In 2025, I set a firm goal for myself: I must go abroad. I didn’t care where, but I definitely had to go. That was a promise I made to myself at the beginning of the year. After traveling to quite a few provinces in Vietnam, I wanted to expand my world; I wanted to know how vast the world out there really is.
I chose Taiwan without too much calculation or prior planning. The reason was simply that during the time I intended to travel, flight tickets to Taiwan were the cheapest. After booking the tickets, I finally started scrambling to figure out the visa procedures.
The Visa Saga and the Memorable $50 Bill
The visa procedure to self-guide Taiwan is actually published quite clearly on the website of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. I asked a few service agencies, but I decided to submit it myself because I still had to prepare all the documents personally; they would only submit them on my behalf, yet the price was double. So, I decided to spend my own time, prepared the exact documents according to the checklist, and physically went to the Taipei office to queue and submit my application.
I have a few small tips for anyone planning to do it themselves like me. First, it is super crowded here, so you should go in the morning to submit your application, and go in the afternoon to pick up the results according to the appointment. On the first day, I naively went to submit my application in the afternoon, but they were only processing the remaining files from the morning, so my turn never came, and I had to leave sadly.
The second and equally important point is that the visa fee must be paid in US dollars, and they absolutely do not accept $50 bills! For example, if the standard visa fee is $50, you have to find odd bills like $10 or $20 to pay. Basically, any bill works except for the $50 one. To this day, I still keep that rejected $50 bill in my wallet as a souvenir of this “ironic” situation.
On the bright side, applying for a Taiwan visa is super fast. The standard process takes only 5 working days, and the express service ($75) takes only 3 days. Once you submit the documents, they give you an appointment slip right away, and the results are ready on that exact day.
First Impressions of the Land of Bubble Tea
I feel so lucky and happy that Taiwan was the first foreign destination I chose. I really, really like this place, from the landscapes and people to the way life operates here. As soon as I landed at the Taipei International Airport, my first impression was that everything was incredibly neat and organized.
My self-guide Taiwan trip lasted 8 days, divided into two legs: the first 2 days in Taipei, the next 3 days in Hualien, and the last 3 days back in Taipei. When researching, I saw that people usually do the Taipei – Taichung route, and if they have time, they add Tainan or Kaohsiung. However, I stumbled upon a captivating article introducing Hualien, so I decided to “u-turn” and head to Hualien instead.
My goal for the trip was simple. Because I love nature, I prioritized sightseeing spots with lots of trees and coastlines. Since I was traveling alone, I went wherever I pleased. Taiwan has an extremely convenient MRT and train system, so moving between provinces along the country was not a big problem. Booking accommodation was also very convenient and didn’t require booking too far in advance. In fact, I only booked my rooms 1 or 2 days ahead on Booking.com. I even waited until my last day in Hualien to scramble and book my room for the final 2 days in Taipei. Just a note: hotels in Taiwan usually have a rather late check-in time, typically around 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM, so calculate your movement and ask about luggage storage beforehand.
Wandering Days in Taipei
Stepping off the train and seeing the scenery of Taipei before my eyes was a feeling of happiness I still haven’t forgotten. My first time stepping out of the country, my first time in Taiwan, and the weather supported my trip with blue skies and white clouds. The first thing I did was look for a place to eat because it wasn’t check-in time yet. Naturally, coming here, one must try beef noodles. I chose a random local shop with no foreigners. My Chinese is patchy, mostly consisting of a few basic words learned from old martial arts movies. Yet, I still managed to order a medium-sized bowl of beef noodles.
Oh my god, it was huge! I thought that bowl could feed me for two meals with some left over. The price was 120 TWD. The meat was high quality, so I didn’t find it expensive; it was just too much food. I should have ordered a kid’s bowl. The old couple running the shop was also very kind. Seeing me struggle to finish and running out of broth, the grandpa stepped out, said something I didn’t understand, and poured more broth for me. Wonderful, right? I didn’t eat anything else that evening because I was still full from lunch.
