Airline: Jetstar
Ticket Price: $276 (w/o check-in luggage)
Hotels/Accommodation:
Gardenstay (Taichung) NT980/night
Millennium Vee Hotel (Taichung) Free 1 night
Kind Business Hotel (Kaoshiung) NT890/night
Shang Jia Hotel (Tainan) NT750/night
Little Flower -Taipeiokrent.com (Taipei) NT799/Night
I have always love Taiwan and have been there a couple of times. However, this is my first backpack trip with my friend. I started planning itinerary and settled for Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Taipei. Initially Tainan was not in my itinerary but as my friend wanted to visit Guanziling muddy hot spring and the Flower Night Market, i added Tainan at the last minute. Hopefully below information can be of help to those who going for a holiday at Taiwan.
Day 1:
We bought a sim card at the counter as i will need it later at Taichung to call our private driver who will be bring us around XinShe and also to contact the person at Taipei who will be passing the room key to me.
We took a coach (統聯客運U-Bus) directly from Taoyuan International Airport to Taichung. The fare was NT240 and the journey took 1hr 05mins to reach Taichung. We alighted at 朝馬站 and took a taxi to our hostel, Gardenstay. The hostel is within short walking distance to the famous Fengjia night market. The cab fare was NT110. Maybe next time i should just take a bus to Fengjia night market and walk to Gardenstay. At Taichung, Easy card holders can enjoy free short trips.
We bought a sim card at the counter as i will need it later at Taichung to call our private driver who will be bring us around XinShe and also to contact the person at Taipei who will be passing the room key to me.
We took a coach (統聯客運U-Bus) directly from Taoyuan International Airport to Taichung. The fare was NT240 and the journey took 1hr 05mins to reach Taichung. We alighted at 朝馬站 and took a taxi to our hostel, Gardenstay. The hostel is within short walking distance to the famous Fengjia night market. The cab fare was NT110. Maybe next time i should just take a bus to Fengjia night market and walk to Gardenstay. At Taichung, Easy card holders can enjoy free short trips.
Gardenstay (www.gardenstay.net) is a simple and pleasant place enough for us. There are hot/cold water dispenser outside the corridor for house guests. You can access to wifi here but the signal is not strong in our room. So we often go to the corridor to connect to the wifi. Washing machines and clothes dryers are at the first floor. You just need to put coins in and its quite cheap. There are NT10, NT20, NT30 for you to choose.
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| The 'reception area' of Gardenstay. The room is actually round the corner of this building. |
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| Our room at Gardenstay with own private toilet |
Gardenstay is within walking distance to the famous Fenjia night market. We could see many food stalls
with long queues of people eager to get a taste of the food. We loved the charcoal
grilled chicken chop at this stall called Fengjia 86 Charcoal grilled Chicken Chop. Buying the chicken chop will be a better choice. For the chicken drumstick, I thought it is boneless chicken drumstick but they grilled it in whole piece and chopped it into pieces. I have tried both the chicken chop and drumstick and i prefer chicken chop as it was easier to eat. The chicken chop is simply flavourful! To order, go to the stall and get the order form , tick the food you want and hand the form to the stall.
The 大肠包小肠 is different from those you at Taipei. My first taste was at Taipei Shilin night market and it wasn't nice at all. However, the one here at Taichung Fenjia night market is a much better version! Remember to eat the one from 官之林only. You can find stalls selling fresh cranberries with honey too. A bit sour but sweetened by the honey. Not bad.
The 大肠包小肠 is different from those you at Taipei. My first taste was at Taipei Shilin night market and it wasn't nice at all. However, the one here at Taichung Fenjia night market is a much better version! Remember to eat the one from 官之林only. You can find stalls selling fresh cranberries with honey too. A bit sour but sweetened by the honey. Not bad.
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| Fried squid with rice fillings....as for taste... average |
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| Fresh cranberries with honey |
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| Charcoal grilled chicken....Delicious!! |
Day 2:
Another must visit place at Taichung is Xinshe district. We spent one day there visiting places like Lavender Forest ( http://www.lavendercottage.com.tw), Mushroom Farm and had our first taste of mushroom flavour ice-cream! We were most impry trip is only NT250 per pax provided if there are minimum of 4 passengers. If there are only 2 passengers, then per pax will be NT500. We were lucky that there were another 2 passengers thessed by the vividly beautiful flowers at the annual Xinshe Sea of Flowers festival. To join the Xinshe one day tour, you need advance booking of driver (新社接駁車). We took a bus 25* to Taichung Railway Station and took the 9.10am bus 豐原客運(bus no.: 270 or 276) and alighted at 新二村.
