Day 3 - Road trip from Hualien - Taitung - Keting National Park - Taitung

Travelling date: 11th December 2018

From the map (see below), we will be spending more than 6 hours on the road. Therefore, we left Hualien before 9.30am on a bright sunny day. Not a drop of rain throughout the journey. How I wished it was sunny yesterday as a stroll in Jiufen old town is something not to be missed. Ops, before I forget, I made such a blunder for not booking an accommodation in Keting, but in Taitung instead. We wasted about 3 hours, to and from Keting turning back to Taitung. However, our accommodation in a private room at Taitung Residential area was worth the trip. Our room with 2 master bed and attached bathroom was so comfortable that we had nothing to complaint about.

We stopped for fuel and toilet at Yuli Township, a rural area but all in a nice view after one and half hour journey. While taking photos with Nasrul, I saw a train passed by in a hilly mountain. You can actually tour a whole island of Taiwan by train. The train that I saw must be from Taipei to Hualien & Taitung that is called an Eastern main line. Taiwan Rail Administration provides generally hourly express trains on the scenic eastern line.  From late 2007 new 'Taroko express' high-speed (130km/h) electric tilting trains were introduced, providing an hourly service between Taipei and Hualien, with several services continuing along the scenic valley to Taitung. Those train traveler should try this Taroko express. I was a train traveler before I quit to travel with my family which are not used to inconveniences of being a backpacker.

Yuli Township mountainous view as a photo backdrop

Do not forget to bring wet wipes

We arrived in Taitung town by lunch time and quickly searched for a halal restaurant, HCC, Halal City Company but it was closed. We ended having lunch at 7-Eleven, whatever pork free meal that we can grab. 7-Eleven is quite a reliable place to stop for a tourist like us. In time of emergency you can fill your stomach with quite a wide selection of food and not to mention their good aroma coffee that we enjoyed so much. In addition to that a drive along a coastal road with panoramic view is another valuable experience.

How our lunch looks like in 7-Eleven

The coastal road

As we arrived a bit too early, we decided to tour Keting instead of day 4, thinking that we can actually spent more times in Kaohsiung, a second major city in Taiwan. It took us 3 hours to reach Keting National Park but at 5.30pm the area is getting dark and not possible to explore and/or hike as the park was closed. Another disappointed journey. We stopped by the roadside watching Pacific Ocean while taking some photos.

A little bit of information on Taitung City which is situated on the southeast coast of Taiwan. The place is well known for Peinan Cultural Park, the site of a number of buried Neolithic slate coffins first excavated in the 1980s. Examples of relics recovered from the site, including pottery and jade stones, are displayed at the National Museum of Prehistory. Beside its beautiful pebble beaches, in their wooded Taitung Forest Park are birds and butterflies, and footpaths wind past several lakes that hikers wold love to explore. If I were with my hiking cum tajwid group, I’m sure the 4 of us wold enjoy the trip better.

Seafood in Taiwan is a must

While on the other hand, Kenting National Park occupies the Hengchun Peninsula at the southern tip of the island of Taiwan (see the map above). Keting is famously known for its white-sand beaches, caves, coral reefs and northern mountains. The park’s main resort, Kenting Town, is home to restaurants, street-food stalls, bars and nightlife. The Frog Rock outcrop and the jagged, 318m Dajianshan peak overlook the resort. We arrived just nice for dinner and found the seafood restaurant “ALI SEAFOOD” in the google map and thought it was a Muslim, halal place but it wasn't. Since we were there already and hungry, we thought to spend a bit on the meal. But it wasn’t cheap and they do not accept credit card.

Beautiful isnt it? I mean, the room

We headed back to Taitung where our accommodation was at around 7pm and arrived back in the city slightly before 10pm, all exhausted. Husband decided to rest a little bit more at a nice house and we shall started late for 4th day trip to Kaohsiung.