Joe's Travel Blog: Taiwan Road Trip (03/03/2018

While I have a whole blog dedicated to my time in Taiwan in 2009/2010, and I've been countless times since, it's been a really long time since I've really seen the country vs. just the main cities, and more importantly, my parents had never been! I figured, given it was my last month of work and I had vacation days to burn, it'd be nice to treat my parents to something while I still had a pay cheque.

It was my first time driving a car in Taiwan, or in Asia for that matter, and happy that the Google + GPS combo was reliable as ever. We started in Taipei, went north to Bamboo Lake, then down the west coast to Nanzhuang, an old city dating back to the Qing dynasty, then onto Taichung. From there we went east to Sun Moon Lake passing Zhushan (site of the nicest public toilet in Taiwan) along the way. We then went to Mount Ali, spent a fair bit of time there, and finished the trip Kenting National Park via Tainan.

The main purpose of this trip was really just eating and sightseeing, and that we did well. From the green tea fields and mountain trails to geological parks and old cities, we saw. From the clay oven roasted chicken, exotic mountain vegetables, to betel flower salads, we certainly ate.

Taiwan remains one of my favourite places in the world - balancing long history, old culture, natural beauty, wonderful people, and great food, all at an affordable price and extremely safe. It's a hidden gem that few outside of Asia have visited, and I hope that changes.

Taipei / 台北