SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2016
With so many trips on the west coast of Taiwan, Tracy and I really wanted to make a visit to the east coast and see Ariel in Yilan county.
HOW TO GET THERE
I remember I was not fond of the journey. From Miaoli to Yilan, it took about 4 hours. I took the slow train to Taipei (2.5 hours), ate dinner in Taipei (1 hour), and then took a bus from Taipei City Hall to Yilan (1 hour). I was so tired and cranky when I got off the bus. By the way, I highly recommend going by bus. It’s so comfortable and you’re guaranteed a seat. If memory serves me right, the bus ticket was $120 NT one way. It’ll drop you off at Luodong Bus Station. Ariel lives about a 15-minute walk from the bus station, so we stayed at her place Friday night.
NATIONAL CENTER FOR TRADITIONAL ARTS
Personally, I have no idea what there is to do in Yilan. I mean if I were to go by myself, my options are kind of limited if I rely on public transportation. Lucky for us, Ariel had a car in Yilan, bless her! haha Ariel was very nice and took us around Yilan. The first stop of the day was at the National Center for Traditional Arts. If you’re in Yilan, I highly recommend going here. I’m not exactly sure how to describe the place. You have to buy a ticket to be admitted and inside there’s tons of shops. I suppose their goal is to preserve the arts, so there’s tons of shops in an area they call, “folkart boulevard.” There’s a small museum and you can even collect stamps at points of interest. There’s some food sold there so you won’t find yourself completely starving.
With so many trips on the west coast of Taiwan, Tracy and I really wanted to make a visit to the east coast and see Ariel in Yilan county.
HOW TO GET THERE
I remember I was not fond of the journey. From Miaoli to Yilan, it took about 4 hours. I took the slow train to Taipei (2.5 hours), ate dinner in Taipei (1 hour), and then took a bus from Taipei City Hall to Yilan (1 hour). I was so tired and cranky when I got off the bus. By the way, I highly recommend going by bus. It’s so comfortable and you’re guaranteed a seat. If memory serves me right, the bus ticket was $120 NT one way. It’ll drop you off at Luodong Bus Station. Ariel lives about a 15-minute walk from the bus station, so we stayed at her place Friday night.
NATIONAL CENTER FOR TRADITIONAL ARTS
Personally, I have no idea what there is to do in Yilan. I mean if I were to go by myself, my options are kind of limited if I rely on public transportation. Lucky for us, Ariel had a car in Yilan, bless her! haha Ariel was very nice and took us around Yilan. The first stop of the day was at the National Center for Traditional Arts. If you’re in Yilan, I highly recommend going here. I’m not exactly sure how to describe the place. You have to buy a ticket to be admitted and inside there’s tons of shops. I suppose their goal is to preserve the arts, so there’s tons of shops in an area they call, “folkart boulevard.” There’s a small museum and you can even collect stamps at points of interest. There’s some food sold there so you won’t find yourself completely starving.
On folkart boulevard, there is also an elaborate performance they only do certain times throughout the day. Check the times, because they only perform a few times during the day. It’s a performance on the street with acting, dancing, and singing. The costumes are elaborate and everyone truly looks like they came out of a time portal from a different time period.
|
|
|
|
NEIPI BEACH
After lunch, we went to Neipi Beach in Su-ao Township in Yilan. It’s a pretty beach. I’m glad we went. Tracy put her feet in the Pacific Ocean and we got to experience the beach on the east side of the island.
|
|
|
DONGSHAN RIVER WATER PARK
I LOVED this park. It’s a pretty big park. We parked the car across the street at a bike rental shop. We rented bikes and rode them around the park and the river. You can cross under the bridge and ride on the other side. It’s so peaceful there and the weather was beautiful. At the time, we also got to see people practicing for the dragon boat festival on the river. I would say, for the most part, the park is bike friendly. On the park side, there’s maybe more pedestrians, but not a lot of pedestrians on the other side of the bridge.
|
|
|
|
JIAOXI
For dinner, Ariel drove us to Jiaoxi County in Yilan, where we got ramen and mango shaved ice for dinner and dessert. YUM!
Yay for more blog posts!!!