*From Gardenstay to Taichung Railway Station: From Gardenstay, right turn to bus stop. There are a few buses going to railway station. We took bus 25 and alighted at 中正站. Then walk forward to traffic and turn left. Duration: 40 mins Transport: NT3.
As requested by the Xinshe driver, we called him when the 豐原客運 left at 9.10am. If you missed the 9.10am bus, the next timing will be 9.50am. Try to take the 9.10am bus. For bus timetable, visit http://www.fybus.com.tw/bus8.htm You may ask the 豐原客運 driver to remind you when reaching 新二村 in case you missed the stop. The bus that we took has recorded announcement of bus stop names but not for every stop. We called the Xinshe driver when we alighted at 新二村 and he picked us up 5 mins later at the 7-eleven shop.
After the tour, we went in search of 正老牌香菇肉羹麵 which I saw from TV 食在玩家. Honestly, not that delicious. Can give it a miss if you have no time to find the place which is near the Taichung Railway Station.
Another must visit place at Taichung is Xinshe district. We spent one day there visiting places like Lavender Forest ( http://www.lavendercottage.com.tw), Mushroom Farm and had our first taste of mushroom flavour ice-cream! We were most impry trip is only NT250 per pax provided if there are minimum of 4 passengers. If there are only 2 passengers, then per pax will be NT500. We were lucky that there were another 2 passengers thessed by the vividly beautiful flowers at the annual Xinshe Sea of Flowers festival. To join the Xinshe one day tour, you need advance booking of driver (新社接駁車). We took a bus 25* to Taichung Railway Station and took the 9.10am bus 豐原客運(bus no.: 270 or 276) and alighted at 新二村.
*From Gardenstay to Taichung Railway Station: From Gardenstay, right turn to bus stop. There are a few buses going to railway station. We took bus 25 and alighted at 中正站. Then walk forward to traffic and turn left. Duration: 40 mins Transport: NT3.
As requested by the Xinshe driver, we called him when the 豐原客運 left at 9.10am. If you missed the 9.10am bus, the next timing will be 9.50am. Try to take the 9.10am bus. For bus timetable, visit http://www.fybus.com.tw/bus8.htm You may ask the 豐原客運 driver to remind you when reaching 新二村 in case you missed the stop. The bus that we took has recorded announcement of bus stop names but not for every stop. We called the Xinshe driver when we alighted at 新二村 and he picked us up 5 mins later at the 7-eleven shop.
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| Flower Festival |
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| Mushroom Farm |
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| Another one beautiful place at Xinshe district |
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| This flower looks like a ballerina. Place: Lavender cottage |
After the tour, we went in search of 正老牌香菇肉羹麵 which I saw from TV 食在玩家. Honestly, not that delicious. Can give it a miss if you have no time to find the place which is near the Taichung Railway Station.
Day 3:
We went to Cingjing Farm today.
We took a bus to Taichung Railway station. Next we took the 8.25am bus 台中客运（NT135) and alight at 埔里 at 9.15am. From 埔里, we took another bus 南投客运 to Cingjing Farm. We alighted at Cingjing Farm which is near to Little Swiss Garden. We should alight further up as Green Green
Grassland is far from Swiss Garden. So in the end, we skipped Grassland. I managed to get a taste of the rare honey apply (密萍）Super sweets but quite expensive so i didn't buy which i later regretted.
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| Bus ticket |
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| Puli station |
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| Take bus from Puli station to Cingjing |
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| Bus 6658 to Cingjing |
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| We alighted here |
Day 4
We took Guoguang coach to Kaohsiung and alight at Martial Arts Stadium MRT.
We took MRT from Martial Arts Stadium and alight at Formosa Boulevard Station. To go to our hotel, Kind Business Hotel, we exit Formosa station at exit 11. Upon exit, walk straight, cross the 1st zebra crossing, then cross a road junction and we can see our hotel. The famous Liuhe night market can be seen from Exit 11. The hotel wasn't really comfortable with the dim lightings, musky smell and the spoilt hot / cold water dispenser. Also, the bathing water heater took a long time to heat up. The only plus point is the proximity to LiuHe Night Market. Maybe next time i should stay at Kindness Hotel which seems nicer. To Kindness Hotel, use exit 11, cross one small zebra crossing, turn right and walk all the way straight. Kindness Hotel is at the right side of the road.
