6-day road trip to Taiwan by a Vietnamese tourist

Tai Pham traveled almost a full circle around Taiwan in 6 days to explore the scenery of this island.

Tai, a travel blogger, originally planned to climb Yushan (3,952 m), Taiwan's highest mountain. However, he later changed his itinerary to tour Taiwan. "I wanted to see everything from the simplest, most pristine places to the bustling streets, to see how Taiwan is different from Vietnam," Tai said.

Tai's 6-day journey to explore Taiwan (June 24-29) started in Tainan, passed through Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Taichung and ended in Taipei. The total distance was nearly 1,000 km.

In the first place, Tainan clearly shows the hustle and bustle of the city with busy streets, high-speed trains rushing by. In Kaohsiung, the city lights up when viewed from the top of Dagang Shan mountain.

Taitung is like a peaceful countryside with rice fields, roadside trees, and pristine beaches. In Taichung, he visited the Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts to admire the art sculptures displayed on the campus and in the museum. Rainbow Village is a famous tourist destination in downtown Taichung. The village was decorated by a former soldier with colorful drawings on the walls, attracting more than 2 million visitors each year before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to CNN .

Hualien is Tai's favorite place because of its gentle beauty and fresh air, cooler than other provinces. Here Tai goes to Taroko National Park to admire the Taroko Gorge and the turquoise Liwu River winding through giant marble rocks. Hehuan Pass (at an altitude of 3,416 m) is for Tai an "unreal road" with a magical scene when layers of white clouds roll down but still leave a gap of road to run through.

Hualien also has Qixingtan Beach with pebbles of various colors and sizes, blue sea, strong wind and golden sunshine. The peaceful scenery here is suitable for walking, watching the sunrise and sunset.

The final destination of the journey, Taipei is the largest and most developed city in Taiwan. Taipei is splendid and bustling, with a modern pace of life. Tai chose to go to Keelung, a coastal city, with Zhengbin fishing port with colorful houses and Peace Island Park, where there are strangely shaped rocks eroded by the sea and a small pavilion.

Jiufen Ancient Village is a small, ancient village located on Keelung Mountain, a real-life "Spirit Land" (a famous Japanese animation by Ghibli). "The village has an ancient beauty, somewhat similar to Hoi An ancient town with lanterns hanging everywhere. The sunset scene, the houses on the mountainside immersed in the golden sunlight of the afternoon is like the last gift of the trip", Tai said.

In addition to sightseeing, Tai also did not miss the opportunity to enjoy street food at local markets. Tainan, Taichung and Hualien all have different dishes such as grilled meat, dumplings, steamed eggs, salmon eggs, but almost all places have milk tea and stinky tofu. Prices range from 50 to 100 NTD depending on the dish, not too expensive in his opinion.

Accompanying Tai in the early days, Thao Nhi, who is living and working in Taiwan, felt surprised because she did not know Taiwan had such places.

"It's been a long time since I've had the feeling of truly traveling, being able to experience, see and enjoy, frolic in nature and enjoy delicious food," Nhi said.

According to Tai, Vietnam's natural scenery is "still better" than Taiwan's. But in return, the nightlife here is more vibrant with shops, night markets, and bustling streets even though the clock has struck a new day. Taiwan's transportation system is modern, helping to save time. According to his experience, when traveling to another province, you should use the high-speed train, when traveling within the province, you should use the bus or MRT, and limit the use of taxis because the price is quite high.

The trip was mainly for sightseeing and experience, so Tai minimized costs by not eating or staying in expensive places. The total cost of the trip was nearly 16 million VND, of which 4 million was for round-trip airfare (HCMC - Taipei), 2 million for accommodation, 4 million for transportation, and the rest was for food and other expenses.

Thao Nhi said that from June to September is summer in Taiwan, so the temperature fluctuates around 35 degrees Celsius, the weather is hot but not too harsh, and it often rains. The peak tourist season in Taiwan is in spring, February - April and autumn, September - November. If you go at this time, visitors should apply for a visa and book tickets and rooms early.

Taiwan currently has a lucky draw program at the airport for visitors who register on the website from one to seven days before entering the country. The prize for the winner is 5,000 NTD (about 3.8 million VND). The activity is only applicable at Taoyuan, Songshan (Taipei), Taichung and Kaohsiung airports, according to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau website in Vietnam.

Quynh Mai
Photo : Tai Pham

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