Wandering around the bay for 15 days

I always thought that as long as each journey is placed in a small drawer in my mind, I can take it out at any time to savor one or two. Recently, I suddenly discovered that some details have begun to blur. So I decided to drive away the slackers, sat upright and tapped on the keyboard to write down some.

1: A sudden, but twists and turns, Bay-to-Wan tour

The idea of this trip to Wanwan came very suddenly - on December 11, 2017, I happened to read an article about Vipassana meditation in Tainan, and a voice suddenly flashed in my mind - go to be quiet too! So the next day, I asked my colleagues who had been to Bay Bay to find out about the relevant situation. I took a photo of my ID card, made an appointment online to apply for a pass and endorsement, and went to the bank to fill out a credit card application form (get a gold card, and you don’t need to deposit when you apply for a Taiwan entry permit. Proof and proof of income, considered the easiest option), about 10 days pass and endorsement, credit card in hand. Then apply for a Taiwan entry permit through a certain Baoshang CYTS, and it will be done in 4 days. In this way, within two weeks, all the documents required for entering Taiwan were prepared. At the same time, on December 20th, I also booked a round-trip ticket on a certain journey—the round-trip between Hong Kong and Taipei, Hong Kong Airlines, 1200 soft sister coins, and I was a little excited at the time. However, it turned out that I was a little too hasty, and in the later time, there was a price of 1100! Forget it, this is fate.

After more than ten days of inquiry and waiting, I found that Vipassana meditation is such a quiet activity, but it is "quite" popular. The plan to have fun "turned into a 15-day and 14-night tour around the island. Anyway, a person's journey can still be quiet... This is a discount.

The 20% discount is when everything is ready and waiting for the departure. On February 6, Hualien was hit by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake. After hearing the news through the news, I paid close attention to the latest earthquake report in the Bay Area every day. A friend also asked me if I would cancel the trip. After a few seconds of hard work and careful thinking, I decided to stick to this follow-up. Dating by the Bay. Later, during the entire trip, I paid attention to the changes through the earthquake early warning app every day, but fortunately the whole journey was safe.

Two: The so-called Raiders

1. About the certificate: the pass is required, just ask the police brothers and sisters in the entry and exit hall of the Public Security Bureau to apply. For the Taiwan entry permit, the CYTS flagship store on Taobao is quite reliable, so don’t do everything yourself.

2. About accommodation: Because I am traveling alone, based on the principle of saving money and convenience, I mainly focus on youth hostels. I can get it on Booking, and the price is not bad, so I don’t bother to use the Youth Hostel membership card to book a discount on the website. . But there is a problem that needs attention. After placing an order on Booking, sometimes a confirmation email will be sent to your mailbox within two or three days after placing the order. Remember to confirm in time, otherwise it may be cancelled. My order at Sun Moon Lake was cancelled. Fortunately, I found out in time and placed a new order. If there are a few people traveling together, the B&B should be a good choice. The introduction of the Wanwan B&B on the Internet is quite unique, and it should be worth a try.

3. About transportation: EasyCard is a good thing. For those who travel independently, they can be used on buses, subways, Taiwan Railways, and convenience stores, and can be done at the airport. According to other people's guides, there was no cost of production before, but now it is NT$100 per card. If the card is returned, the balance in the card can be refunded, but the cost of production will not be refunded. If you still plan to visit the bay again, you might as well keep it for now.

Many guides have mentioned the high-speed rail early-bird ticket, that is, you can get discounted train tickets through the Wanwan High-Speed Rail website in advance. But because I don’t want to set a too mandatory schedule for my itinerary, and I don’t want to endure a webpage that opens too slowly, and after a rough calculation, the money saved by the discount is only a few tens of dollars per trip... Forget it, just Be fat, be willful for a while. The trains in Wanwan include Taiwan Railway and high-speed rail. There is Puyuma in Taiwan Railway. The price is between ordinary trains and high-speed rail, and the speed is slightly slower than high-speed rail. It is a good choice. Tickets are actually easy to buy. I always go to the station to buy tickets or swipe the EasyCard to get on the train directly. Because Puyuma does not have standing tickets, so if you plan to ride during peak hours, you may buy tickets at the station one day in advance to be safer.

