On a lark, we decided to travel to Taiwan earlier this year. Here are a few tips – some that we found on blogs and a few from our own experience.

 

Travelling from India

 

1. Visa
   • If you have a US visa, then Taiwan allows Indian citizens to enter on an e-visa. One only needs to submit a copy of their passport and the processing is done within 24 hours. I used atlys.com to process the visa
2. Currency
   • We had to use cash in most places in Taiwan. Several stores, (MRT ticket counters too!) do not accept a credit card or will charge a processing fee.
   • INR cannot be exchanged anywhere in Taiwan. So either carry US dollars to exchange or withdraw from an ATM.
   • Currency exchange rate for US dollars is very good. The airport gave us the best rate. Post offices will also exchange currency.
3. Language
   • Most people in Taiwan speak only Mandarin, so Google Translate it is all the way

 

Taipei

 

• Local transport is the most fun way to engage with a city. Google maps gives accurate information about the MRT and bus routes, where to change and how much to walk. It’s also the fastest way to get around.
• MRT ticket counters accept only cash and you will need coins for the bus.
• My food recommendations for Taipei are the dumplings – especially the steamed pork ones; don’t forget to have them with some chili oil though they are quite flavourful by themselves. Black sesame buns, pork buns with chives from a local bakery and an iced coconut latte at Y.J coffee were my other favourites.

 

From Taipei to Green island

Why Green island? For diving and cause it’s drop-dead gorgeous.

 

1. To get to Green Island from Taipei, we took the train to Taitung and then the ferry to Green Island.
2. Booking train tickets –
   • We booked our train tickets to Taitung at the Main Taipei station ticket counter. We found this easier than booking online.
   • There is also a visitor information counter at the train station and they were excellent. They reserved tickets for us over the phone for the ferry from Taitung to Green Island as it was a weekend and the ferry fills up quickly.
3. Once you arrive at Taitung train station,
   • You can take a taxi or a bus from the station to the ferry terminal. The drive time for both is about 30 minutes but you may have to wait for a bus depending on your arrival time. Cabs can cost 10x of the bus fare.
   • At Taitung station, there are 2 food stalls that I would like to recommend. One serves traditional Taiwanese snacks – glutinous rice wrapped in leaves and steamed with meat or mushrooms and the other has the best steamed pork dumplings.
4. Everything at the ferry terminal is pretty straight forward once you get there. It’s an hour-long journey on the ferry and you can request your hotel to pick you up from the terminal. Let them know in advance as most people speak Mandarin so coordinating over a phone call becomes difficult

 

At Green Island

 

1. The post office exchanges currency
2. It can be quite hot, so you will need to rent a motorbike to get around. These are easily available everywhere.
3. It’s a quiet, sleepy, happy island, with few restaurants that open late and close early.
4. The best homemade ice-cream, and I highly recommend the Black sesame flavour at Wang’s ice-cream shop
5. Almost everybody has water fountains here, so I would highly recommend carrying your own bottle and re-filling it. It’s nice to see minimal plastic wastage as far as bottled water is concerned.

 

 

Come to Green island for the diving and un-touched natural beauty. The volcanic rock formations and the crystal-clear blue waters are pure magic.

 

• There is a road to drive the entire coastline of the island. It’s a beautiful drive – took us only half a day including several stops and just sitting by the view points. I could have done it a second time all over again. Would recommend keeping some time to swim in the natural pool formations.
• Diving – The visibility is great, water temperature – perfect. We went with Fire island dive resort. Friendly team. We rented their equipment and it was all in good shape.

 

 

Chiayi and Alishan forest

 

• From Green island we headed back to mainland Taiwan to see the misty forest of Alishan. The journey was a ferry again to Taitung and a train to Chiayi from Taitung
• On Green island, you can go to the ferry terminal to book tickets and the train tickets can be booked at a 7/11. The staff is very helpful, just tell them your destination and they’ll handle the rest for you.

 

• Chiayi is a town at the foothills of Alishan forest about a 2-hour drive away. One can stay at Chiayi or Alishan, though of course there are more stay options at Chiayi.
• Chiayi is a small, relaxed town. We spent our half day there at Hinoki village, walking around the district and visiting a night market.

 

• Alishan is a day trip from Chiayi. Make sure you book your bus tickets early. They can be booked at the local Family Mart supermarket. If you enjoy walking and hiking then I would recommend taking the first bus in the morning.
• There are several marked and un-marked trails in the forest. The un-marked ones have few people and are silent and peaceful.
• Of the marked ones – I would recommend the Giant Tree Plank trail. This trail has giant Cypress trees as old as a 1000 years. The scale of the trees is fantastical, take your time to savour their beauty.

 

The purpose of this post was to help de-code some of the admin of trip-planning with regards to Taiwan. With that, I highly recommend visiting Green island – it’s quiet and gorgeous. People are helpful and friendly and we left the island with our hearts full.