#jygoessolo - Magong, Penghu (Day 9, 10)

8:33 PM jiayg 4 Comments

After finding some american breakfast at a cafe, I checked-out and took a cab from the (Tainan) hostel to Tainan Airport, just 15-20 minutes away. Alternatively, you could take Bus 5 from Tainan Railway Station which takes 1.5hours.

The Penghu or Pescadores Islands (澎湖群岛) are an archipelago of 64 islands and islets in the Taiwan Strait between mainland China and Taiwan Island. The largest city is Magong (马公), located on the largest island, which is also named Penghu. (taken from Wikipedia). The other 2 bigger/main islands are Wang'an (望安) and Qimei (七美).

Penghu is famous for its great beaches, glorious temples and the traditional Chinese-style homes surrounded by coral walls. A flat, dry place covered mostly with low bush and grasslands, Penghu is significantly different from Taiwan proper geologically speaking, being formed from the solidified lava of volcanic eruptions some 17 million years ago. The stunning rock formations and towering basalt columns seen everywhere date from that time. (taken from lonelyplanet)

The best time to visit Penghu would be the summer. Though the temperature can go to about 34 degrees, it's still relatively windy. Best of all, it's the best time to do water sports! One of my host mentioned that most of the locals will travel to the mainland to avoid winter (the wind that hits your face can freeze you immediately! haha)

There are only 2 main mode of transportation to reach Penghu: by sea or air (like duh).

Do check out the Penghu National Scenic Area official website for the airlines and ferries and their schedules to Penghu.

FLIGHT VS FERRY (TO PENGHU)

My parents visited Penghu last year and took a ferry from Budai (Chiayi) to Magong. The tickets were definitely much cheaper (probably by half) than taking by air, however, the opportunity cost would be the time taken to travel over (which can be double). While by air the journey is only 30 minutes or a maximum 40 minutes from any islands to the main land (apart from Taipei, which is up north), taking ferry over can be hours! (From Budai, my parents took 3 hours to reach)

I took Uni Air (do check around the different airlines - prices are almost the same unless it's peak period/ weekends but the schedules are the deciding factor), which takes off at 12.05pm. Magong Airport is just 30 minutes away. I purchased on Uni Air's website and paid S$75 (NT1697) for a single trip to Magong, reason being travelling to Qimei after Magong via ferry.

Uni Air only flies from main land of Taiwan to Magong City, hence flights between island to island will only be by Daily Air or ferries. The only problem for travellers/tourists who can't read Chinese would be that the airline websites are only in Mandarin! But it shouldn't be a problem if you drop the airlines an email and book through email confirmation (I did that for Daily Air as I had problems booking through their website).

ACCOMMODATION

Most of the accommodation in Magong city would be hotels or Minsu/Homestays (民宿), which I would go for them if I had the budget. But of course, I wanted to make new friends too! The best hostel I found was located 10-15 minutes, north of Magong city, at the area of Shan Shui Beach.

Bayhouse Hostel (北吉光背包客民宿)
Agoda.com
Rates for 2 nights: S$51
Single bed in female dorm (up to 10 pax)

The boss of the hostel wasn't in during my stay, however they had helpers there whom are really helpful and friendly!
Free airport pick-up! Drop them an email a few days before your stay.
There are only 3 shower rooms in the main common area of the second level. Don't expect a proper toilet room for these bathing amenties. The 2 basins are also along the common area. There's a female-only bathroom on the first level but I was too lazy (though the helper told the ladies to use the bathroom downstairs and not compete with the guys for the shower rooms on the second level) hahaha
The dorm is quite small and with 10 girls in one room, double-decked bunk beds. I felt like a foreign worker in a cramped room. (Okay I made this sound really bad but it isn't). On a brighter side. being close to each other made making friends easier!
The hostel is situated away from the city which means serenity at night, but it also means a quiet 5-10 minutes walk in from the bus stop on the main road.
The beach is just 5 minutes away! Though I didn't have the opportunity to lie there and bask in the sun at all :(

Upon looking at google maps, I finally found the names of the homestays/ B&Bs around the hostel I was staying. They looks really nice (on the outside) and perhaps you guys can check it out on google maps!

GETTING AROUND PENGHU

The public bus in Penghu can bring you from one end of the island to the other, but the time taken would be too scary. In addition, the wait at the bus stop might just drive you nuts. I didn't take any buses around the island, but only the bus from the main station in Magong city to the hostel (a 20-min journey), which is scheduled every hour or so. It feels almost like back to the 60s or 70s where public transport system has just been introduced.

So it's best if you can ride a bike to tour around the island! And I swear after this trip, I'm tempted to go for a bike license! There were many students on their graduation trip and it's so fun just looking at them enjoying riding their bikes around the island. Unfortunately, the island is so big I don't think a battery-operated bike would be effective/ efficient.

I saw on the Penghu NSA website that you could rent cars and mini vans too. But NT 1200 for a day wasn't cost-friendly for me.

