Taiwan is a small island off the coast of China. The largest economic state NOT recognized by the UN. Population over 23 million. Often overlooked and underrated by the typical tourist its becoming one of my favorite destinations. This last trip opened my eyes to whole other side of island. It’s not just Taipei. There’s more. In fact, there’s a complete different vibe in the southwest. For a short time, I got ride bikes, swim in the ocean, scuba dive, hike and relax in a hot spring.
Not this Taiwan! This is in Ximen – Taipei with my Dad. What else does Taiwan have?
Getting There – Arriving in Taipei and Getting to Taitung
A few weeks before my arrival, both my Dad and my friend Beverly helped plan every step of my journey from the arrival gate at the TPE airport to the train station in Taitung. I’m ready for this. I touch down bright and early at 5am. Walking around, there’s this familiar feeling walking through a foreign airport. Everyone has black hair and eyes like me. I can (more or less) understand people. In America, I look different; but people know I’m American because of my accent and mannerisms. Here, in Taiwan. I blend in. I’m just like everyone else until I open my mouth and people hear my accent. It’s a nice feeling.
What’s that called? How do you say it in Chinese?
I think I can hold a conversation with a 3 year native speaking Chinese kid. We probably can both recognize the same characters. “Mom- 媽” “Dad- 爸” “Dog- 狗”. As I leave the airport, I run into my first anxiety attack.
At the bus loading zone, the driver asked “Where are you going?” Simple enough. The train station. Damn, whats the word in Chinese? I struggled and mumbled. Trying to move my hands into a shape of a train. Someone spoke up “Train Station?!” Oh yes, thats right. Train -> “火車 – Fire Car“. I repeat the phrase. Humiliated, I get on the bus. I whisper “火車” to myself again. Duh.
An hour later, I get to the multi level bus and train station. It’s barely 7am. The station is sparse. I walk into Family Mart to purchase some snacks before my train ride. Two hard boiled tea eggs, some savory bread, and seaweed chips. I’m excited to eat these tasty treats. But as soon as I try to pay, I realize I’m in trouble. They don’t accept foreign credit cards. National Taiwanese credit cards only. I go to the ATM at the back of the store, but that’s also National Taiwanese cards only as well. I sadly set my tea eggs down and walk out empty handed. I board the train and try not to let my hunger bother me.
Southeast side of Taiwan – Taitung, Green Island and Dulan
3.5 hours later, I arrive to Taitung train station. I see a 7-Eleven, and I buy some tea eggs, sausage and bread with my Chase credit card. Good Ol’ 7-Eleven! Beverly and James, my two friends from San Diego that moved to Taiwan about 6 months prior, pick me up from the train station. Beverly, born in Taiwan, speaks and reads Chinese. I’m so thankful that I have her as a crutch while I try to practice my Chinese. MVP. They pick me up and we are officially on vacation.
Food Tour – The best Taiwanese treats in the South East
We drive to our Airbnb, drop things off and find a restaurant nearby: Rong Shu Xia Rice Noodles. I order some rice noodles and a side dish of some tasty treats. The noodles cost about $2 and the tasty treats about $3. The Prices! I’m definitely not in LA anymore! After ordering, we walk in the back where a guy with full red colored teeth mumbles something at me. At first, I cant really respond because I can’t stop looking at his red mouth. Then I realize he’s asking about our order number and how many we have in our party. I respond and sit down. I ask James about the red mouth thing. “It’s Betel Nuts. Taiwanese chewing gum. People suck and chew on these for a high thats similar to 6 cups of coffee, causing their teeth to appear blood stained.” I try not to look at the guy’s mouth again. James comments on my Chinese. “Not bad at all!”
We rent some bikes and go to the Taitung Forest Park. We ride by the Flowing Lake and the Seaside Park. The park is pretty flat and we finish riding around in about 2 hours. Towards the end of the day, we go to a park near the bus station. Lots of cute decorations and art work. My friends and I stop by a hipster beer place and buy overpriced imported lagers and enjoy the sunset. Surprisingly, its a little cold.
For dinner we go to this BBQ place. It’s another meal where I over eat and couldn’t be more happy.
Green Island
The next day we start our Green Island adventure by taking a short 50 minute ferry ride. There ferry has multiple levels and probably about 12-15 seats in each row. Each seat pockets holds one very important one barf bag. Most of the Taiwanese tourists onboard are not used to boat rides. About 20 minutes into the ride, I start hearing yacking noises. I try to ignore it by taking a quick nap. The boat sways a little. Passengers react with more sea-sickness.
We safely arrive the Green Island Pier. We disembark and are greeted by our Airbnb host. A young tan skinny shirtless guy wearing board shorts and flip flops. He tells us that he will help us rent some cheap electric scooters so we can all get to the Airbnb. He can help us hold the luggage. Beverly and I look at each other. We don’t know how to ride scooters. We compare our experiences and I tell her the only time I’ve been on a scooter I just missed hitting a parked car. And with that, Beverly decides to drive the scooter and I will ride on the back of James’ scooter. The good news is that the scooters have a max speed of 25 mph. We put on our helmets on and a way we go! Our airbnb is on the main street, top level of a Thai restaurant. we walk thru the restaurant tables to get to the stairway up to our unit. I’m vibing on this unique experience. We relax, enjoy the view and then set off on our little scooters to tour the island. We ride around, getting delicious chocolate croissant like donuts and coffee. We explore the different beaches until it starts getting dark. We relax around our Airbnb neighborhood and then go out to some popular local joint that serves large hot pot like Lamb stews. The meal is accompanied by Taiwanese National beer. The vibe is chill around the island. By 9pm, the place is quiet. We all pass out early. Island Lifestyle.
