Life ‘Stuck’ in Taiwan during the coronavirus pandemic (June’s edition)

What is life like ‘stuck’ in Taiwan during the coronavirus pandemic? Well, it still feels unreal to have so much freedom when our friends and family (who live in France and the USA) still need to be careful of the virus every day. We know that we are in a very fortunate position and have been making the most of our stay to enjoy this beautiful country.

As you may have seen in our previous posts, we came to Taiwan on March 18th, 2020 (after escaping Bali and going through a home self-quarantine). This has been one of the best decisions we could have taken as full-time travelers. After clearing our quarantine on April 1st, 2020, we started to explore Taipei and its surrounding (check out: Life ‘Stuck’ in Taiwan during COVID19: April’s edition & Life ‘Stuck’ in Taiwan during COVID19: May’s edition for more details).

For the month of June, we went on a month-long journey of fast travel to explore the island of Taiwan for a total of 31 days and manage to spend less than $1,800 in doing so!

During this escapade, we based ourselves in three locations: Hualien (9 days), Kaohsiung (14 days) and Taichung (7 days) and checked out a lot of places as we will share in this post. Some of our favorites included the amazing Taroko National Park, the gorgeous sunrise and tea plantations and sunrise in Alishan, the beautiful islands of Tianjin, and Liuqiu, the bike ride in Chihsang and much more!

Are you ready to discover what this beautiful island has to offer (outside of Tapei) and how much we spent to enjoy this journey? Let’s go!

Pro-tip: If you are interested to easily locate and access all the places we are mentioning in this article, fill out the form below and we will send you a copy of our own Google Maps we created during our stay in Taiwan. (We uses this map directly from our phone when we explore, which make it super handy to find places).

Note: 

• Unless specified otherwise, prices in USD have been converted from the local currency (NT$ or New Taiwan Dollar) to USD using a 1:30 ratio. (so 1 NT$ = 0.033 USD).
• Since we share a lot of recommendations, we use this notation [⭐️⭐️⭐️] to indicate what is the best of the best (la creme de la creme as you would say in French). If you have a limited amount of time, try to focus on them first.

Since we explored quite a bit during this month, we will split our recommendations by location:

Hualien (and around)

Our favorite sights and activities

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Taroko National Park – Our first stop but also one of our favorite places in all of Taiwan (so far). Named after the Truku word for “magnificent”, Taroko National Park is such a beautiful place that was an impressive work of mother nature. The park is a stunning gorge lined with marble rock. There is hiking for every level (from easy to extreme – which usually requires a day permit so make sure to apply well in advance). The park also has wild hot springs and river tracing options for the most adventurous! Our favorite spots are the Shakadang Trail, the Baiyang trail, The tunnel of nine turns, and the swallow grotto Yanzikou trail.
  Cost: Entrance to the park is completely free! Our cost was just the bus from Hualien (about 80 NT$).

• River tracing (w/ River King) – We booked a half-day river trace with River King (through Klout). We were joined by a group of about 6 people. Our two guides picked us up from our Airbnb and we drove for about 30 minutes to our river tracing site. This was our first-time river tracing in Taiwan, so it was great to have an introduction about the basics before we went into the fun part. We had plenty of opportunities to get our photo taken and one of the highlights of our day was a natural slide along with a safe cliff jump. River tracing is a great activity during the summer.
  Cost:  1900 NT$ for two people.

Our favorite places to eat

We ate most of our meals outside since our Airbnb did not have a kitchen, so we have a solid selection of places for you

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Xin Cheng Pork Belly Rice – We tried a few pork belly/rice places in Hualien (there are plenty) and this was by far our favorite. Nice pork belly piece with yummy rice. Simple and super flavorful.
  Cost: 90 NT$ (~$3 USD) for a bowl of pork belly with rice. 

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] 阿傳師麻糬 Mochi – If you love mochi you have to go to this place. It is actually someone’s house that also serves as a mini mochi factory where mochi is made from scratch most days of the week *during their business hours”. While mochi is quite easy to find in Taiwan, these guys have a very different texture for the mochi itself than any other places we’ve been sampling so far (and we tried quite a few).
  Cost: 10 NT$ (~0.33 USD) per mochi (available in peanut, black sesame and taro flavors).