Kind Business hotel staff told us that opposite side has those self laundry machines. We went in search and got our clothes washed and dried. After having done the laundry, we went in search for lunch at 正忠排骨飯 which is just opposite our hotel. You got to choose the side dishes after ordering the main dish. Come with free soup and tea. Cheap and nice!!
We were eager to visit Liuhe night market and try the famous papaya milk. It was so good that we had the drink every night as the market was near to our hotel .
We took Guoguang coach to Kaohsiung and alight at Martial Arts Stadium MRT.
We took MRT from Martial Arts Stadium and alight at Formosa Boulevard Station. To go to our hotel, Kind Business Hotel, we exit Formosa station at exit 11. Upon exit, walk straight, cross the 1st zebra crossing, then cross a road junction and we can see our hotel. The famous Liuhe night market can be seen from Exit 11. The hotel wasn't really comfortable with the dim lightings, musky smell and the spoilt hot / cold water dispenser. Also, the bathing water heater took a long time to heat up. The only plus point is the proximity to LiuHe Night Market. Maybe next time i should stay at Kindness Hotel which seems nicer. To Kindness Hotel, use exit 11, cross one small zebra crossing, turn right and walk all the way straight. Kindness Hotel is at the right side of the road.
Kind Business hotel staff told us that opposite side has those self laundry machines. We went in search and got our clothes washed and dried. After having done the laundry, we went in search for lunch at 正忠排骨飯 which is just opposite our hotel. You got to choose the side dishes after ordering the main dish. Come with free soup and tea. Cheap and nice!!
We were eager to visit Liuhe night market and try the famous papaya milk. It was so good that we had the drink every night as the market was near to our hotel .
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Day 5:
CiJin Island is another must visit place. We took Orange Line MRT and got off at Sizihwan MRT (R01), Exit 1. Follow the signboard to Cijin Island at the MRT station. Basically, you turn left and go straight for 5-8mins to harbour and get in the ferry to cross over to the island. You can rent a bicycle outside the MRT station and ride to the harbour. The ferry allows your bicycle to go in.
After Cijin tour, we went in search for 金温州餛飩大王, at 高雄市新楽街163巷1号. To get there, alight at Yanchenpu MRT exit 3. It is behind a bank building (彰化銀行). Personally, i don't find it very fantastic.
After lunch, we went to RuiFeng night market.Take MRT to Arena Station exit 1. Be prepared to walk for quite a distance to RuiFeng night market. I love the seafood porridge there. Nice to have a hot soupy seafood porridge in a cool night.
Day 6:
This is our last night at Kaohsiung. Its a free and easy day as we didn't plan any itinerary today.
We decided to explore NanHua Market which is around our hotel. I think it is behind our hotel but i can't be sure as i always have problems with directions. Anyway, we found a gem there! Old Lee Spareribs Stall. 老李排骨酥堂. Their spareribs soup is so flavourful!!!! The spareribs melt in your mouth!! Simply awesome and i salivating now while writing this post!! Definitely a stall i will visit again. You can see from the pictures i have taken that many celebrities patronise this stall. Address: 149 大同一了路
After lunch, we went in search for a tradition drink stall which is also nearby our hotel. Our hotel location is great but too bad the hotel facilities really need some upgrades.
For dinner, we went to GuaHuo Night Market. Nothing much there. But the eel noodles is delicious. Must try.
Day 7
We took a train to Tainan which according to my research, travelling by train is the fastest method from Kaohsiung to Tainan. The train station is within walking distance from our hotel, although not short.
Our main purpose to Tainan is to visit 景大度假庄园（The King's Garden Villa). So we will be staying for 1 night at Tainan only and didn't have time to explore Tainan. We went to Guanziling which is well-known for its muddy hot spring. To reach Guanziling, we have to take train from Tainan to Xinying. Alight at Xinying station, walk to 新营客运总站. From there, look out for signboard (see picture) that show the bus going to Xinying -> Guanziling. The bus dropped us at 白河and from there walk in to the 7-Eleven and look for the small bus counter. Approach the man and tell him you are going to Guanziling. When the bus is leaving, the man will call out. After reaching Guanziling, walk ahead for a while to reach The King's Garden Villa (景大).
We were like two excited kids trying out the hot and cold pools and applying mud mask on our faces.
Dinner was the famous Du Xiao Yue Dan Zai Mian which was noodles with braised mince meat toppings. Delicious!
