#jygoessolo - Qimei, Penghu (Day 11, 12) + Day 13
DAY 11
The morning started pretty early as I packed up and excited to hop onto Qimei. I wanted to hop on the bus to the city, which comes either really early at 6 plus or 8. I guess I was enjoying the view at the beach (which I've not stepped foot on during my 2 night stay), that I missed the bus! I only realised it when I was waiting at the bus-pole (yes, it's just a pole! hahaha can't and don't expect a proper sheltered bus stop), and one lady was telling me that the bus has changed its route because a movie production crew/team were setting up! That was when I realised they were preparing for a scene for Richie Ren's movie, all scenes set in Penghu. In fact prior to the trip, I was hoping to meet the stars (starring Shu Qi too). Unfortunately, no luck! But it was nice enough to witness the crew setting the scene! There's so much work and effort involved in preparing for just one scene - the number of crew involved, the equipments, ensuring roads are clear, etc. Respect for the crew behind every movie!
The morning started pretty early as I packed up and excited to hop onto Qimei. I wanted to hop on the bus to the city, which comes either really early at 6 plus or 8. I guess I was enjoying the view at the beach (which I've not stepped foot on during my 2 night stay), that I missed the bus! I only realised it when I was waiting at the bus-pole (yes, it's just a pole! hahaha can't and don't expect a proper sheltered bus stop), and one lady was telling me that the bus has changed its route because a movie production crew/team were setting up! That was when I realised they were preparing for a scene for Richie Ren's movie, all scenes set in Penghu. In fact prior to the trip, I was hoping to meet the stars (starring Shu Qi too). Unfortunately, no luck! But it was nice enough to witness the crew setting the scene! There's so much work and effort involved in preparing for just one scene - the number of crew involved, the equipments, ensuring roads are clear, etc. Respect for the crew behind every movie!
Selfie with the morning sky.
The crew setting up the scene!
I thought I could still have some luck waiting at the diverted road for the bus, until I double confirmed with an Indonesian helper and she told me the bus has indeed left. I was briefly chatting with her and it was interesting to know that she has worked in Singapore before! What amazed me was her fluent Mandarin. What surprised me was also her willingness to work in Penghu (or even Taiwan) where the minimum wage is pretty low as compared to Singapore. But I guess the pros of working there is having a more relax pace as compared to our bustling little red dot!
The production crew was really nice as they offered to send me to the city even though the cab I called was on its way (and I only got to know there's a "cab station" just behind the bus stop I was waiting after calling for one -.-)! So anyway, yup, I accepted the nice gesture and had a nice chat with the lighting assistant on the way. He mentioned that he has only went home two days in the past year and he really missed home. It might sound fun and exciting working in the movie industry and with big shots, but to him, it's tiring. Thankfully he always have a great team with him, and I agree - it's always a bunch of awesome team mates who give you the strength, motivation and support.
It was a free ride to the harbour until the cab driver called me and was furious that I left and was complaining about how I wasted his trip and who's going to pay for his petrol. I felt kind of bad too so I got him to meet me and the harbour and paid him for the cab fare. Oh well.
I've digressed quite a bit about my dramatic morning. So, onto the main contents!
FERRY TO QIMEI (FROM MAGONG)
Which ferry to take: If I'm not mistaken, the counters there only sell tickets to Qimei or Wangan (in between Magong and Qimei). There's only 2 ferry operators: Nan Hai Zhi Xing (南海之星) or Heng An Tai Hao (恒安台号). According to the timetable, only one ferry operator will be in service each day.
What are the timings: Unfortunately, there's only one scheduled ferry to Qimei (leaves at 9.10am) and from Qimei every day. The ferry will make a half an hour stop at Wang'an.
How early to purchase tickets: I bought my tickets on the morning itself. Counter opens at 8am for the Penghu locals and at 8.20am for the rest of the Taiwanese or foreigners. It wasn't really a peak season but there were quite a lot of passengers around (as what I noticed while waiting). In addition I was travelling alone so I guess getting a single seat isn't a big problem. I would recommend getting the tickets at least a day before or 2 days in advance if it's peak period. You'll need your identification (passport) to buy the tickets so I don't think you could get your hotel/hostel owner to get them.
How much are the tickets: I guess it's a standard price at NT 440. Not sure/can't remember why I didn't flash my student card to enjoy concession price but you could try!
So on my way to Wang'an, a nice lady (in her thirties) started talking to me and asking if I was a backpacker. We started sharing with each other on places we've been and would like to visit. She was a really friendly person - showed me all her travel photos and told me she has been to almost all the beautiful places in Taiwan. One of the reason why she enjoy travelling is to kill time as her husband is always out of town for business trips. Love making acquaintances just like that! Slept through all the way after she alighted at Wang'an.
