Back to the hotel
I whipped out my phone and opened Google Maps. No choice, this shit’s far from my hotel. I could’ve walked again, but I’m full and my feet are starting to ache a teeny bit. I did not want to waste my foot treatment progress on being a complete cheapo. So, bus time. Time to test the EasyCard.
The recomended bus path was good enough – one bus station across the street, less than 10 station stops, no hops, and it stops at a bus stop – Zhonghualubei Station – that is less than 5 blocks away from my hotel. Sweet.
I boarded a bus, tapped my Klook-branded EasyCard on the terminal near the driver, found me a back seat, and waited for the bus stop announcement for the one I was to alight off on. Thankfully, shit was smooth. Same as Singapore’s. It gave me more confidence I can use this transportation mode more in the next few days. Tap in, tap out.
Once I alighted on Zhonghualubei Station near the Ximending area, I briskly walked back to my hotel – after dropping by the 7-11 and buying unsweetened cold tea again, plus one tea egg because I was 13g away from my daily protein target and I’d prefer it to be single digits instead.
And after I got back to my room and plopped my ass on the bed, I finally realized something, and it’s bad. I was actually very tired, and adrenaline/desire to do more stuff was the only juice I had left after the tour to do the Ningxia night market extra trip. It’s like an exhaustion crash that finally took hold of me. I sank on the soft bed, almost too tired to do anything else other than open the TV with the remote. And as I forgot to turn off the aircon when I left, the room was satisfyingly cold. And as it was hot outside, I craved the cold temp. I was too tired to even get out of my shirt and pants. I nearly dozed off to sleep in exhuastion.
But I had to wake up. I summoned some more juice left in me to get up, drink my pills and and take a warm shower. And second thing to do… I had to wash my clothes.
See, I brought only one pair of pants. I had emergency Adidas jogging pants just in case, but I skimped out on bringing one more pair of jeans due to the weight. And from past experience with most travels I did, I was able to not use the second pair of pants by washing them on the hotel wash machine at night (as well as using the dryer), so I dressed in what I’d call “night-time hotel-only good-enough” (basketball shorts, UA sleeveless shirt), went down to the basement with my jeans, my shirt from yesterday and today, my Superdry trucker cap, two handkerchiefs and two pairs of socks to wash in the washing machine. But, I saw a message taped to the machine door:
Oh, so as there’s only one machine, we room renters had to take turns with the machine. Gotcha. So I went to B1 to the service desk and ask to reserve the nearest time I could get. I was told that the nearest time was… 5am the next day. Fuck me in the ass, I thought to myself. I still had the jogging pants just in case, but as Taiwan’s sunny was sweaty and that would be a water weight if it rained, so I was adamant that I reuse my jeans. It’s stretchy and lightweight.
I did think of riding it out and wearing that pair for the third day in the row, but I was worried that it might start to stink if it was hot and sunny the next day. So no choice, I told the desk guy that I will take the 5am slot. He said I had 4 hours to complete my business as well. So I said thanks, and went to the reception snack bar to get a handful of those delicious nougat cookies in case I need it for tomorrow morning. I went back to my room afterwards.
And after I opened my backpack to clear out the souvenirs for the day and put it in my luggage, I turned off the lights, set my alarm on the phone for 5am, and chilled on the bed watching nature documentaries on the TV. And I just fell asleep soon after, with the TV on at low volume. Exhaustion just does that. The TV sounds weren’t a problem. I think it was around 11pm.
All in all, I had a wonderful day. New things seen, new things done, nice stuff bought.
So the question remains: was the tour worth it? Yes!
I could not imagine doing this tour, visiting each and every place we went to, by myself. Yehliu and Shifen were like places that would not be easy to visit by public transportation. Juifen, at least, had a bus stop. And again, like the tour I did in Ayutthaya, this Yehliu-Juifen-Shifen day tour from Klook was a “convenience” tour out of necessity. Japan and South Korea had very efficient transportation options that made touring somewhat convenient to do by myself. In Taiwan, likely not so much. If I did this myself, I would only be able to visit at most two places.
