Stories from the other side.
Getting Around Jeju Folklore & Natural History Museum (Tour Course 4) Travelling in Jeju can be tricky if you haven’t figured out the right transportation. Unlike Seoul (or other big cities) which has a dense subway network and timely buses; Jeju’s more laid-back and endorses ‘slow-travel’ (천천히). Time can literally stand still when you’re waiting…
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The View from Hotel Bayview, Xincheng Township, Hualien We reached Hotel Bayview in the afternoon. It had been a long ride from Qingjing Farm to Qixingtan Beach in Hualien. The hotel staff were kind enough to allow us to check-in before time. We were hungry and hadn’t eaten lunch yet. But those views from the…
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Road Map It’s difficult to find transportation from Qingjing (Cingjing) Farm to Hualien. Tourism buses or trains don’t connect these two points — located on either side of Taroko National Park. Taxi drivers (from Cingjing) don’t like the journey because of constant road blocks, unpredictable weather, and empty rides back to Cingjing. The manager of…
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Getting There It isn’t easy reaching Hehuan Mountain by public transport because local tourism buses don’t connect Qingjing Farm to Hehuan Mountain. Cabs can be quite expensive and not easy to find. Our B&B owner arranged a morning sunrise tour to Hehuan Mountain for us. We’d share the ride with 7 other passengers. Stargazing We…
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Getting There We checked out immediately after our morning cycling tour of Sun Moon Lake. There aren’t any direct buses from Sun Moon Lake to Qingjing (Cingjing) Farm. So, we bought our ticket to Puli Bus Terminal (at the Shuishe Visitor Centre), and at Puli (above), we bought tickets to Qingjing Farm. We had to…
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Sunrise at Sun Moon Lake It was our fifth day in Taiwan and Qingjing/Cingjing Farm (a mountain town) was the next destination on our itinerary. Basil woke up early to watch the sun rise over the cascading mountains of Sun Moon Lake. I skipped sunrise for sleep and to conserve my energy for the travels…
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I’ve always been a dreamer — living in a world of my own creation. As a child, it didn’t matter what I’d be when I grew up. I discovered multiple worlds through books, imagination, and playacting. In my teens, the stars called out to me and I spent the next couple of years trying to…
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I first met Naia when she was a babe in a stroller. I had read about her birth on her mum’s blog: travel-stained. Shelley had convinced me to meet her when we moved to Seoul in 2016. I was very anxious and it took a lot to get me to accept the idea of meeting…
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I’ve always been a bit perplexed about love. It’s hard to understand a primal emotion in its entirety — when it has the power to numb the rational centres of your mind. In my angsty twenties, I wanted to stay away from it. I couldn’t have my mind clouded by frivolous emotions and lose focus…
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Getting There Taipei to Taichung There are multiple ways to reach Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County. Many popular tour companies offer day trips from Taipei. Alternatively, you can take a local shuttle bus or just hire a cab. We took the Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) from Taipei to Taichung. It’s faster and roughly…
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