• Hualien Night market (Dongdamen) – Far from the best we’ve seen, it is still a popular attraction in Hualien and while our experience was “meh” because it wasn’t fully open, this night market still gets good recommendations so if you plan to be in Hualien, definitely don’t miss it! We tried bamboo rice (60 NT$) and of course, some watermelon juice (35 NT$) since lots of watermelon in Taiwan come from Hualien!
  Cost: Anywhere between 20 to 200 NT$ (~0.66 to 6.66 USD) based on the type of food/snacks you are looking for. Pretty typical price range for a night market in Taiwan
• Two pesos hot pot restaurant (花蓮兩披索中山店) – This place was our first hot pot since we arrived in Taiwan (unconceivable, right?). We liked it because it was easy. You order from the menu the type of broth you want and the toppings and then you cook everything yourself. This place (like many hot pot places in TW) offers free drinks and ice cream.
  Cost: 230 NT$ (~7.5 USD) for 2 persons.  

From Hualien, on our way to Kaohsiung

If you plan to go from Hualien to Kaohsiung, make sure to check out the following:  

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Bike ride in Chihshang / Mr. Brown avenue – One of our top experiences in June. Picture a perfect sunny day, well-maintained bike lanes going next to a lake, rice paddy fields, and lovely trees. We were mesmerized by this beautiful scenery. We cycled for a total of 3 hours from the train station to Mr. Brown’s avenue and back. We then ate lunch near the train station before heading to Kaohsiung.
  Cost: 100 NT$ (~3.33 USD) to rent a bike for the day.

• Train lunch box restaurant in Chihshang (悟饕池上飯包文化故事館) – A fun great place to grab a quick lunch in Chihshang. You get your food inside the restaurant and then you can dine in a real train wagon to eat it. The wagon has been upgraded with A/C so you don’t have to suffer the heat.
  Cost: 90 NT$ (~3 USD) for a lunch box. (A bit pricey but totally worth it for the overall experience and the food was yummy).

Kaohsiung (and around)

Our favorite sights and activities

In Kaohsiung:

• Kaohsiung Pier-2 Art Expo – A really cool area where you can spot a few art exhibits at an old railway reconverted.
  Cost: FREE.

• Kaohsiung Dragon and Tiger Pagodas – These pagodas are next to a scenic lotus pond and can make for a nice bike ride from where you are in Kaohsiung. The front of the two Pagodas have dragon and tiger statues and access to the towers is through the dragon and tiger bodies. Visitors are required to enter via the dragon’s throat and exit via the tiger’s mouth because this symbolizes turning bad luck into good fortune.
  Cost: FREE.

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Cijin Island – This island is a few minutes ferry ride from Kaohsiung and offers a beach, a lovely bike path, and makes for some wonderful sunsets.
  Cost: 40 NT$ (~1.33 USD) for the ferry round trip + 100 NT$ (~3.33 USD) to rent a bike for the day

Accessible from Kaohsiung (day trip): 

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Liuqiu island – We spent an entire day on this island, renting an electric scooter to go around. It is a paradise if you love green turtles as there are plenty and you can see them by simply snorkeling a few meters from the beach. Liuqiu also offers some great diving (we recommend June @ Odyssey divers). You can easily stay on this island for a few days but make sure to avoid the weekend since all the locals love coming here for diving and snorkeling.
  Cost: If you leave from Kaohsiung it will cost you per person about 200 NT$ (bus round trip fare) + 410 NT$ (ferry round trip). 500 NT$ for a scooter (make sure you have an international license or rent an electric one). And then add the cost of your activities and food. (Lunch: 125 NT$ pp | One dive: 2000 NT$ pp | Snorkeling: 350 NT$ for a 1.5 hours tour).

Pro-tip: We highly recommend a stop at Donggang (on the ferry ride back) for the fish market and enjoy some sushi-grade fish from one of the few vendors (we really liked this place).

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Alishan – We made an overnight stay in Alishan as it was hard to pack everything in one day. Alishan is not an easy destination without a car but it’s totally worth the trip and a great way to escape the hot/humid summer weather. Our first day we took the original Alishan Forest railway (a beautiful ride up to the mountains going through various types of forest – tropical, subtropical, temperate, very narrow sections, tunnels, and wooden bridges). Riding this old railway is an experience by itself and something you don’t want to miss. Enjoying a slow train ride with beautiful scenery is just something that brings you back to a different time. We then continued by checking out the Alishan national forest park (at 5000 feet) before going to our lovely BnB nestled in the tea plantation area for one night. In the morning, we got up early to enjoy a beautiful sunrise above the tea plantation and after getting breakfast at our accommodation we went to explore the tea plantation area for the day. We started with an amazing hike through the forest and then went for a tea tasting. It was a packed two days but totally worth the experience.  