In order to travel out of the hostel to the city or further away (even touring the island), the hostel helper can help to call a cab to pick the guests up. Most of the cabs drive in from the Magong City, which means a 10-minute wait usually. It is also a fixed rate of NT 200 to go to the city. Not very cheap either.

DAY 9

By the time I checked-in and ready to start my day at Magong, it was already 2.30pm. I made another new friend, who was also picked up from the airport. Only got to knew that Emily was a special lady, as she couldn't hear nor speak like us. As Emily was alone, the hostel helper asked if I would like to join her for an ocean farm experience, but I wanted to tour Magong city, which Emily has already been a few years back. Somehow we worked things out (the helper was told by his boss that he has to host Emily but he couldn't and didn't want Emily to be alone), and Emily followed me or in fact, brought me around the city.

On our cab ride, we introduced ourselves on paper (Emily brings a notebook every where she goes). It was interesting, honestly. It's my first time interacting with someone who can't talk. Even the cab driver found our interaction amusing, and asked why we were busy scribbling away.

We visited a few of the historical relics and the old residential area of 2 famous Taiwanese artistes.

Four-Eyed Well (四眼井)

The nice Tea-leaf egg (茶叶蛋) that Emily introduced, right behind the four-eyed well.

Zhong Yang/ Jhongyang Old Street (中央老街)

One of the oldest streets in Penghu

Tianhou Temple (天后宫)

The lintel used crabs as part of their design!

The old post office of Magong as we walked down the street

Zhang Yu Sheng Memorial Hall (张雨生纪念馆)

Pan An Bang's life Gallery (潘安邦外婆的澎湖湾故事馆)

I felt bad that Emily had to walk the city with me again since she's been there before. (It must have bore her). Since we were done with the main scenic spots within 2 hours, I told her we should go for the ocean farm. The hostel helper couldn't help us call to reserve the tickets since it was just 30 minutes to the boat's departure. Hence we quickened our pace to South Sea Visitor Centre (南海游客中心), which was at least 15 minutes away from where we were. (Almost died)

You can buy your tickets there, which thankfully we made it a few minutes before the ferry departs. There are quite a few ferry providers there but I can't remember the one we went with. It's the first or second counter on the right of the entrance. You can look for 海上农场 (or literally ocean farm) at the counter and ask them for it. Tickets are at NT 250-300 (around S$12) (if I remember it correctly).

Just 5-10 minutes out out Magong and we arrived. The name suggested something fanciful but it was just any normal floating platform. Nonetheless, it was still a good experience. We were given 2 hours on the ocean farm, and the NT 300 included unlimited supply of fresh oysters, which were delicious! There was limited supply of seafood porridge too, which the ingredients inside were pretty pathetic.

Of course we had to eat to our fill and making the 300 bucks worthwhile! While we survived on oysters only, we saw other families and groups bringing their own food to bbq! I feel so nice sharing this with you guys if you're planning to go on the ocean farm: BYOF. BRING YOUR OWN FOOD (and drinks)! You can buy drinks there but what's better than bringing your own beer?

You can also catch your own fish/squids but they were too expensive. According to my almost-rusty brain, it's about NT 900 for a 700g catch!

A great sunset view while we slurped every oyster down our throats.

家竹黑砂糖

This is a famous desserts/ice place on Magong. The queue never ends!

Pick your choice off the menu

and pick your own toppings

NT 60 for this big bowl of Feng Ru Bing (风茹冰) - I just ordered what's famous in the store.

One of the reasons for visiting Penghu was for its Fireworks festival. This happens every year during the mid April- mid June period. (Do check out the actual period!) The fireworks show is only on every Mondays and Thursdays during that period, and will be put up at the Guan Yin temple, and over the Xiying Rainbow Bridge.

There were tons of people there! So be there early to grab a good spot!

Emily and I! She looks quite young, doesn't she? But she's past her thirties!

The fireworks ended after 15 minutes (that's pretty long for a fireworks show!) and we had to catch the last bus at 9.30pm from the bus terminal.

DAY 10

Emily was bound to return to Taiwan in the afternoon and we separated ways in the morning. While she went to snorkel near the hostel, I went over to Jibei Islet (吉贝屿), popular for its water sports and famous for its clear beaches, crystal blue waters and sand trail/ spit (only pure geography students will know this! hehehe)

Took the 9am ferry to Jibei Islet, about 20-30 minutes away from the main land/ North Sea Visitor Centre at Baisha (got here via cab). There were quite a few providers providing return ferry, a motorbike to tour the island, and 8-in-1 water sports. The hostel booked with Jin Ba Da (金八达快艇) for me. Upon reaching Jibei, you'll be directed to the bike rental. Unfortunately, without a bike license (I did ask for battery operated bike but the owner insisted he drove me there), I couldn't rent one, and I was driven to the water-activities spot. Had 2.5hours to myself before the owner of bike rental came to pick me up.