4. About the itinerary: The allowed stay time of the Taiwan Entry Permit is 16 days and 15 nights. In order to be more flexible, but to maximize the input and output of this trip, I set the itinerary as 15 days and 14 nights, and read and understand various travel websites The "good-hearted people" have roughly arranged the following itinerary plan for themselves:

serial number

Place

Itinerary

Taipei

Hong Kong - Taipei

Taipei

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Shilin Official Residence, Taipei National Palace Museum, Taipei Xiangshan (night view)

Taipei - Taichung

Taichung Railway Station, Miyahara Ophthalmology (Miyahara Ophthalmology Ice Cream), Rainbow Village, Tunghai University, Gaomei Wetland (Sunset), Fengjia Night Market

Taichung - Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake Shuishe Wharf, Sun Moon Lake Wenwu Temple, Lalu Island

Sun Moon Lake - Alishan

Jiji, Firefly

Alishan

Zhushan Station, Ogasawara Mountain, Zhaping Park, Shuishan Giant Tree Trail, Sisters Lake, Alishan Shenmu Group, Fireflies

Alishan - Chiayi - Kaohsiung - Kenting

Kenting Main Street/Kenting Night Market

Kenting

Chuanfan Rock, Sand Island, Eluanbi Park, the southernmost point of Wanwan, Longkeng Ecological Reserve, Longpan Park, Wind and Sand, Kenting Night Market

Kenting - Hualien

(Sea Line) Xiaoyeliu Landscape Landscape Area, Water Flowing Upward, Sanxian Terrace, Baxian Cave, Tropic of Cancer Sign Tower, Shitiping

D10

Hualien

Qixingtan, Qingshui Cliff, Taroko Park

D11

Hualien

Whale watching, Baibaoxi

D12

Hualien - Ruifang Railway Station - Jiufen

Jinguashi Golden Waterfall, Shengping Theater, Jiufen Old Street

D13

Jiufen - Ruifang Railway Station - Taipei

(From far to near) Jingtong Station, Pingxi Station, Shifen Station (Shifen Old Street, Jing'an Suspension Bridge, Shifen Waterfall), Houtong

D14

Taipei

Longshan Temple, Ximending, Presidential Palace, Yongkang Street, Xinyi Eslite Bookstore

D15

Shenzhen

Taipei - Hong Kong - Shenzhen

As for the itinerary, I personally think it should be a travel sketch. Its function is only to guide us not to deviate from the general direction. A little casualness during the journey will bring surprises of encounters. Just like this trip, due to the season and temperature, I couldn’t see the fireflies and cherry blossoms in Alishan, but I walked almost every scene in the forest amusement park area; I gave up Baibao River in Hualien, but I was able to walk along Walking more than ten kilometers on the Suhua Highway, you can see the blue greedy land of the Pacific Ocean; avoid the crowds of tourists in Ximending, the Presidential Palace, and Yongkang Street, but encounter the ancient Chuantang Hot Spring in Yangmingshan and the thick clouds and strong winds A different kind of Fisherman's Wharf; temporarily abandoning the sea line and taking the mountain line, missed Xiaoyeliu, but tasted the delicacy of Chishang Bento, and ran into the parade convoy of Zhahan Bingye on Brown Avenue...

Three: Wandering around the bay

The scenery of the bay——

When traveling, what you appreciate is the scenery - or humanities, or nature. For people like me who seem to have mild crowd phobia, during free travel, they will intentionally or unintentionally avoid crowds, coupled with the off-season and earthquake after the Spring Festival, there are not many tourists, which is more for me Finally, I saw a quiet bay.

Sun Moon Lake, after taking a boat tour of the lake, alternate feet with the park bus, and continue to circle around the lake—from noon to night, from sparkling to ink mist, standing on the steps engraved with the date of birth, A person celebrated a birthday for himself.

On the Jiji Line, the small train glides leisurely on the rails that used to transport timber. Outside the window, paddy fields, fruit forests, and small towns pass by one another. You can even feel a bougainvillea on the side of the road lightly touching the window, so close and so Dear... There is no anxiety of rushing, but more leisurely thoughts.

Alishan, in the towering Shenmu District, chased and photographed little squirrels like paparazzi, watched a crystal clear sunrise on Yushan Mountain, spent more than 7 hours measuring the two hiking trails in the park with feet, and clocked in. Gaoting and the top of the big tower. The fresh oxygen swayed by the ancient trees in the forest really makes people full of energy.

Kenting, one person, one car, 9-hour east-west coastline cruise. Flowing clouds, sandy beaches, strange rocks, winds that can knock people down... At the end of the day, I got a "char siu shǎi" full-face sunburn makeup for free.

Suhua Highway, a 12-kilometer hike, is full of psychedelic blue Pacific Ocean. In particular, one of the 1,460-meter tunnels was brightly lit before entering, but it was completely dark when it came out about 15 minutes later, and I felt like I had fallen into a time-transformed gap.

