Hi there,
I've been to Taiwan before (Hualian, Taibei, Taizhong, Jiayi) and have another 2 weeks there this month. I'm a fluent Mandarin speaker, so I want to get way off the beaten path and bike/moto around some parts of the island. I heard some of the cross-island highways are ok to bike and beautiful to go across. Any suggestions? Really anywhere non-touristy and where I could score some local minsu (homestays) would be great.
Thanks!
Elaina
I don't know the exact locations or names, but in the mountains near Cao Tun (grass sandals), in Nan Tou.there are a number of nice guest houses. These are old, traditional styled brick homes where each of the rooms is built around a courtyard and there is a wall in front. Many of them ae in forested areas with creeks, streams and wildlife. Others are on tea farms.
The seem idyllic to me.
Hi Elaina,
I've traveled along the cross-island highway from Hualian to Taizhong before: it's a gorgeous route through lovely mountainous country. For most of the route, all you have is small villages, and you'll find homestays there (though note that off-the-beaten track in Taiwan, people usually speak quite heavily accented Mandarin). I spent a couple of pleasant nights in a small village some 10-15km before the main pass on this road, at one of the few junctions (I can't remember what it's called). This area isn't that off-the-beaten track - Taiwanese tourists with their own vehicles like to come up here for the views - but you're unlikely to see Westerners, and there's plenty of scope for hiking in the mountains. This would be very tough on a bicycle (there's a 3000+ meter pass), but it is possible (I met a Taiwanese cyclist up here).
My favorite less touristy places in Taiwan are some of the outlying islands - places like Lanyu, Matsu, and Jinmen are fairly untouristy (or at least Matsu is), have very friendly people, and a different feel from "mainland Taiwan".
Great suggestions!
Bob - can you rent scooters around there and take to the backroads? I'm obsessed with the idea of trying to ride a scooter at some point - haha - it looks too fun.
Giora - how did you travel the highway btw? Bus, hitchhiking? How did you find places to stay? And I love to idea of the islands, I want to try to go to Lanyu I think. Have you been? What did you find most interested to do there? And how long is the boat ride haha, I don't want to do the plane.
Thanks, guys!
Lanyu is a fairly special place compared to the rest of Taiwan. Good for a week of exploration (tiny, one circular road and a couple of cross-island ones), nice scenery, rough coastal vistas, great snorkeling, very pleasant people, home stay and guesthouses available, plenty of scooters (no local bus) and above all, an aboriginal culture still strong...
Boat trip about 3 hours, from Fugang near Taitung. Flight, 20 mn, but more hazardous! And they have to clear the runway from stray goats between landings and take-offs...
Bob - can you rent scooters around there and take to the backroads? I'm obsessed with the idea of trying to ride a scooter at some point - haha - it looks too fun.
I dunno. When I'm there if I need a scooter I borrow it from an in-law.
Lots of good fishing in the area though.
Elaina,
Exactly, I traveled the highway through a mix of buses and hitching. I used buses for the long distances: you can travel from Hualian to Taizhong in two days on public buses along this route (there aren't very many buses a day, so you're forced to spend at least one night in the mountains if you stick to public buses). I hitched a few shorter rides up in the mountains; I found hitching very easy, and had offers of rides all the way through the mountains. I found places to stay simply by turning up to villages and asking around. I also had a tent with me, and camped a few nights, though mostly off the main highway. If you do go, you need to plan a little carefully: there aren't that many villages along this route, particularly on the Hualian side, and consequently the distance between places to stay is sometimes quite significant.
I have been to Lanyu, I spent 4 or 5 days there. I think the most interesting thing about the island is the people - in terms of how they look, how they behave, and how they speak, they are very different from the Chinese-dominated culture on Taiwan. There's quite a unique culture here - unique at least within Taiwan - and it's very interesting to see. Some of the younger people on the island can speak English (my Mandarin wasn't very good when I was in Taiwan, though Mandarin is as much a foreign language on the island as English is) and I had some lovely chats with people getting to know what life on the island is like. The island has six villages: the three villages on the western side are a little more modern. The other three - two on the eastern side, one village called Lantou on the north - are more traditional, with traditional half-underground houses still being lived in. I stayed in a lovely homestay - the home stay had no name, but the woman of the house suggested it might be called the "Surfboard Guesthouse" since there were a couple of surfboards hanging around in front of the home. In summer at least, the island is popular with young Taiwanese (the island only has 3 or 4 buses on it, which thankfully limits the number of tour groups) and there are a lot of homestays. The three villages round the back of the island remain mostly local villages however, and have a nice feel to them.
Apart from that, the island is gorgeous. It's basically a volcano in the middle of the sea. You can bicycle all the way around the island in about 2 hours, and there are several places where you can climb up the forest-covered interior. You can also swim and snorkel on several volcanic beaches. The boat ride to the island is about 3 hours if it's direct; some of the boats stop at Green Island, which means the trip will last longer. I traveled to the island to and from Taidong. Most visitors to the island rent scooters, which are available at the dock. Alternatively, you can get a bicycle: close to the dock is the island's rudimentary government office. Outside the office is a large pile of unlocked bicycles, and you can choose whichever one you want and ride off on it, provided you leave it back there before you leave the island! The island has one main ring road of about 35km, and one cross-island road in the middle. The cross-island road is very steep, and you'll probably want to walk your bicycle up and down it.