Zhaori Hot Spring
The next day Beverly, James and I wake up early to watch the sunrise at the Zhaori Hot Spring. We get to the spring and there’s only one other family there. Multiple pools with a pretty view of the ocean, along with an indoor pool. We watch the sunrise and shortly afterwards, dark clouds appear and it starts to rain. Light sprinkles turn into big drops. We keep hopping into different pools, but the rain is bringing down the mood. We give up and decide to shower and leave. For a couple of bucks, we each buy these light yellow ponchos and ride back on our scooters. We are ready for some nice hot breakfast. We drive over to the local breakfast joint and order a bunch of different Chinese pancakes with eggs and assorted meats. About $2 for each order. I try to get some salty soy milk, but they only have the sweetened ones. No coffee.
Underwater Mail Box
Just a short swim off the coast, Green Island has an underwater post office box in the shape of a sea horse. After breakfast, I show up a little early to the dive shop to assemble my gear for a noon diving time. About 10 motorcycling group customers show up to the shop. I realize they are also going to the mailbox. One out of the 10 guys is certified. I quickly realize there is no way we are going to leave on time. I start regretting this mailbox dive, but I’m already there. I hang out at the dive shop while the instructors do an DSD (discover scuba diving) session in the small pool. Once complete, I gear up and accompany 8 instructors and 10 MC gang to the ocean. The DSD’ers aren’t given fins and the instructors help them one by one into the water. Soon after, each of the instructor is holding the tanks of each DSD as we descend about 5-10 meters. I wait at the bottom of the ocean at least 10 minutes before the entire group makes it down.
The Photoshoot
The motorcycle group starts taking out flags for photos. I look around and watch the instructors release bread out to the fish. There’s plenty to see, but mostly I’m just looking at the dive site like its an underwater mall. All around me are DSD groups floating around. Probably about 40-50 people underwater. Touching things and posing for countless photos. I’m in a scuba diving nightmare.
By the time we reach the post office box, I’m completely over it. At one point, each instructor brings the diver to a spot where they kneel each diver snap a photo of them with a Nemo Clown fish. Repeat 10 times. FINALLY, we reach the post box. Each DSD’er poses next to the post office box with their post card and then drop it into the box. I’m last. No one is really paying attention to me because they are too busy managing the DSD’ers. At this point I just shove my postcards into the already full box and swim away. I look at the postbox; a cool concept to help encourage people to visit and dive. But I can’t imagine any certified scuba diver having fun in this environment.
The dive finishes within 30 minutes and we climb out of the water and head back to the shop. I take a break and wait for the group to leave. Now its just me, two instructors and 3 new divers. Two girls from Singapore and one backpacker from the Netherlands. Our small group gets in a van and drives out to the pier for our set of boat dives. We meet another local diver and away we go.
The next two dives are completely opposite from the mailbox. The water is deep blue with healthy corals and large fish. The instructors and I talk about the tourists and Green Island in general. The madness of the underwater mail box. All of the scooters around the island. Soon, both instructors will end their dive season and go home. One to Hong Kong and the other will go back to the main island.
I’m lucky to come at the end of the season (October). The dive sites are beautiful, perhaps one of the top places I’ve ever been. I can’t imagine if they were all like the underwater mail box. Three dives costs me less than $100 USD.
The next day we go to a beach and I swim about 40 minutes out to the deep ocean. I can see down to the floor. Large fish swimming around the valleys of coral. Insane visibility. On the way back to shore, I pass by some turtles. I look up to try to signal to James. He’s too far off on the beach. I take a second to enjoy the experience. I stick my head back in the water and continue swimming.
A Surfer’s Paradise – Dulan
After a few days, we head back to the main island and go to Dulan. A small surfer town with some expats and more good food. Dulan has surf between November and April.
Our Airbnb this time is connected to a book store. The first floor is an artsy book store with a place for kids to sit and do activities. Our floor feels like a loft with a set of twin beds and furniture made of drift wood. We find out that the owners live in a container on the roof. There’s a Taiwanese hipster vibe around here.
We walk around the beach and hang out at this open large field with store front containers. We sip on sangria and watch instagram influencers pose and do selfies.
For dinner we drive to this small neighborhood restaurant, that looks a house converted into a restaurant. Every seat is taken. We order large pork bone noodles with a side of cold Chinese dishes. pig ears, soy sauce eggs, sea weed, and tofu. I seriously can’t believe how cheap everything is. The pork bone noodles are $4!!!
The next day we drive along the coast and pull over to enjoy the nice weather. I go for a quick swim. I swim past large concrete jack formations (dolosse). Fish swim in and out of the formations. Beyond the blocks, the water turns deep blue. I have a random thought about a shark swimming up and eating me. I laugh at my paranoia and then start to head back to shore. The water temperature couldn’t be better.
Hunger strikes again and the Taiwanese food doesn’t disappoint. Dishes for less than $5. Noodles, rice dishes, and jiaozi. I have to stop myself from ordering everything on the menu.
In the afternoon we go on a drive up the mountain and stop at a Coffee shop/ art gallery. From there, you get a great view of the town and the ocean. We order a couple of coffees and then wander around the building.
In the late afternoon we head back to Taitung so I can catch a flight back to Taipei. Coincidentally the main park has an an aborigine cultural fair. I eat yet another snack. Roasted pork and sausage.
My time in the Southwest has gone by too fast. I’m sad to leave my friends and this side of the island. I knew Hualin and Kenting were great tourist attractions, but I had no idea on how much this area had to offer. Lots of scuba diving, swimming, hiking, food and more.
This place is more my style. Low Key. Less Tourists. Great Swimming. Artistic. Tasty Food at affordable prices.
As I board the plane, I know that this is somewhere I will return. Perhaps I can live here for a few months and practice Chinese. Time will tell.