ACCOMMODATION
Qimei is slightly behind Magong in terms of development, hence there isn't a lot of choices or rather really classy looking accommodations. I saw and heard of one hotel/hostel that has very Greek feel. Probably you could find that through google. For myself, I stayed at where my parents did the last time they were there. It is a cosy little place with just 2 rooms (the owners, a couple, stays on the second level of the house).
bear226869@yahoo.com.tw (the website seems to be down. Email the owner for details!)
Rates for 2 nights: S$155 (NT3800) - includes breakfast
1 Queen bed
- The owner, Daxiong (大雄), was from Taitung and fell in love with Qimei after a 2-hour island hopping trip 6 years ago. He knew that the original owner of the house/minsu wanted to give up the business, so he took it over (rented the place), renovated and ran the small business himself. If you google about this Minsu, you can see pictures of what the place used to be! (looks really sad and old.)
- It might be my most expensive stay but I really had a good time with the friendly hosts. Daxiong and his partner, Xiaoling (小羚) are really wonderful people with really good service.
- Since Qimei gets really quiet at night and there aren't much or any "restaurants" that serve dinner, Daxiong and Xiaoling have special dinner menus for their guests, which is super worth paying for - be it the variety or the portion! Both of them can cook well too!
- Most importantly, the stay there makes me feel at home. It's comfortable, well maintained, and clean!
- If I'm not mistaken, there's only 2 rooms (the other room can cater 4 guests in their house! So if you're keen, quickly drop Daxiong an email!
Beautiful drawing by Xiaoling and Daxiong
GETTING AROUND QIMEI
The best way to get around Qimei is by bike or bicycle. There are no cabs or buses on this island. I guess the hosts can bring you around if you can't ride a bike, which Daxiong and Xiaoling did. I did try to cycle on my second day but it was really tiring because the roads were made of steep slopes, ascending and descending. Couldn't make it far out before feeling tired!
//
It was raining when the ferry reached Qimei. Thankfully, Daxiong picked me up from the pier. After checking in and settling down, Daxiong brought me out for lunch - Pork Ribs Noodles! Apparently there are 2 similar noodles stalls, and he brought me to the one he felt was nicer - Chao Zhou Rou Gu Mian (潮州肉骨面). Even though the name suggests Teochew Pork Rib Noodles, the lady owner's actually a Vietnamese but because the other noodle stall was named "Vietnam Pork Rib Noodles, she decided to name her stall after her dad's birth place.
After lunch was snorkeling! Definitely much nicer than what I saw at Jibei - nicer corals and more fishes! It was really an awesome feeling relaxing my whole body whilst looking under the sea. Such a calm moment (even though I'm bobbing away). There were so many different kinds of corals - soft ones (which felt like sponge and jelly), hard ones, live and dead ones, corals that glowed liked light sticks and even those that turned neon when you draw on them! I really love them. Amazing.
There were sea cucumbers, mimosa which lives under the sea, sea urchins, starfishes (which are hard!), and grapes-alike plant which fishes feed on! I even tasted them - expecting something tasty? It's plain salty hahaha. Not forgetting feeding the fishes and feeling their bites on my fingers. And while we were preparing to swim back to shore, there were lots of jelly fishes around. I don't know how to put this whole experience (though it was a short 1 hour probably?) into words, but I felt I could stay in the sea forever. I felt I was one of them - the living things under the sea. (mermaid! bwahaha)
Thought it was a starfish but nope, it's a rock-like living thing, which is nicknamed "Bun stone" because it looks like a bun/bread!
With the neon corals on the bottom left and jelly fishes in front of me! And a photobomber.
After getting up onto the shore, Daxiong brought his kayak over! It was a pleasant surprise because I merely asked him a question on why I don't ever see Taiwanese kayaking around (be it at Magong or at Kenting), and he brought his kayak down to the sea! Had a good time kayaking along the island coast lines with Xiaoling, and seeing the basalt columns right beside me. We wanted to explore a cave but the waves were getting stronger. Would have been a good experience kayaking into the cave!
Returned back to the house and washed up before I had a simple but filling dinner with the hosts. We had a good time sharing our own stories. Ended the night early because travel is not just about rushing through the itinerary. I really appreciate such relaxing nights.
The sun was too shy to say goodbye! Disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds.
Simple dinner. The dumplings were awesome!
DAY 12
Started the day off with breakfast prepared by the owners and it was really a filling one. Since I couldn't ride a bike and Xiaoling wasn't keen on putting my safety at risk, Daxiong drove me around the island and introducing the different natural attractions of Qimei. It felt great being the passenger of the bike as the wind hits my face. How nice if it was my prince charming biking me around instead. Hahaha (hallucinating again~)
The clouds that were coming from the right!
And this marks the last night in Qimei/ Penghu.
