Blogs from Nantou County, Taiwan, Asia

Povodne som chcel dnes vyrazit uz o pol osmej ale nechcelo sa mi vstavat. Na stole ma cakali ranajky, banan, sojove mlieko a plnena ryzova placka. Po jedle byebye mojim spolunoclaznikom a smer zel.stanica. Byebye sa tu na taiwane pouziva pri kazdej rozlucke co som zatial postrehol. Na zastavku prichadza rovnaky minibus aj s rovnakym soferom ako vcera. V buse sme tri osoby, do finalnej destinacie prichadzam len ja. Cesta opat perfektna, same kopce, hmla, vyhlady. Obcas sme zastali v mini kolone, je nedela a kopa domacich sem ide na vylet. Pocasie nic moc, hmlisto. V pokladni si kupujem listok za 200td , cez tyzden je cena 150td. Prirodne chodniky su tu veru neni. Vsetko kamenne, betonove alebo drevenne cesticky resp jedna hlavna asfaltka. Za vstupom kopa ludi. Vidavam sa hned na prvej odbocke doprava cez ... read more

If you are brave enough to tangle with the lack of English at the train station in Taichung, you can grab a train to Chacheng, the last stop on the Jiji branch railway. You get to travel through amazing mountain scenery and then you find yourself immersed in the history of the lumber and coal industries, with views of the Mingtan Dam (which is within walking distance). I admit that the history didn't mean as much as the lovely people and their dogs and cats (yes, cats) that I met on the train. The fact we didn't share a language meant nothing as I showed them photos of my dog while cuddling theirs. Smiles and laughter broke down minor barriers such as the language difficulties! And then there was the shopping. There are plenty of tiny ... read more

Had a beautiful ride today taking a scenic route(called the Green tunnel)through rolling hills along the Jiji small rail line and then finishing with 15km or so of climbing :p. We found a really nice B&B right next to the visitor info. Centre and decided to stay a couple of days but had to cut it down to 1 day as things were all booked up for a fireworks festival.... read more

Sunday, 15th May 2011 After a delicious 烧饼 breakfast at 台中美 this morning, we headed straight to the High Speed Rail Station to purchase our combo tickets to Sun Moon Lake. For NT599 (SGD25.70), the bundle came with a return bus ticket to Taichung, 1 boat ride to Itasho, 1 round-trip pass on the cable car system and unlimited rides on the round-the-lake shuttle buses. There were other ticket combinations on sale at the tour desk. We just wanted a no-frills package that covered the bare essentials of the lake. My last visit to Sun Moon Lake was some 6 years back. I recalled having to board a bus to Puli from the chaotic Taichung Railway Station and transfered to another bus to bring me to the lake. There were no combo tickets available. And of ... read more

This morning we packed, left our bags downstairs, and caught the 10:25 bus to Cingjing. We made one 10-minute stop a little after 11 and after that we started seeing hotels and businesses. We asked the bus driver about Cingjing farm/Green Green Grassland, and he let us know when we were there, about 30 minutes after our earlier stop. We bought our tickets for Green Green Grassland and along with it came some coupons we couldn't read. I think this place would have been nice to visit on some other day. Today was foggy and rainy and cold. We couldn’t see very far and the sheep weren’t grazing. There were some pens where the sheep were kept and they have shearing shows twice a day, but we weren’t near those hours. You can buy all sorts ... read more