And in terms of costs, this tour cost me SGD 47, more or less, with the discount ticket, plus taxes, for the entire tour itself plus the Geopark ticket. Had I been a tool to pay extra money to have my money fly away as a sky lantern, probably an extra 8-10 dollars added. To be honest, the tour cost was a steal. I felt it was too cheap for the entire service provided. And if I am to recommend this tour, I’d say yes.
What did I learn on this tour?
- Check the weather and overprepare. Better be overprepared than underprepared IMO, because the only cost of overpreparing is just a small extra weight on your bag, be it an umbrella or a poncho. Underpreparing can genuinely ruin your entire tour, like those white tourists I saw in Bangkok that turned lobster red because they did not have any sunscreen lotion or umbrellas. I prepped for a rainy weather because the Weather app on my phone had a non-negligible percentage for it. While (fortunately) it did not rain on that day, the extra jacket I brought in my bag was a very small price to pay.
- Be open to smells and tastes. In moderation, though.
- In Yehliu Geopark, don’t bother lining up for the park-designated Queen’s Head picture spot IMO. There’s lots of spots you can get a selfie around it. Get your shot in, and spend the rest admiring the place.
- And again, in the same geopark, don’t bother with non-Yehliu-themed souvenirs. For the food souvenirs there in the geopark exit section, it depends. If you seek a more refined, tourist-friendly taste, you can buy the stuff at Juifen. Many of the stalls there sell food that are optimal for people who doesn’t bother for “exotic”. But if you are more adventurous and don’t mind a little risk of an exotic/acquired taste like, carmelized deep-fried eel bones, sure go ahead, Yehliu has those by the stacks. Juifen has those too, but from what I tasted from both, Yehliu’s is more “fishy” in a very good way.
- The only stop I’d advise people to pack more money/budget for will be Jiufen. That place is a big-ass market. Beautiful market. Plentiful, too. Just pad your estimates with a couple more thousand NTD. Especially if you want to try and buy a lot.
- Again in Jiufen… you won’t run out of souvenir shops. Among all the three major stops, I’d say treat Juifen as the big souvenir stop. Just leisurely tour Yehliu and Shifen, and only bring out your wallet in Jiufen.
- Also, keep a bottle of water/tea with you at all times. All those walking might leave you dehydrated, especially if the weather is non-rainy. Also, don’t drink big bottles of coffee. It’s a (mild) diuretic. Limit it to small cans or tiny espresso cups. I’ve seen a dude in Yehliu glug one of those big 500ml Japanese bottles of Americano coffee. Hope he found a toilet on his trip.
- Keep a strong eye for markers. Arrows, landmarks, store signs, anything you need to remind youself of things to help backtrack. Most of them have English anyway. You might get lost or confused in these foreign places where your tour group has already split off to do their own things. If you have memory issues, better keep phone photos handy. I’ve had a couple of other tourists ask me where the “stairs” were in Jiufen.
- Best to follow what your tour guide says. If she says 10-o-clock be back on the bus, make sure you time your activities. I follow this rule and I go beyond. 2-5 minutes early too. I don’t want to be the tourist that is hauling ass on the spots because they got too photo-happy and forgot the meeting time. One tour had extra people that negotiated to hitch a ride because they missed their tour bus out of Jiufen and needed a lift to Shifen Waterfall and meet up with their own tour guide.
- EasyCard will be very handy in Taipei. Best get the one in Klook with the SIM card. Tap in, tap out like a local. I’ve seen a tourist fumble for coins on the bus in Taipei, doesn’t look dignified. Less hassle is always a plus for any tourist.
- Mints. Have mints. Fresh breath always makes you good with everyone. I carry lots of mints with me. The sugar-free ones work great.
Next part: The June 14 tour trip – Beitou and Yanmingshan, plus the Shilin Night Market. I had sat on this very blog post for weeks, editing a lot. That June 14 one will be as long and heavy too, methinks. Fun to recollect, that’s for sure. I still have June 15 and 16 as well. Oh man…
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
Leave a comment