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,...
by Mark Butland | 08/10/2025 | Taiwan
From Fugang Harbour, near Taitung, we took the ferry across to Green Island, a small volcanic island off the east coast. The crossing to Nanliao Harbour on the island takes 50 minutes to an hour. Once we’d arrived we checked into the quirky Tube 18 Resort. After the...
by Mark Butland | 07/10/2025 | Taiwan
The Puyuma Express got us to Hualien fast. It’s a tilting train on the east coast line, and the journey down from Taipei takes about two hours. After that we slowed right down. The weather stopped us getting to Taroko Gorge, so we took it easy at the Kadda Hotel,...