The fresh catch of the day was squid! So I had Squid vermicelli for breakfast!
Tourist shot: the chinese words read "Fall in love with Qimei" (爱上七美)
Look at those waves! That's 望夫石/ Doesn't the rock resemble a pregnant lady lying on her back. A story behind it: it's said that a fisherman went out to sea and didn't come back. The lady was devastated and waited for her husband until she passed away.
The great stone lion looking out to the sea.
The sea-eroded platform that looks like a dragon. But the main basalt looks like an eagle...
Little Taiwan! The platform that looks like a map of Taiwan. Amazing nature.
The legendary Twin Hearts
This was taken outside a artist's house. All these were drawn by him! These little cute balls are actually buoys.
I have strong (suction) fingers.
After the little tour, Xiaoling and Daxiong brought me to a little shop near the harbour for desserts. And this is interesting because you pick whatever toppings you like from the fridge and they charge you accordingly to the number of stuff you get (not by weight or anything!). I briefly mentioned to Xiaoling that my lunar birthday falls after Dragon Boat Festival and I haven't had the chance to have any Dumplings - immediately she brought me to the nicest dumpling stall there. Really tasty!
It was drizzling on and off in the afternoon so I rested in my room. HOW CHILL! I explored out on my own on bicycle in the late afternoon and gave up one-quarter into the journey (I wanted to cycle to the Twin hearts which was so impossible because of all the ascending and descending slopes!)
At least I managed to get a selfie with the shy goats!!!
The awesome sunset (finally!)
Before thick layer of clouds came again and I felt I was in some disaster/apocalypse film.
The clouds that were coming from the right!
The ride back was tiring because I lost my way. Thankfully I made it back with my Google maps (it didn't die on me though it had only less than 10% left) and before the rain started its dance.
DINNER FOR ME, MYSELF, AND I. No, I'm not a monster. And yes, I paid only S$12-15 for this! Most importantly, the fish, squid and eel were so fresh! The benefits of staying on an island - you get the freshest catch.
After dinner, Xiaoling drove me out to see the flower of a dragonfruit! It's really interesting because we don't get to see them in Singapore. And what's interesting is that the flower only opens at night, and by the next morning, the flower would have wilted, which means the fruit is about to start growing!
TADAH!
And this marks the last night in Qimei/ Penghu.
//
Xiaoling shared with me that Daxiong's dream was to have a homestay/Min su of his own. It isn't for big bucks, but he wanted the guests to fully enjoy the environment of Qimei and being able to truly relax while on this beautiful island. Daxiong isn't a local of Penghu, in fact, he left whatever he was doing in Taiwan, to fulfill this dream. Even though the house in Qimei doesn't belong to him (it's rented), he hopes to one day, own his very own. He is also very amazing because he has cycled the whole of Qimei and even kayaked around the island (even though the locals thought he was crazy - due to the different tides and currents around the different parts of Qimei). But, to quote what youngsters love to say, #YOLO, isn't life just about trying and challenging yourself?
As for Xiaoling, she has, too, solo travelled in Europe. How brave and how awesome of her?
I'm really in love with life on an island. Qimei isn't that commercialised yet and I think that's the beauty of her. There might be a handful of tourists at some hours (they were on island hopping day tours), but it's the slow-pace, quaintness, beautiful skies and sounds of crashing waves which makes life and days a lot better. Even your thoughts are happier too!
DAY 13
Decided to add my Day 13 here because part of it was spent on Wang'an, the other bigger island of Penghu Archipelago, and the rest were spent travelling. As I heard of the many landscapes on small islands around Penghu, I was hoping to do island hopping or at least a ferry tour around these islands. If you didn't know, there's a cave named as 蓝洞 (Blue Cave) on 西吉屿 (Xiji island). Unfortunately, these could only be done if you're with a group of people and able to charter a boat around, which can be quite expensive.
Daxiong recommended that I could go on a short tour on Wang'an which he could arrange for me. Thankfully I haven't paid for the air tickets from Qimei to Kaohsiung (which I did an email booking because I somehow couldn't book online) and thankfully the DailyAir service personnel attending to my email request was responsive and friendly. I cancelled my flight tickets, managed to purchase a ticket from Magong - Kaohsiung (NT 1800!!! #heartpain) and then got on a boat to Wang'an, paying about NT 500 for it. (Speaking about last minute changes to itinerary!) Upon reaching, the ferry assistant was helpful (probably Daxiong told him to help me around!) and brought me to the local tour person. Paid NT 150 and got arranged to randomly join a huge group of Taiwanese on their coach.
They were on a company retreat with their family members and they were super friendly, welcoming me on their coach! (Although I was a little irritated that Taiwanese had the misconception of Singaporeans not having tried chewing gum before because it's illegal to sell/eat here -.-)
The tour is about 1.5hours and I think the short tour is good if you've limited time but don't want to miss out Wang'an, although I still felt that it will be good if you can stay there for a night or two to enjoy the nice view. (am I being contradicting here?)
