Taiwan Tours Highlights
Next stop is the Fort San Domingo which is a historic fortress originally constructed as a wooden fort in 1628 by the Spanish Empire who named it “Fort San Domingo”. However, the fort was then destroyed by the Spanish, after losing a battle to the Dutch Empire in 1642. After the battle, in 1644, The Dutch rebuilt a fort in the original site, and renamed it “Fort Antonio”. It has walls 1.9m thick but I don’t think it was ever tested in battle.
The hotel was first established in 1952 as Chiang Kai-shek felt Taipei had no proper hotels for hosting foreign dignitaries. The main building was completed in 1973 on the grounds of the former Taipei Grand Shrine, though it underwent major renovations after a fire in 1995. This is a landmark hotel, a bit garish but the rooms are 剝皮辣椒 immaculate, large and the whole place has a royal feel about it. Tonight we swim in its Olympic size pool and eat in one of its four major restaurants. Getting out of the airport in a new car, driving on the right side of the road and without a GPS was a bit of a struggle but no incidents and we get to the Grand Hotel safely.
Start your night the right way with a splash of a local favourite like golden muscat or shaoxing. Taste for balance, structure and texture, or just have a bottle with friends. If you want to do some exploring, add a trip to Guanshan to your plan.
After dinner take a walk, find a pharmacy to buy throat medicine for one of Lilly’s friends in Sydney. We have our heart beats taken and our tongues examined by the pharmacologist, a very pleasant young doctor. He reckons Lilly eats too much, gets upset too easily and carries her little troubles too long. I am more equable but need to eat less meat and drink less, I think he possibly said, “milk”.
Have a meal at the on-site café specialising in hot-pot dishes from the gardens combined with fresh seafood and noodles. You can even create your own combinations and dipping sauces. Navigate to the areas in Taitung City you plan to visit to find hotels that are close by.
The park is being built in the Expo Park, the former ground of the 2005 World EXPO, the forested and hilly area to house the Ghibli Park within its 1.94 square kilometre area. Further down the road our interest is piqued by a sign saying Water Running Uphill so we can’t help ourselves but stop and see this strange phenomenon. Sure enough there is a channel of water running in one direction and it does appear that its running uphill.
Stroll the sculptured gardens near the original prehistoric archaeological site known as Beinan Cultural Park. Located within walking distance of Kangle Railway Station, Formosa Naruwan Galaxy Hotel Taitung offers guests a convenient base while in Taitung City. Guests also have exclusive access to the on-site Aquarius Beauty Soup and Swimming Pool.
Tariffs start at NT$85 and cost around NT$150 for a ride within the city center. Established in 1999, the Guanshan Waterfront Park covers a wide area of 34 hectares and was previously a dumping ground. A third of the park is covered by water, which mainly originates from the subterranean river.
It provides free Wi-Fi, an express check-in and check-out feature and luggage storage. Driving up to Hehuanshan under poor weather conditionWe parked our car outside 3158 Cafe and waited for an hour, mostly surfing net in the car and hoping that the weather would improve. We were even willing to consider hiking up lower peaks such as Jianshan Peak instead of the Main or East Peak. Unfortunately, the drizzle persisted in on-off fashion giving us zero opportunity to do anything at Hehuanshan.
It provides 3.5-star accommodation with air-conditioned rooms. This is a place we didn’t want to go, but added in the last minute because we allocated too many days for our Central Taiwan trip. We dislike overly-touristy places and Sun Moon Lake seemed like one based on research. The photos of it also didn’t seem spectacularly beautiful as compared to other lakes we’ve seen, e.g.
Located in Chishang, Papago International Resort is on the Strip, within a 5-minute drive of Takeshi Kaneshiro Tree and Jolin Tsai Tree. When it's time to fly off, allow yourself extra time to get to Kaohsiung International Airport . Sitting 110 kilometres to the southwest from downtown Chishang, this is the closest terminal. There's no better way to understand a destination than to literally take a bite out of it! You're invited to explore Taitung County by dining on some of its most tantalizing food and drink. If you can't imagine a holiday that doesn't involve sports, check what events are on at Taitung Stadium.