CiJin Island is another must visit place. We took Orange Line MRT and got off at Sizihwan MRT (R01), Exit 1. Follow the signboard to Cijin Island at the MRT station. Basically, you turn left and go straight for 5-8mins to harbour and get in the ferry to cross over to the island. You can rent a bicycle outside the MRT station and ride to the harbour. The ferry allows your bicycle to go in.
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| Cijin Star tunnel...a bit disappointed. |
After Cijin tour, we went in search for 金温州餛飩大王, at 高雄市新楽街163巷1号. To get there, alight at Yanchenpu MRT exit 3. It is behind a bank building (彰化銀行). Personally, i don't find it very fantastic.
After lunch, we went to RuiFeng night market.Take MRT to Arena Station exit 1. Be prepared to walk for quite a distance to RuiFeng night market. I love the seafood porridge there. Nice to have a hot soupy seafood porridge in a cool night.
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| Yummy seafood porridge with lots of ingredients!!!! |
Day 6:
This is our last night at Kaohsiung. Its a free and easy day as we didn't plan any itinerary today.
We decided to explore NanHua Market which is around our hotel. I think it is behind our hotel but i can't be sure as i always have problems with directions. Anyway, we found a gem there! Old Lee Spareribs Stall. 老李排骨酥堂. Their spareribs soup is so flavourful!!!! The spareribs melt in your mouth!! Simply awesome and i salivating now while writing this post!! Definitely a stall i will visit again. You can see from the pictures i have taken that many celebrities patronise this stall. Address: 149 大同一了路
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| Turn right and you can find the Old Lee Spareribs Stall |
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| Signboard. This stall is older than me! |
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| Many Taiwanese celebrities visited here |
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| Delicious!!!!!!!!!! |
Simple lunch for 2 ladies
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| Drink stall behind our hotel |
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| I had peppermint flavour. Refreshing. |
For dinner, we went to GuaHuo Night Market. Nothing much there. But the eel noodles is delicious. Must try.
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| Eel noodles...yummy |
Day 7
We took a train to Tainan which according to my research, travelling by train is the fastest method from Kaohsiung to Tainan. The train station is within walking distance from our hotel, although not short.
Our main purpose to Tainan is to visit 景大度假庄园（The King's Garden Villa). So we will be staying for 1 night at Tainan only and didn't have time to explore Tainan. We went to Guanziling which is well-known for its muddy hot spring. To reach Guanziling, we have to take train from Tainan to Xinying. Alight at Xinying station, walk to 新营客运总站. From there, look out for signboard (see picture) that show the bus going to Xinying -> Guanziling. The bus dropped us at 白河and from there walk in to the 7-Eleven and look for the small bus counter. Approach the man and tell him you are going to Guanziling. When the bus is leaving, the man will call out. After reaching Guanziling, walk ahead for a while to reach The King's Garden Villa (景大).
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Train ticket to Xinying. This is a standing ticket meaning we had no seat and have to stand all the way to Xinying.
新营客运总站
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| Bus to Baihe to Guanziling |
We were like two excited kids trying out the hot and cold pools and applying mud mask on our faces.
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| Waiting area (bus stop) to go back to Xinying |
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| View from opposite bus-stop. |
Dinner was the famous Du Xiao Yue Dan Zai Mian which was noodles with braised mince meat toppings. Delicious!
After our early dinner, we went to Flower Garden Night Market. Took awhile to go there as we are unfamiliar on how to go. It was big but we didn't stay for long as it started to drizzle.
Day 8
From Tainan Railway Station, we took train to 沙崙train station. Then we took the Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) from there to Taipei. We have purchased the THSR tickets to Taipei online in advance when we were still at Singapore as there was early bird discount. You can print out the tickets at certain convenience shops using the machine there. Just need to pay a small service charge but still worth it.
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| Tickets to SaLun station |
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| THSR tickets to Taipei |
How to go there: Alight at (忠孝复兴) ZhongXiaoFuXing MRT station. Walk towards Exit 4 BUT do not exit out at Exit 4, continue to walk and look for Exit 14. At outside Exit 14, turn right and walk towards Mcdonalds and美珍香. Immediately turn left and walk straight. Wait at the Pink colour shop. Someone will come and meet you there and pass the room key to you. He or she will call you on that day of check-in to arrange the timing of passing the key. On your day of check-out, just leave the key in the room.
