.kimo.com.tw/wisdom_garden/
tour-hualien.hl.gov.tw/en/tour-g … ceneId=801
Your “tour” sounded great and I’m thinking about doing it with my Mom and her boyfriend when they make a brief visit here at the end of May.
Thanks.
Not a friend, but a lovely woman none the less. No she doesn’t speak English, or very very little. Yes, it’s Wisdom Garden.