by Mark Butland | 17/10/2025 | Taiwan
The bus up to Alishan climbed right into the clouds, and we stayed at the Dafong Hotel. We were up at 5am to catch the historic Alishan Forest Railway to the Zhushan viewing deck for sunrise. The sunrise train’s departure time moves with the sun through the year. The...
by Mark Butland | 15/10/2025 | Taiwan
At Sun Moon Lake we cycled the 30-kilometre loop around the water, with mist hanging over the hills. We went clockwise, past the Ci’en Pagoda and Wenwu Temple, sharing the path with wild monkeys and stopping now and then to look out over the still green water. The...
by Mark Butland | 13/10/2025 | Taiwan
Tainan is Taiwan’s oldest city, and it was also the first walled city on the island. Almost every street here seems to have some history to it. Over our two days we saw the historic Chihkan Tower, which stands on the site of Fort Provintia, built by the Dutch in 1653....
by Mark Butland | 11/10/2025 | Taiwan
Next we went south to Kenting and the Amanda Hotel, which is built in a Moroccan style. Kenting is at the southern tip of Taiwan, and its national park opened in 1984 as the first in the country. We split our two days between the beaches of the national park and the...
by Mark Butland | 09/10/2025 | Taiwan
After a relaxing morning on Green Island we went back to the mainland. The island’s ferries run between Nanliao Harbour and Fugang Harbour, which lies near Taitung. We checked into the Formosan Naruwan Hotel in Taitung. Like every other leg of our loop round Taiwan,...
