Singapore to Taipei
24 October, Horizon Inn,Taipei
Our 9am flight to Taiwan required a 5:15am start. Exiting Singapore was much less painful than our entry. They have introduced a thumbprint scanning system that reads your passport and matches your ID to the scan yo
u gave on entry, much the same as Australia’s face recognition entry system, except that it can be used for everybody.
We flew Scoot for the first time. It was about what we expected from a budget airline, though their food prices on board were way higher than AirAsia’s.
Countries in Asia and probably in other places, need to do something to better apply technology to immigration processes. The security issues are of course understandable, but surely this is an area where enhanced, technically-sophisticated processes would not only save money, but also alleviate some of the tension and frustrations that are building at border crossings in many countries. It took us over an hour to clear immigration into Taiwan today. Thousands of “non citizens” snaked their way through three manned gates while there were at least six gates un-staffed. It wasn’t just the non-locals who suffered, the queues at the citizens' gates were just as bad.
25 October, Horizon Inn, Taipei
Taiwan was never really on our travel radar, but when the opportunity to get here on the cheap arose, we, of course, grabbed it. Early impressions are that it is very much like Japan and a little like mainland China, but without the pushing, yelling and spitting that can rapidly put those with less tolerance than us off China. English is not as widely spoken as in Malaysia or Singapore, but most people can and will help you out. Just looking confused will have a passer-by asking if they can help.
Today we did a reconnoitre for our planned rail trip to an older and more traditional part of the island. We returned to Taipei Main Station, an enormous, underground complex joining the High Speed Rail, Local Rail and Metro systems. We walked for well over a kilometre, through cavernous halls with next to nobody in them. Our journeys around the city today on the Metro were as uncrowded.
As is our usual pattern, we wandered about the city most of the day visiting a couple of interesting museums and other sites, the most spectacular of which was undoubtedly the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, which is part of an enormous square which rivals Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Many parts of the city we have seen today have the same spacious feel as Tiananmen, with wide boulevards and footpaths - where you are not likely to step into a drain or be blocked by motorbikes or somebody doing their washing. Ah, as much as we love the challenge of old Asia, it is nice towards the end of a trip like this to enjoy a little bit of civilisation.
26 October, Horizon Inn, Taipei
Back on the rails again today to visit some small villages and scenic mountain areas just to the north of Taipei. We have been using the Taiwan Easycard, a standard contactless, transit card now commonly employed in most cities worldwide. Our trip today required numerous transfer and use of both the Taipei MRT and the national rail, TRA. It was all seamless and extremely cheap. Over two hours of train travel, covering almost 70 kms cost us less than AUD $6 each.
While Taipei itself is a reasonably attractive city, its outskirts and the cities and towns surrounding it could charitably be described as “decayed industrial”. Once we headed up into the mountains, however, that changed as we rolled on through tropical jungle, deep ravines and smaller towns.
This line is very popular with the locals, so we made an early start and managed to beat the rush, taking the Pingxi Line through to the terminus at Jingtong, as in “Jintong-idli-poh”, wondering along the way whether the Goons had ever been here. (You need to be a Goons Show fan). The area around Jingtong had once been dotted with coal mines. All that is left today are some overgrown loading hoppers and ruined sheds. We decided to walk the first leg back down the line to Pingxi. It was a nice country stroll, nothing too spectacular, but the fact that we were the only people walking between stations had some benefits. The distance between stations is not great, so we probably could have walked a couple of other legs. It would have been easy, walking downhill and comfortably cool. Our serenity was shattered on the outskirts as we walked past ten or so tour buses. To make things worse, the Tour Groups were high school kids who, while extremely well behaved, managed to choke every narrow thoroughfare in the extremely touristy village.
From Pingxi, we trained it back up the line to Shifen, probably the most popular stop with the locals and, by the time we got there, the later starters, coming up the line towards Jingtong, added to the congestion. It was packed! The main attraction here, apart from the street food and the fact that the train runs right up the main street, is the lighting of coloured lanterns, which float into the sky, delivering the purchaser’s wishes on high. We escaped the crowds and hiked out to the Shifen Falls. Billed as Taiwan’s Niagara, we had high expectations. Canada need not fear - while they were extremely attractive, set in lush tropical surroundings, we couldn’t imagine the Maid of the Mist making passes under the spray.
While the organisation and co-ordination of the Taiwanese rail system is not up there with Japan, it isn’t too shabby. It takes a bit of time to sort out connections when there are so few English language signs, but with a bit of practice, it is easily mastered. Then there is the local help, which will quickly come to your aid whenever you look confused or lost.
We ended the day on a slow local train back to the end of our MRT line, in the company of hundreds of exhausted locals who nodded off as soon as the train started moving. How do they do it?
