Times listed are the timetables at the time of visit.
Day 1
Tokyo Haneda 0840 (Japan Airline JAL97) >> Taipei Songshan 1140
Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) Taipei 1331 (THSR 133) >> THSR Zuoying 1505
Xinzuoying 1556 (Tze-Chiang 317) >> Fangliao 1700
Overnight stay: Aiqin Coast Inn (愛琴海岸精品民宿)
Dinner: Beef noodle soup
Tips for Day 1
– Immigration office at Songshan Airport was not crowded probably because it was on New Year’s Day. I expected to take a cab to Taipei Station for tight connection, but I was able to take the subway with enough time.
Day 2
Fangliao 0836 (express train) >> Chaozhou 0908
Chaozhou 0927 (Tze-Chiang 118) >> Changhua 1227
– Changhua Railway Roundhouse
Changhua (bus) >> Lugang
– Lukang Tianhou Temple
– Lukang Old Town
– Lukang Lungshan Temple
Lukang (bus) >> Changhua
Changhua 1848 (local train) >> Xinwuri 1857
THSR Taichung 1920 (THSR 153) >> THSR Zuoying 2005
Xinzuoying 2037 (express train) >> Fangliao 2156
Tips for Day 2
– I forgot about it until I got back home, but I had visited Lukang on my first visit to Taiwan. There were many sights to see in Lukang, but I would prefer to visit Tainan.
Day 3
Fangliao 0852 (Tze-Chiang 304) >> Kaohsiung 0946
– Kaohsiung Fruit and Vegetable Market
Lunch: Last ten miles of long journey tea house (半九十茶屋)
– Qiaotou Sugar Refinery
– Kaohsiung Lighthouse
Kaohsiung 2013 (Tze-Chiang 385) >> Fangliao 2107
Tips for Day 3
– I needed to take a ferry to visit Kaohsiung Lighthouse and then climb up the hill. It was an enjoyable excursion out of city center.
Day 4
Breezy Blue
Fangliao 1025 (approx) >> Taitung >> Fangliao 1740 (approx)
Dinner: Kasuga Kitchen
Tips for Day 4
– The Breezy Blue has a coach assignment but seats are not assigned. It is better to have a seat on the seaside by following a queue at the ticket gate.
– I had a dinner in Kasuga Village, an aboriginal village. When I asked to call a cab on the way back to the hotel, I was asked if I stayed in Fangliao. I showed my room card key to the restaurant owner, eventually owner of the hotel picked me up by himself. This was a wonderful thing that could only be happened in the countryside.
Day 5
Fangliao 0705 (Puyuma 162) >> Kaohsiung 0756
Kaohsiung (MRT) >> THSR Zuoying
THSR Zuoying 0900 (THSR 618) >> THSR Taoyuan 1036
THSR Taoyuan (MRT) >> Taoyuan Airport T2
Taipei Taoyuan 1325 (Japan Airlines JAL8664) > Narita 1730
Tips for Day 5
– The highest-speed express of Taiwan Railway, Puyuma, does not stop at Xinzhaoying (= THSR Zuoying). I still do not understand why.
– The rules for Tze-Chiang Limited Express are not quite clear to me. It seems that there are two types of Tze-Chiang. Old trains, which allows passengers to board without a reserved ticket. Newly build trains have fines to passengers boarded without reservations. After I arrived at Kaohsiung Station at 7:56 a.m., there was 8:06 a.m. Tze-Chiang that stopped at Xinzuoying. However, I was too lazy to buy another ticket after asking the rules to a station stuff, I just took the subway to THSR Zuoying.