Qixingtan, a bay that is not a lake, has no sand, but is full of gravel with different stories. The endless sound of waves washes away every sensitivity that comes here, the crowd around has faded away, and there is only one thought - time slows down like this, stop...

In Jiufen, the thick fog dispelled the crowds, and the faint lanterns gave people a feeling of wandering in a dream.

Wanwan food——

How could a complete trip be without food!

According to the temporary recommendation of Master Hong's beef noodles from a friend I found, I really experienced the pleasure of eating a large piece of meat. "There is no soup left" is not an exaggerated rhetoric, but just a fact that Heisuke directly stated at the time.

How does Hualien's long-established scallion pan fried egg combine crispness and softness so seamlessly!

I was a little surprised when I said it. This is actually the first time I have eaten custard. Unexpectedly, after eating this, I ate it for three days in a row.

There is a huge portion of pork chop rice balls on the roadside of Miyahara Ophthalmology, which is full of happiness.

The night market is definitely a good place to go, let go of your appetite, forget about eating, eat! The price is really not expensive. The price of a piece of roasted jelly grass in an old shop in Ningxia night market is lower than that in Shenzhen, but the portion is more than that in Shenzhen.

The delicious little ice cream at Tunghai University Dairy Station, the Beihui Papaya Milk at Fengjia Night Market, the Taiwan Railway Bento that only costs NT$80 but is full of sincerity, the corn from Guanshan, the fresh cheese from Ruisui...every time I think about it, the tip of my tongue Gluttons will riot once.

The people of Wanwan——

This is one of the reasons why I insist on writing this article.

"Affectionate and courteous" are the people in Wanwan in my heart:

Ask the way to an auxiliary police sister who is copying cards on the side of the road, "Sorry, I don't know, just wait a moment, I will ask someone else for you."

I want to visit the Taiwan Presbyterian Church Dadaocheng Church, unfortunately it is not an open day. The doorman, however, apologized as if it was his own fault: "I'm so sorry, the opening day is every Saturday, that is, tomorrow, why don't you come back tomorrow."

In the early morning, I stood at a stop sign at Sun Moon Lake and waited for the minibus to Checheng Station. An old lady looked at me from a distance for a while, then came over and asked me where I was going, and boarded the minibus together. Along the way, I chatted like relatives and friends, and told me: the government provides 1,000 yuan of fare to the elderly every month, and they can take buses and trains as they please. I went out early in the morning to go shopping around by car... My daughter's family has immigrated to the United States, and I can only come back to visit her occasionally... I also told me that if I have time at Checheng Station, I can take advantage of the waiting time for the next train to wander around in the surrounding mountains. The scenery is very beautiful. Mei... When she arrived at Checheng Station, she didn't get off the bus, but followed the minibus back! Is this a senior angel coming to show me the way?

Seeing me rushing into the car, the train conductor on the small train on the Jiji Line and a dozen or so local tourists on board, who had already reached the driving time, not only enthusiastically pointed me to the location of the ticket office, but also let the train leave a few minutes late for me to buy. Tickets and boarding. Wow, this is the first time, the train is waiting for me, and I promise not to open the door to prevent driving! The grey-haired train conductor sang aboriginal folk songs every time he arrived at a station, and went down to make inspections. The relaxed atmosphere diluted my regret of not being able to linger at the ancient Checheng station.

Mr. Jie Lun, the carpool driver from Kenting to Hualien (the real name is Jie Lun, but not Zhou) invites everyone to eat delicious corn from Guanshan. Said: "Get out of the car, don't be confused!"

When I was climbing Alishan, I met two senior mountaineering brothers from Taipei. They chatted all the way, showed me the videos on their FB when they climbed other high mountains in Taiwan, and planted grass for me on Yushan Snow Mountain, aboriginal tribes with few tourists, etc. Invite me to drive with them to the top of the gap to see the cloud waterfall, tell me the legend of the ancestral spirit of Data Mountain and the story of their climbing Data Mountain when they were young... Even if it involves some political topics, it is just to express opinions and seek common ground while reserving differences , the two sides held successful talks in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere. In addition, there is an elder sister who works as a clerk in the Danshui Restaurant and used the holiday after the Spring Festival to climb the mountain. It made me understand that I should "live", not "survive".

The driver next to the Qixingtan bus station, even though I declined the taxi invitation, still chatted with me to pass the time of waiting for the bus in the rain. He also told the bus driver that there might be the last bus to bypass the last stop because of the traffic jam caused by the earthquake (as it turned out, his prediction was correct).

Because of these, traveling alone this way is warm...