27 October, Horizon Inn, Taipei
We have been in Taipei for three days now and one great mystery has befuddled us. Where are all the people? On our first night here we travelled from the airport on an almost empty MRT train, arriving at Taipei Main Station to find it almost deserted. The footpaths aren’t crowded, the traffic is only moderate at worst and, though we have had to stand on a couple of MRT rides, we have been far more likely to have found a seat. We got a bit of a hint yesterday as to why this is so when we saw the crowds around the villages we visited. Today, all was revealed. The good people of Taipei spend their time flocking to local tourist attractions.
Tamsui is a rather large city at the mouth of the Tamsui River, about 30 minutes on the subway. The streets were packed with locals and local tourists, to the point where it was difficult to make any progress on the streets. Don’t any of these people have jobs to go to? Granted, there was a smattering of older folk among the throng, but the bulk were predominantly working-aged people. Tamsui was once a major port and, though there are still port facilities at the mouth of the river, in recent times, it has been surpassed by more modern Taiwanese ports.
The whole northern part of Taiwan, around the city of Keelung was once controlled by a sequence of European powers. The first colonisers were, of course, the Chinese, but they were soon surpassed by the Spanish. The Spanish built a fort at the mouth of the Tamsui River, but they abandoned it during the sixteenth century and were replaced by the Dutch. In a not unfamiliar pattern, the Dutch were eventually, in turn, ousted by the British and the fort, which had been rebuilt by the Dutch, as well as a stately nineteenth century house, eventually became the seat of the British Consul.
In our wanderings today, we visited the fort, now known by its original Spanish name of Fort San Domingo. We noticed an Australian flag flying alongside those of Taiwan, the USA, the UK and others. On reading a nearby plaque, we were amazed to discover that Australia had operated the Consul and occupied the fort and residence following a diplomatic spat between the UK and Taiwan. It was 1972 and Australia was soon ousted herself and replaced by the USA. Though no comment was made about what caused the diplomatic rifts with the UK and Australia, it is safe to assume that it was the British recognition of Communist China, closely followed by the Whitlam government’s like action, that caused the changing of the guard at the Consulate. It is interesting, although not unexpected, that today, Australia has no formal diplomatic relationship with Taiwan (officially, The Republic of China).
Now we can say “we’ve been to Bali too”. Though we currently have no intention of visiting that part of the world, we have visited the Taiwanese Bali. Just a short ferry trip over the Tamsui River, this Bali is a much-visited and much-loved riverside village, whose narrow streets are lined with stalls featuring all types of deep-fried seafood treats. A towering extinct volcano forms the backdrop for this much more attractive Bali and although there are hordes of local Chinese visitors, we were the only Caucasians in sight and definitely the only Australians.
Our 9am flight to Taiwan required a 5:15am start. Exiting Singapore was much less painful than our entry. They have introduced a thumbprint scanning system that reads your passport and matches your ID to the scan yo
We flew Scoot for the first time. It was about what we expected from a budget airline, though their food prices on board were way higher than AirAsia’s.
Countries in Asia and probably in other places, need to do something to better apply technology to immigration processes. The security issues are of course understandable, but surely this is an area where enhanced, technically-sophisticated processes would not only save money, but also alleviate some of the tension and frustrations that are building at border crossings in many countries. It took us over an hour to clear immigration into Taiwan today. Thousands of “non citizens” snaked their way through three manned gates while there were at least six gates un-staffed. It wasn’t just the non-locals who suffered, the queues at the citizens' gates were just as bad.
25 October, Horizon Inn, Taipei
Taiwan was never really on our travel radar, but when the opportunity to get here on the cheap arose, we, of course, grabbed it. Early impressions are that it is very much like Japan and a little like mainland China, but without the pushing, yelling and spitting that can rapidly put those with less tolerance than us off China. English is not as widely spoken as in Malaysia or Singapore, but most people can and will help you out. Just looking confused will have a passer-by asking if they can help.
Today we did a reconnoitre for our planned rail trip to an older and more traditional part of the island. We returned to Taipei Main Station, an enormous, underground complex joining the High Speed Rail, Local Rail and Metro systems. We walked for well over a kilometre, through cavernous halls with next to nobody in them. Our journeys around the city today on the Metro were as uncrowded.
As is our usual pattern, we wandered about the city most of the day visiting a couple of interesting museums and other sites, the most spectacular of which was undoubtedly the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, which is part of an enormous square which rivals Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Many parts of the city we have seen today have the same spacious feel as Tiananmen, with wide boulevards and footpaths - where you are not likely to step into a drain or be blocked by motorbikes or somebody doing their washing. Ah, as much as we love the challenge of old Asia, it is nice towards the end of a trip like this to enjoy a little bit of civilisation.
26 October, Horizon Inn, Taipei
Back on the rails again today to visit some small villages and scenic mountain areas just to the north of Taipei. We have been using the Taiwan Easycard, a standard contactless, transit card now commonly employed in most cities worldwide. Our trip today required numerous transfer and use of both the Taipei MRT and the national rail, TRA. It was all seamless and extremely cheap. Over two hours of train travel, covering almost 70 kms cost us less than AUD $6 each.