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| Our room is at the 3rd floor of this building. No lift so you got to walk up. |
After putting down our backpacks, we went to National Chiang kaishek memorial Hall: 国立中正纪念堂 to see the soldiers marching parade. Marching Timing: 9am and every 1hr later until 5pm (Except for 初一)
How to go there: MRT 捷运中正纪念堂站Exit 5
We went to Shilin night market. The food district is at underground. I still prefer the old ones.
Eat the normal stuff like coffin bread, chicken chop etc.
We didn't walk around much due to the gloomy weather and we went back to our accommodation early.
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| This stall is not at the underground food court but near a temple. |
Day 9
We went to National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院. 9am-5pm daily / Extended Hours: 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM every Saturday (during extended evening hours, free admission)
Next we went to Ximending. We returned back to our accommodation early today.
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Day 10
We went to JiuFeng today. We took a bus 1062 at nearby ZhongXiaoFuXing MRT station. To go to the bus station, please see below pictures. Do not listen to the cab drivers approaching you telling you there are no more bus service to JiuFeng. They are lying. This is my 3rd time going to JiuFeng, so i go straight to those famous stalls to eat.
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| Direction to bus no 1062 |
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| Taking bus back to ZhongXiaoFuXing MRT Station |
Our last destination for tonight is to RooHe night market. I am eager to eat the pepper biscuits again :) We took a bus 204 at nearby ZhongXiaoFuXin MRT again to RouHe night market.
Day 11
We went to Miniatures of Taipei. 台北市建國北路一段 96 號 close on Monday. Opening hours: 10am to 6pm. We alighted at 松江南京站→4號出口. Need to walk for awhile to reach there.
Next is to DanShui and 渔人码头, Yu Ren Jetty. I thought the walk from Danshui old street to the jetty is a short distance but i was wrong. Lucky that the cold weather made our stroll more enjoyable.
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| Evening view of the jetty |
After the jetty, we were took a bus back to Danshui old street. We planned this old street in our last night activities as we planned to buy many stuff there. We went in search for Jay Chou favourite food. The chicken thigh was good but the dumplings soup is just average.
I found an interesting 3 in 1 century eggs. It is a combination of salted egg, century egg and tea-leaves braised egg. Our of curiosity, i bought some home. After eating it when i am back in Singapore, i think i should just stick to the normal century eggs...lol...
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| 3 in 1 eggs |
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| Streets food. |
Day 12
Our flight to Singapore is in the afternoon. There are 3 buses (5201, 5202 and 5203) which go to the airport nearby the place we stayed. If the bus operators sell the bus tickets to you, don't buy it first. The 3 buses are operated by different companies. Since we don't know which bus will arrive first, so it is best not to buy any tickets first. You can pay to the bus driver when the bus arrived.
Since we still have some time, we went exploring the nearby shops. There is a Kobayashi shop there. Bought one piece of the bell-shaped snacks and fell in love with it. The hot creamy fillings warmed you up a bit in this cold weather. Next we bought this lovely pancake from 星野. I love the pancakes with green tea and red beans filling.
It was a wonderful trip and i am sure i will come back again. Bus journey is about 1 hour but best to travel earlier in case of traffic during peak hours.
Hi. May I know how did you get to Guanziling station from Tainan train station? Well appreciated. Thanks a lot!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFrom tainan station to xinying station is about 25mins.
ReplyDeleteHi Fiona, to go there, first you have to go to Tainan Train Station and go to their counter to buy ticket to 新营 (Xinying station). Ticket comes in 2 types: with seat number and standing ticket (cheaper). Standing ticket as it's name applied, you will not be given any seat and have to stand all the way to Xinying Station. Alight at Xinying station and walk to 新营客运总站to take a bus to Guanziling. To go Guanziling, you have to take bus (NT16 ) to 白河 first. Alight at 白河 terminal station, walk in to 7-eleven and look for the small bus counter. Tell the man you are going to Guanziling. Wait for the man to call out when bus is leaving.
ReplyDeleteHi Chloe,
ReplyDeleteDid the inter cities buses is luggage friendly? Most probably we will be travelling with our 24-28" luggage together. I wonder the bus will be same like the Taipei Airport bus which the driver help us to store the luggage at the specific compartment so we do not need to carry with us to the passenger seat together.
Mandy
Hi Mandy
DeleteTheir inter cities buses are not luggage friendly. Their buses are like our sbs buses.
I am an engineer of software,I lived in Taipei, If you need local tour(No charges , in order to learning English),please let me know.(hunter1124@gmail.com)
ReplyDelete