The spit is just behind me! As it's on the higher tide, Couldn't really see the long sand trail.

Truly enjoyed the perfect view of clear blue skies and clear sea. Even though I wished the beach was filled with smooth sand, (because one of the special characteristic of Jibei is that the gravel beach composed of coral coast and basalt gravel). The water activities were a little disappointment. While they were unlimited (really great), you had to queue and there were many people waiting for their turns. Another thing to note is that there a few other activities provider around so be sure to queue for the right one. Thankfully the one I went to had the best maintained boats and variety - banana boat, snorkeling...

As usual, I spent too much time exploring and missed my boat back to main island. Was supposed to meet Emily after our individual activities, but since I missed the ferry, we couldn't meet up to tour the rest of Penghu.

Do note that there's only 4 ferries back to main land - 11am, 12pm, 1pm and 2pm. If you miss the very last one, you've got to stay on the island for the night!

I wished I had more time on Jibei to tour around, which I heard and saw the pictures from my new friend (I met at the hostel), Wubby, that it was really beautiful and breathtaking.

After getting off at the North Sea Visitor Centre, I was stranded. There wasn't any cabs in sight, and I even prepared for the worst - hitch-riding a tour group's coach or walking back to the city (really really far away). Most of the locals there rode on bikes and they were with another passenger behind, so I couldn't hitch a ride from bikes. I didn't know where the nearest bus stop was. I panicked for a little while, but randomly walk my way to a little near by and that's when I saw a cab! I was praying that the passenger didn't book the cab for the whole day.

Thankfully, she alighted and yes! I got a taxi!

My plan was to tour the rest of Penghu main land, further up north - Baisha (白沙) and Xiyu (西屿). I asked to rent the driver's service for half a day but she decided that going by meter would be better. (She didn't tell me how much it was to have a half-day tour with her). I think it was because she had to be back in the city at a certain time, as we didn't cover the furthest point of Xiyu (the Yuwengdao Lighthouse), I also missed the Zhongtun Windmill Power Park.

Tongliang Great Banyan (通梁古榕)

This tree is believed to be at least 300 years old. What makes it special is the extensive growth that has sprouted huge branches and veins over a great area!

There is a temple behind where I was standing to take the picture. The locals believed its the deities/gods of the temple blessing the place, hence the tree could grow at such extent. As I was listening to a tour guide, he mentioned that it's actually the placing of the temple which provided a good environment for the tree to grow (blocking strong winds which might destroy the tree).

The root of the Banyan tree!

Just opposite the Banyan tree, this little push cart sells really tasty squid balls (3 for NT 30). What makes it nice is that you could actually bite onto real squid in the balls! (so different from the sotong [squid] balls we have in Singapore!) It was so awesome I ate 9! (I choose to believe I needed to replenish my energy spent on the water activities, plus it was lunch time!).

Penghu is also known for its cactus products. Here's a cactus ice cream which tasted sweet and sour at the same time!

Penghu Great Bridge (跨海大桥)

Hello, tourist.

Xiaomen Geology Gallery & Whale Cave (小门地质馆 & 鲸鱼洞)

This is where visitors learn about the geological strata of Penghu Archipelago and the features of the rocks. The current Penghu has 6 stratum! And I'm kind of missing geography lessons.

The whale cave - I'm so reminded of geography lessons on the formation of stump, stack, archs and caves.

Erkan Ancient Residences (二崁传统聚落)

The one and only historical house in Penghu, currently listed as National Grade Three Historic Site.

Pumpkin Kuehs at the entrance. I thought the fillings would be pumpkin but it was only the skin. The fillings were made of bamboo shoots.

The coral walls of the old residential area.

Daguoye Columnar Basalt (大菓叶柱状节理玄武石)

Magnificent looking!

Xiyu West Fort (西屿西台)

Admission ticket: NT 15 (concession)

"The Siyu Western Fort is an indented structure, surrounded by walls on all four sides, stones are piled into an altar inside the walls, a fort is established on the altar, and tunnel camp beneath the altar. This fort is now the most well-preserved large old fort of tremendous historical value in Taiwan."

These few places took me about 3 hours, including travelling time. As the cab driver had to rush back to the city, our tour stopped before we could go to the lighthouse. So do visit it if you guys have the time!

In my opinion, it'll definitely be even enjoyable if you could rent a bike or car with your friend. It'll be nice to do a road trip! Generally the roads are safe and there aren't many vehicles touring around. Penghu main island/Magong itself is really huge. In fact, I wanted to visit the east of Magong (Huxi), and the west (?)/ the other end of the island at Fenggui. Penghu is a really beautiful landscape made up of the most natural geological features and formations.

To fully enjoy the whole of Penghu, I think 3 days would be better and less rush! Plus, you can even take your time and chill at the beaches (which I didn't get to go when there's one just behind my hostel).

I'll be updating about Qimei in the next post, the other island of the Penghu archipelago!