While Taipei itself is a reasonably attractive city, its outskirts and the cities and towns surrounding it could charitably be described as “decayed industrial”. Once we headed up into the mountains, however, that changed as we rolled on through tropical jungle, deep ravines and smaller towns.
This line is very popular with the locals, so we made an early start and managed to beat the rush, taking the Pingxi Line through to the terminus at Jingtong, as in “Jintong-idli-poh”, wondering along the way whether the Goons had ever been here. (You need to be a Goons Show fan). The area around Jingtong had once been dotted with coal mines. All that is left today are some overgrown loading hoppers and ruined sheds. We decided to walk the first leg back down the line to Pingxi. It was a nice country stroll, nothing too spectacular, but the fact that we were the only people walking between stations had some benefits. The distance between stations is not great, so we probably could have walked a couple of other legs. It would have been easy, walking downhill and comfortably cool. Our serenity was shattered on the outskirts as we walked past ten or so tour buses. To make things worse, the Tour Groups were high school kids who, while extremely well behaved, managed to choke every narrow thoroughfare in the extremely touristy village.

From Pingxi, we trained it back up the line to Shifen, probably the most popular stop with the locals and, by the time we got there, the later starters, coming up the line towards Jingtong, added to the congestion. It was packed! The main attraction here, apart from the street food and the fact that the train runs right up the main street, is the lighting of coloured lanterns, which float into the sky, delivering the purchaser’s wishes on high. We escaped the crowds and hiked out to the Shifen Falls. Billed as Taiwan’s Niagara, we had high expectations. Canada need not fear - while they were extremely attractive, set in lush tropical surroundings, we couldn’t imagine the Maid of the Mist making passes under the spray.
While the organisation and co-ordination of the Taiwanese rail system is not up there with Japan, it isn’t too shabby. It takes a bit of time to sort out connections when there are so few English language signs, but with a bit of practice, it is easily mastered. Then there is the local help, which will quickly come to your aid whenever you look confused or lost.
We ended the day on a slow local train back to the end of our MRT line, in the company of hundreds of exhausted locals who nodded off as soon as the train started moving. How do they do it?
27 October, Horizon Inn, Taipei
We have been in Taipei for three days now and one great mystery has befuddled us. Where are all the people? On our first night here we travelled from the airport on an almost empty MRT train, arriving at Taipei Main Station to find it almost deserted. The footpaths aren’t crowded, the traffic is only moderate at worst and, though we have had to stand on a couple of MRT rides, we have been far more likely to have found a seat. We got a bit of a hint yesterday as to why this is so when we saw the crowds around the villages we visited. Today, all was revealed. The good people of Taipei spend their time flocking to local tourist attractions.
Tamsui is a rather large city at the mouth of the Tamsui River, about 30 minutes on the subway. The streets were packed with locals and local tourists, to the point where it was difficult to make any progress on the streets. Don’t any of these people have jobs to go to? Granted, there was a smattering of older folk among the throng, but the bulk were predominantly working-aged people. Tamsui was once a major port and, though there are still port facilities at the mouth of the river, in recent times, it has been surpassed by more modern Taiwanese ports.
The whole northern part of Taiwan, around the city of Keelung was once controlled by a sequence of European powers. The first colonisers were, of course, the Chinese, but they were soon surpassed by the Spanish. The Spanish built a fort at the mouth of the Tamsui River, but they abandoned it during the sixteenth century and were replaced by the Dutch. In a not unfamiliar pattern, the Dutch were eventually, in turn, ousted by the British and the fort, which had been rebuilt by the Dutch, as well as a stately nineteenth century house, eventually became the seat of the British Consul.
In our wanderings today, we visited the fort, now known by its original Spanish name of Fort San Domingo. We noticed an Australian flag flying alongside those of Taiwan, the USA, the UK and others. On reading a nearby plaque, we were amazed to discover that Australia had operated the Consul and occupied the fort and residence following a diplomatic spat between the UK and Taiwan. It was 1972 and Australia was soon ousted herself and replaced by the USA. Though no comment was made about what caused the diplomatic rifts with the UK and Australia, it is safe to assume that it was the British recognition of Communist China, closely followed by the Whitlam government’s like action, that caused the changing of the guard at the Consulate. It is interesting, although not unexpected, that today, Australia has no formal diplomatic relationship with Taiwan (officially, The Republic of China).
Now we can say “we’ve been to Bali too”. Though we currently have no intention of visiting that part of the world, we have visited the Taiwanese Bali. Just a short ferry trip over the Tamsui River, this Bali is a much-visited and much-loved riverside village, whose narrow streets are lined with stalls featuring all types of deep-fried seafood treats. A towering extinct volcano forms the backdrop for this much more attractive Bali and although there are hordes of local Chinese visitors, we were the only Caucasians in sight and definitely the only Australians.
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