houseoftravellers

[houseoftravellers]

Hualien Day 2

We set to meet at 9am in the lobby, and be ready to head out the door at 10am to catch our bus at 1030am to start the day. Todd made us (Carly and me) eggs, but Todd cooked it raw so we made our own and I cooked Todd’s eggs longer to make it my lunch. 

Today was a great example of how plans can go  to shit and you just gotta go with the flow. We were ready to leave by 10am but because we were so scattered -- one was pooping, one was taking the sheets off the bed, one was hitting on the receptionists, I was doing my own thing wondering where everyone was, we missed our bus. Our other group of 4 friends came to meet us, but since we were late, they didn’t get on that bus. We spent the next hour trying to figure out what to do, rearranging our day in congruence with the bus schedule, lined up for bus tickets only to find out they were sold out. All 8 of us finally decided on what to do. We ended up back at the lobby at 12pm, waiting for the bus at 1pm to take us to a Liyu Lake.  A lot of us expected this enourmous lake was to be surrounded in luscious greenery with simple hiking trails which would take 3-4 hours to go through. This wasn’t the case.  

I was told the bus ride was going to be 20minutes. This wasn’t the case.  1 hour and 30minutes later... we’re still on the bus. Playing 20 questions and name games. 

Someone suggested going to see some zoo animals. Sure.  The bus comes every hour. 

I didn’t realize that the entry tickets were $350NTD to check out the zoo.  Pass. 

Joe and I wanted to hike, so we branched away from them and started walking. We walked across the bridge. 

We came across a hill of trees which looked like palm trees. I asked what they were, Joe told me they were betel nut trees. Okay. Let’s climb it. 

We found an opening. I had Joe lead first to get rid of the spiderwebs. 

It was cool. 

We met up with the rest of the group at 3pm. Only 2 out of 6 folks came out. Apparently, the zoo is massive, but the 2 guys didn’t have a good time so we went to the next destination:

Liyu Lake

With the 4 of us, 2 of them went kayaking for 1 hour = $200NTD. There’s a block of restaurants on the side of the road, they all sell the same thing. I was adamant there’s gotta be at least one person selling something else. Nah.  They’re all selling tao cake, turnip cake, little fried shrimps and fish, fish cake, Mu Gua smoothie at around $50NTD each.   

It’s alright when you don’t have much of a choice. 

The other group of 4 met up with us couple hours later. Since there’s a big group (8 people) of us, we got a set meal of 7 dishes for $1800NTD at one of the restaurants. We got fish, duck, lots of veggies, big bowl of soup, tempura, and rice. 

The last bus out of here is 6pm to Hualian train station. We got to see some fireflies in the bushes by the bus stop. 

I passed out for an hour when we got back to the hostel. Went to the lobby to find 3 of them playing board games. We played until 1am. 

This guy in the lobby seemed to have had a good night. I’m sure his back will be paying for it the next day. 

A bunch of people playing Mario on the other side of the lobby. 

[houseoftravellers]

Long Weekend spent in Hualien

This past weekend was a pretty big hype for the Taiwanese locals and expat dwellers in town. It was “Tomb Sweeping Day” aka 清明節 (Chinese) aka Qing Ming Festival. I learned that everybody gets the same time off of work so the traffic is nuts everywhere, and big events happen (Spring Scream Festival in Kenting) around the country. Same time because everyone’s too scared to take vacation days or sick days due to fear of replacement. 

What: A national holiday, you get a day off for it. It is one of the oldest holidays on the planet.  When: April 5th Why: An important day of sacrifice for most people to go and sweep tombs and commemorate their ancestors. If you want to visit and respect your ancestors, this is the best time to do it. It’s also the time to put down your phones, go outside and start enjoying the greenery of spring. Qingming (清明) is the second of 24 solar terms on the traditional Chinese solar calendar. I didn’t know what it was but I almost stayed home to catch up with myself and work on designs but I saw how beautiful it was out so I decided to hop on board a group of adventurers going to Hualien for 3 days. I’ve never met them before so that was pretty exciting. I let them do all the planning since I’m not familiar with the place and they were. 

Day 1 Getting to Hualian

8am We met up at Taipei Main Station at the TRA Station located in B3 which can be found when you go up the escalator from the MRT train. 

Follow the signs. 

Since there was 4 of us, 1 was in Banqiao where the train starts, 1 got lost trying to find where the TRA platform was. He ended up at the main TRA platform with the checkered floors on Floor 2. 

Ticket Cost: $440NT

We took the 8:47am train and got there at 12pm. 

Upon arrival, we went to scout some hostels. First place we checked out was Chantai Hotel - 2100/night for 4 people -- private room. Pictures looked pretty rusty so we went across the street to Hualien WOW Youth Hostel. 

Hualien WOW Youth Hostel:

Young friendly staff who could speak English pretty well

$600/night per person in a 4 person dorm

$2760/night per person, private room for 4

Breakfast included - probably the best breakfast I’ve had offered in a hostel. Eggs, Ham, Cheese, Toast, Oranges, Tea, Jam, Butter. They don’t keep track how many you take

Has boardgames and books

They offer toothbrush, snacks, tampons, and other things which you can purchase in the lobby by honour system

Very worth it, I’d go again

Right across from the Hualien Train Station

Clean, modern, looks pretty new

Bed was hard but it was your own space, it wasn’t a bunk bed. The room was set up really cool.

Once we were settled, it was too late to take the bus anywhere. Places are 1-2 hour bus rides away unfortunately so we took the bus to the Chishingtan Scenic Area which took 10minutes for $25NT. 

Big waves crashing in. 

Spent the evening playing boardgames.