Taitung

The departure from Fugang Fishing Port was on time, but there were slight delays both to and from Lanyu. This is because Lanyu Kaiyuan Port seems to only allow one boat to dock at a time, with consecutive departure times at 14:45 and 15:00. The time for passengers and cargo to board and disembark far exceeds 15 minutes, so the delay seems inevitable, but it's still acceptable. The waiting area at the pier is basic, and the toilets are flooded everywhere. However, staff on site said a new waiting area is under construction? So perhaps the transition period is a bit difficult? Last and most importantly, the beauty of Lanyu makes these flaws easily overlooked. Hopefully, it will be better and more convenient in the future.

The route from Taipei to Kaohsiung, then to the southernmost point of Taiwan, then to Hualien, then to Wuling, then to Taichung, and back to Taipei took 4 nights and 5 days. The section from Hualien to Wuling was a treacherous road that would be unsuitable for inexperienced drivers, but the view from the top was absolutely spectacular.

The early booking plan was great value for money, costing just over 5000 yen per person and even including the famous tea in Jiufen. Our tour guide, Kaori, was humorous, easy to talk to, and very entertaining. She made reservations for the lanterns, peanut ice cream, and chicken wings in Shifen for us, even though there were about 20 groups in our group, which allowed us to make the most of our time. The hand-drawn map of Jiufen was also very helpful as it highlighted all the key points. At the end, we were even able to get off at the night market if we asked, so it was a truly fulfilling tour!

This pass is very convenient. This time, I went to Kaohsiung and chose the 2-day unlimited ride pass for the Kaohsiung MRT and trams, along with a sightseeing bus plan to Sun Moon Lake. The bullet train was quite crowded, and my husband and I couldn't reserve seats next to each other, but we were able to change it at the ticket counter on the day of travel. Even with reserved seats, you can change the time anytime if you choose unreserved seats. However, it's very crowded, so reserved seats are difficult to get. Be careful, as you must reserve the bus to Sun Moon Lake by 12:00 PM every day; you cannot reserve it on the day of travel. I didn't have a suitable time either, but as long as I had the QR code, I could board any bus. This time, I thought I could make reservations using only the KKday app, but it turned out I also had to install the Taiwan Pass app and make bullet train reservations on the High-Speed ​​Rail website, which was a bit of a hassle, but once you do it, you get used to it, and it's a great pass, so I would like to use it again.

I participated in a tour of Rainbow Village, Miyahara Ophthalmology Clinic, and Gaomei Wetlands. At Miyahara Ophthalmology Clinic, if you wait in line for ice cream, you might not have time to buy souvenirs. Gaomei Wetlands was sunny, and I was able to take some great photos. The tour guide was very kind, and since all the participants were Japanese, they played enka music in the car on the way back, which was very relaxing. It was a great tour for the price!

The itinerary was excellent, and the tour guide was very friendly, helping us order delicious food, choose sky lanterns, and providing great explanations of the itinerary. Time management was also superb! The only downside was that we had to return to the bus early because the air conditioning wouldn't be turned on earlier if there weren't enough people! Everything else was great 👍! A great choice for a day trip!