Hello David
We had a great time in Taiwan and Steph was a very attentive and knowledgeable guide. He was able to offer us visits to sites not listed in the program and since we like to eat well and discover culinary things, he was attentive to introducing us to different restaurants and many indigenous specialties throughout the stay.
Little return per day
Day 1: Drive to Hualien, without a guide. Rain on the road, but the driver offered us a visit to the Kavallan distillery. Very good option. Then the rain stopped when we were able to stop to enjoy the views. Very good hotel
2nd day Taroko Gorge – very good day – very nice site. However, the hike that you had indicated in the program was closed and not suitable for all audiences. We took stock in the evening on the mountain road which was only open between noon and 2. So big time constraint for the day on Sun Moon Lake. After discussion and agreement with the guide, we opted to go back to Teipai. Longer route in km but safer in travel time. It might have been better to return to Teipai in the evening and make the road to the lake on the morning of the 3rd day (shorter route)
Day 3: We left at 7am and arrived at 1:15pm. This allowed us to really enjoy half a day on the lake: a pleasant boat ride, and half a day on a bike. It’s a pedestrian and bike-only lane that leads to the visitor center (a building with very interesting modern architecture). We visited a temple. We kept the pagoda for the next morning. The rooms were not very soundproof and cold. But there was a beautiful view of the lake from the breakfast room.
Day 4: Beautiful visits to Tainan. Very charming, very lively city. Very well-located hotel with comfortable rooms.
Day 5: We switched and went to see the drum show. It’s nice and not too long. From our point of view, it’s especially worth it for the site which is very surprising. Family-friendly, festive, very green. In Tainan there was a festival of floats to the temples with parades. As a result, it was very lively, animated, decorated and we spent a lot of time following, observing these ceremonies
Day 6: Liuqiu. A beautiful day. Diving with the turtles will remain one of our favorite moments for all 3 of us. The sea was warm enough for swimming. I didn’t think we would be able to see so many turtles. The guide pointed out and showed us the most remarkable sites of the island. We took full advantage of the scooters (scooters adapted for guests used to 2 wheels and not stressed. We were a long way from the rules for using 2 wheels in Europe). Very kitsch and fun hotel.
Day 7: Departure from the island. I think a long day was the right length of stay for us. The weather was nice and we could swim, but the sky was still overcast, so the weather wasn’t conducive to staying all day in the water or on the beach. There are also few beaches. We took a last tour of the island, visiting the interior and swimming. Boat at 11 a.m. We could have stayed a little later that day, but we would have had to cut back on the tour. For our taste, we drove way too far that day. We headed south, but ended up retracing our steps and didn’t have time to walk around or enjoy Kenting Park. The chanting in an indigenous village was too far away, and it didn’t seem very interesting (to us).
Pleasant hotel with baths. The rooms were a bit dated, but the baths were very pleasant.
Day 8: We were supposed to hike to Sanxiantai, but the bridge was closed a few days before our arrival. So, Steph suggested some visits that we really liked: tuna market/auction, geological site on a beach, forest and monkeys. A quiet and pleasant day. That said, with this hike closed, in hindsight, we would have preferred not to go to the south (apart from Liuqiu) and instead to hike inland in the mountains. Because in the end, we didn’t get to see the mountains.
Day 9: Train. Steph adapted to the preferences of the three of us and agreed to find solutions for our son’s itinerary changes. It was wonderful to be able to ask him all our questions about the island. He gave us some great suggestions for Taipei.
We will keep excellent memories of this vacation in a territory where we were amazed to discover such a mixture of cultures, landscapes, people, religions and cuisines.
Good luck with the return of travel now possible throughout Asia
Thank you for the care taken in preparing our program.
Virginie