Late that afternoon, I took the MRT, intending to go to Tamsui, but because I took the wrong line, I ended up in some unknown neighborhood. However, there was a silver lining: I bought a delicious cup of bubble tea and walked back while drinking it. Taiwan bubble tea truly lives up to its reputation. The tea isn’t overly thick but has a very distinct flavor; the sweetness is just right, not harsh, and the pearls are tasty. In Taiwan, I drank about 6 or 7 cups, and none of them were bad.
Getting Lost in Bitoujiao and Sunset at Jiufen
On the second day, I departed for Bitoujiao (Bitou Cape). This is also a fairly famous spot, about an hour by bus from Taipei. With my signature “clumsiness,” it took me nearly 2 hours to get there, but it’s okay, everything happens for a reason. Upon arrival, before I could even find the way, two kind people asked me, “Mountain?” – “Yes” – “That way, that way.” In the midday sun with no one around, I eagerly climbed the hill. Looking down, I saw a small elementary school nestled on the mountain, with the murmuring blue sea at its foot—a scene exactly like Shouta’s school in the movie Ponyo!
The view from the pavilion was super, super beautiful. It gave me a feeling similar to Mui Dien in Phu Yen (Vietnam) because of the similarities in landscape, geology, and the sense of peace it brought. What I loved most was finding a secret path down to the shore, where there was a large rocky beach with a few people fishing and others swimming freely in the small, clear rock pools.
Hiking Bitoujiao wasn’t too strenuous; it took only about an hour to go up and down, even with me wandering around to take photos. But if you go on a sunny day, prepare water. Don’t be like me, carrying only half a bottle. From Bitoujiao, going to Jiufen is not far; there is a bus route running straight there. However, weekend afternoons are quite crowded and jammed, so if you go, try to go around noon to avoid the crowds.
Actually, I initially planned to skip Jiufen because I don’t like places that are too crowded and touristy. But since I met a new friend from China who wanted to go, I went with her (since she had enthusiastically helped me find the way down to the beach earlier). To me, Jiufen was exactly as I imagined: full of tourists. In return, there were quite a few shops, lots of food, and souvenirs to buy as keepsakes.
However, right near Jiufen, there is a hill you definitely shouldn’t miss. On the map, this place is marked as the Keelung Mountain Trail. Climbing up here takes about 30 minutes. The path is built with stairs, so it’s very easy to walk. The path to the top will give you a panoramic view below. Under the sparkling sunset, the sea and the village appeared magnificently. Because I loved this hill so much, after climbing up, I sat there for 3 solid hours.
Hualien: The Most Peaceful Part of the Journey
I arrived in Hualien on the 3rd day of my schedule. From Taipei, there is a train to Hualien. The ticket price was around 700 – 800 TWD, I think, and it took over two and a half hours. I spent 3 consecutive days in Hualien. The town center is so small that after more than 3 days, I knew all the streets and alleys (especially the shortest route to the bubble tea shop). I still miss Hualien so much. The town leans against the mountains on one side and looks out to the sea on the other. It’s empty, peaceful, and seems to attract more Western tourists because of the natural landscapes and mountains. Homestays here are one-third the price of Taipei; I paid 300 TWD a night for a huge room with a private bathroom.
From Hualien, I took a bus to Taroko National Park. This is also a famous spot with a walking trail through the cliffs looking down at the river, which is quite beautiful. Regrettably, at the time I went, this path was closed, probably due to a typhoon just before that caused landslides, so it was under maintenance. I could only hike up the adjacent hill. Although the path was mostly stairs, it was very steep. Yet, on the way, I still met Taiwanese people exercising, running vigorously, while I dragged my feet step by step.
On the way to Taroko, you will pass Qixingtan Beach. This place doesn’t seem to be for swimming because the shore is entirely pebbles and the water gets deep very quickly. But the surrounding scenery is picturesque. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this is the most beautiful beach in Taiwan. The seawater is turquoise, and behind it are majestic mountains. Standing in front of the beach, looking out at the vast Pacific Ocean, I suddenly felt so small.