We started with a short 20 -30 minutes at the little museum (?) of Wnag'an, getting to know more about this little island's habitat. During the right season, turtles will be laying eggs on the beaches!
Embarking on the second part of my travel on the East coast of Taiwan in the next post!
Xiaoling shared with me that Daxiong's dream was to have a homestay/Min su of his own. It isn't for big bucks, but he wanted the guests to fully enjoy the environment of Qimei and being able to truly relax while on this beautiful island. Daxiong isn't a local of Penghu, in fact, he left whatever he was doing in Taiwan, to fulfill this dream. Even though the house in Qimei doesn't belong to him (it's rented), he hopes to one day, own his very own. He is also very amazing because he has cycled the whole of Qimei and even kayaked around the island (even though the locals thought he was crazy - due to the different tides and currents around the different parts of Qimei). But, to quote what youngsters love to say, #YOLO, isn't life just about trying and challenging yourself?
As for Xiaoling, she has, too, solo travelled in Europe. How brave and how awesome of her?
I'm really in love with life on an island. Qimei isn't that commercialised yet and I think that's the beauty of her. There might be a handful of tourists at some hours (they were on island hopping day tours), but it's the slow-pace, quaintness, beautiful skies and sounds of crashing waves which makes life and days a lot better. Even your thoughts are happier too!
DAY 13
Decided to add my Day 13 here because part of it was spent on Wang'an, the other bigger island of Penghu Archipelago, and the rest were spent travelling. As I heard of the many landscapes on small islands around Penghu, I was hoping to do island hopping or at least a ferry tour around these islands. If you didn't know, there's a cave named as 蓝洞 (Blue Cave) on 西吉屿 (Xiji island). Unfortunately, these could only be done if you're with a group of people and able to charter a boat around, which can be quite expensive.
Daxiong recommended that I could go on a short tour on Wang'an which he could arrange for me. Thankfully I haven't paid for the air tickets from Qimei to Kaohsiung (which I did an email booking because I somehow couldn't book online) and thankfully the DailyAir service personnel attending to my email request was responsive and friendly. I cancelled my flight tickets, managed to purchase a ticket from Magong - Kaohsiung (NT 1800!!! #heartpain) and then got on a boat to Wang'an, paying about NT 500 for it. (Speaking about last minute changes to itinerary!) Upon reaching, the ferry assistant was helpful (probably Daxiong told him to help me around!) and brought me to the local tour person. Paid NT 150 and got arranged to randomly join a huge group of Taiwanese on their coach.
They were on a company retreat with their family members and they were super friendly, welcoming me on their coach! (Although I was a little irritated that Taiwanese had the misconception of Singaporeans not having tried chewing gum before because it's illegal to sell/eat here -.-)
The tour is about 1.5hours and I think the short tour is good if you've limited time but don't want to miss out Wang'an, although I still felt that it will be good if you can stay there for a night or two to enjoy the nice view. (am I being contradicting here?)
We started with a short 20 -30 minutes at the little museum (?) of Wnag'an, getting to know more about this little island's habitat. During the right season, turtles will be laying eggs on the beaches!
Once again, the Penghu-ians using corals as their bricks!
Headed back to Magong and I was so touched by the kind acts by random strangers. A nice guy randomly stopped by and gave me a lift from the harbour to the bus terminal (I wanted to get a bus to the airport). #faithinhumanityrestored #ormaybetaiwanesearejusttoohelpful
So apparently on my trip thus far, there has been quite a few locals and Iris recommending me to visit Green Island, off Taitung. I was contemplating because my itinerary surely didn't allow me to have spare days to visit there. But I'm glad for my random impulsiveness at times. I decided to look online for day trips to Green Island and thankfully I found an agency who could help me with the arrangement - from pick up at my accommodation, ferry to Green Island, a scooter and a snorkeling session. I shall give more information in the next post!
Well so after making a call to the agency (the lady was shocked that I was at Penghu and wanted to go to Green Island the next day because it's travelling from West to East!), I boarded the flight to Kaohsiung. The lady seated beside me on the flight was surprised and green with envy about my solo trip - she was married and has a kid and was saying if she didn't have a kid she will want to travel alone. I could sense the regret in her voice. This made me realise that we should always do whatever we have been thinking about. You'll only regret for the things you didn't do.
Her husband was also very nice to send me to the train station (#taiwanesearereallytoonice), and I had a good chat with them on the way as well. It was a long 3hour train ride from Kaohsiung to Taitung, though I slept through most of it.
Embarking on the second part of my travel on the East coast of Taiwan in the next post!
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