• Tainan – We visited the city of Tainan, the oldest city in Taiwan famous for its temples, historic buildings, and snack food. A lot of the sites were closed during our visit (best to avoid Mondays!) so we focused on the food and some cute artsy streets. We had great food but I have to say that we were a little disappointed with the food as our expectations were pretty high.

Our favorite places to eat

In Kaohsiung:

• Kaohsiung Rueifong night market – The most popular night market in Kaohsiung.
  Cost: Anywhere between 20 to 200 NT$ (~0.66 to 6.66 USD) based on the type of food/snacks you are looking for. Pretty typical price range for a night market in Taiwan
• Kaohsiung Ben’s duck – Kaohsiung is famous for duck rice. We found this place and really enjoyed it so you might want to check it out!
  Cost: 35 NT$ (~1 USD) for a rice bowl, NT$ for a soup, 50 NT$ (~1.66 USD) for a side of veggies.

Taichung (and around)

Our favorite sights and activities

In Taichung:

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Rainbow village – the most popular and “Instagram-able” attraction in Taichung! It’s a painted village created by former soldier, Huang Yung-Fu who decided to paint the walls of his home and surrounding building to preserve them from getting demolished! Well… it worked!
  Cost: FREE.

• Chun Shui Tang – We checked out the tea house where the pearl milk tea was (apparently) invented! The establishment is nice and we did enjoy our drinks, but not worth the wait if you like to drink pearl milk tea pretty much every other day as I’ve been doing lately 🙂 
  Cost: ~80 NT$ for a drink (~ 3.33 USD). 

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Painted animation lane – If you are a fan of old classic animation cartoons, you need to come to check out this stretch of walls.
  Cost: FREE.  

Accessible from Taichung (day trip):

• Bike ride in Houfeng – Another scenic bike path. It is an abandoned rail line converted to a cycling track (4.5 km long), featuring river crossings, tunnels, a pretty old mango tree, and – of course – plenty of food stalls to let you recharge through the bike lane. This bike path connects with another bike path that extends the ride by another 18km!  
  Cost: $100 NT$ (~3.33 USD) for a rental bike for the day. Access: FREE
• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Sun moon lake: This is the largest lake in Taiwan, a traditional spot for newlywed couples to take their honeymoon and – according to CNN – offers one of the best cycling routes in the world! So we gave this lake a try and rented some electric bikes for a leisurely experience. Unfortunately, weather and technical difficulties along the way had us abort the 30km loop around the lake. The rental shop came to the rescue to pick us up and didn’t even charge us! They even gave us regular bikes for free for the rest of the day so we could bike around the main town area. We still managed to have a great day from this visit.
  Cost: 100 NT$ (~3.33 USD) for a regular bike, 400 NT$ (~13 USD) for an electric bike.

Our favorite places to eat

• [⭐️⭐️⭐️] Ikki – This Japanese restaurant is a great place for a date night with a really nice tasting menu. For someone that has never been a big fan of duck meat, Ikki has made me rethink.
  Cost: 700 NT$ (~23 USD) for a tasting menu per person.

How much did we spend in June?

How much did we spend to check out all of these spots and places in a fast travel fashion? Since we love numbers, we’ve got plenty of data to share with you! 

In total, we spent $1,766 across our stay in Hualien, Kaohsiung, and Taichung for a period of 31 days.

Here are the overall details of our spending broken down for each places we stayed: Hualien, Kaohsiung and Taichung:

Here is how the cost of living for each location compared with each other.

Here is the spending breakdown per category for each location:

Love these graphs? Well, we took them straight from the travel tool we built to make our tracking easier and are giving away to anyone FOR FREE! Sign-up below if you are interested.

Our bottom line

Those were our highlights for June in Taiwan! We definitely made the most of our freedom here to enjoy what the island has to offer during a less busy time. We are so thankful that Taiwan has taken the appropriate measures to make the island safe from covid-19 and allow visitors like us to stay in the country for the time-being. As nature-lovers and foodies, we definitely won’t run out of things to do in Taiwan for months.

From a spending stand point, this fast travel month was still inline with our cost of living in Taipei. Eating out is inexpensive and we were able to find inexpensive shorter-term accommodation as well.  

Next month (in July) we will be back in Taipei to get back to our slow travel routine. Be sure to sign-up for our newsletter (link below) so you can get notified when we publish these upcoming posts.

Are you surprised by what life is like in Taiwan during the pandemic? Did you know there were so many activities to do? Would you be interested to come visit Taiwan and any of the places we checked out in June? Feel free to share your experience and ask questions by leaving a comment below.