The location for the 3rd day in Hualien was the main purpose of my visit: going to Liushishi Mountain (Sixty Stone Mountain) to see the orange daylilies bloom. Since I didn’t ride a motorbike and couldn’t find any bus information, I booked a tour. I booked it just 1 day in advance. It was a shared car tour with a driver who doubled as a guide. The trouble was, he didn’t speak English, and I didn’t know Chinese, so we mostly used wild hand gestures, yet we managed to visit all the spots.
Liushishi Mountain is over two and a half hours from Hualien by car. On the way, they let us stop at a few small spots, just like tours in Vietnam. But I truly didn’t regret coming here. To see the flowers, the car drove straight to the top of the mountain. On the way up, hills full of flowers blooming flooded my vision. The bright orange daylilies stretched across the green hillsides, creating a vivid natural painting. There is a camera installed on the peak broadcasting 24/7 so tourists can track the weather and flower blooms. You can search on YouTube with the keyword “Liushishi live 4K”. Even though I’m back, I still open the camera occasionally to watch and reminisce. The way people in Taiwan promote their image is truly smart and effective. The daylilies here are used for many things; people pickle them to eat, cook flower soup, or dry them for tea.
If the weather is nice in Hualien, don’t forget to buy a ticket to go dolphin watching out at sea. But remember to get off at the right dock, don’t be like me. Because I went to the wrong place and waiting for the next bus took too long, I had to return to Taipei without seeing them, which I regretted so much.
Food, Bubble Tea, and Pineapple Cakes
Talking about cuisine on this self-guide Taiwan trip, honestly, it didn’t quite suit my taste. The portions here are always super huge; I felt like buying one portion could feed me for two or three meals. The meal I found most delicious was a vegetarian meal at Chao restaurant. The dishes were creative, and importantly, very tasty, and they opened late (I had to give up on a few shops because they closed at 9:00 PM—quite the opposite of Vietnam). The food at Din Tai Fung was also delicious, and the service experience there was a solid 10/10. They pay attention to every small detail and made me feel comfortable.
And of course, how can I not mention Taiwan bubble tea? The bubble tea here is truly delicious. Every day I drank a cup with a different flavor, and they were all great. The sweetness was just enough, never feeling like too much sugar. The tea was fragrant, not bitter, and not too strong. Ironically, the worst and most expensive cup I drank in Taiwan was at the most famous shop in Jiufen, the place that invented brown sugar pearls.
Speaking of souvenirs, one definitely cannot ignore pineapple cakes—the famous specialty of this land. Even before I left, my group of friends at home had simultaneously placed orders, so I couldn’t forget this mission. In Taiwan, pineapple cakes are everywhere, from budget supermarket shelves to fancy shops with all kinds of prices. Being curious, I decided to buy all types, from cheap to expensive, to see how they differed.
I bought boxes of pineapple cakes in the supermarket for just over 100 TWD for 10 pieces, but I also didn’t forget to visit the famous Chia Te bakery (Chiyo) to buy cakes costing 40 TWD each. I have to admit that “you get what you pay for”—the expensive cakes had a much more refined and delicious flavor. But to be fair, the supermarket cakes were also very decent. The result of this “survey” was that I had to lug back a suitcase full of nothing but pineapple cakes!
Eight days passed as quickly as a dream of white clouds and golden sun. Stepping onto the plane to leave, my luggage contained not just a suitcase full of pineapple cakes for gifts, but a heart filled with fresh emotions. Taiwan taught me that sometimes, spontaneity and a bit of “clumsiness” lead us to the most wonderful places.
This first self-guide Taiwan trip was not only a milestone in achieving my 2025 goal, but it was also an affirmation that the world out there is truly vast and kinder than we imagine. If you are also nurturing a dream to step out into the big ocean, don’t hesitate. Just go, because a journey of a thousand miles always begins with a courageous step!
