Hello adventurers!
Greetings from Fargo, North Dakota.
You may wonder, why would anyone want to go to Fargo?
Valid question. I'm here all week for travel conference where I'll get to discover all that the area has to offer, so I'll have a better answer to that next month.
I started the month back home in the Twin Cities to go to the Minnesota State Fair. You can see more of my fun filled day of fried food, animals and creative arts in the link below.
Where in the world is Carli San Diego?
I left straight from Minnesota and flew to Taiwan (via Seattle). I was here for 8 full days starting in Taipei, then moving south to Sun Moon Lake and Kaohsiung.
Prior to a couple of years ago, I didn't really have Taiwan on my radar. But just last year, Delta added a new non-stop route from Seattle to Taipei, which helped pique my interest.
Eight days really didn't feel like enough time, especially when visiting three different areas of the island. I think ten would have been better for a first time visit with travel beyond Taipei.
Taipei
Taipei is the capital of Taiwan and it's largest city. Having visited Bangkok for the first time last year, and spending another day in Seoul, I was pleasantly surprised by how much quieter Taipei is in comparison.
Things to do in Taipei
- Beitou Hot Springs: If you've been here awhile you may know from previous trips that I LOVE a hot springs or thermal spa. Having been to baths, pools and spas in the US, Canada, Iceland, and Hungary I can say, these are not to be missed. Beitou is a district north of the city center that is the hub of hot springs for the entire island. There are dozens of public and private pools available. I purchased a daypass to the Spring City Resort hot springs for only $15
- Beauty treatments: You can get beauty treatments here for far less than in the US. I went to Sparadise for an amazing Hydrafacial, which includes a 20+ minute head and neck massage. I also tried INDIBA (a treatment to help firm and tighten skin) at Soothing Spa.
- Massage: There are massage spas all over Taipei, many are open late (not in a sketchy way), and some even 24 hours. You can get massage here for practically nothing. A 40 minute foot massage at many places around the city is as low as 500NT, or just under $16.
- Wellness checks: You can get an intensive full body health check up with English speaking clinics starting at $300 though New Dawn Health. The basic option includes: chest x-rays, full blood panel, body scans, EKGs and an ultrasound on your major organs. There are more intensive all day options as well. Basically, you get a ton of health care work without having to deal with co-pays, deductibles, referrals, and fighting your insurance company.
- Temples: There are many beautiful temples throughout Taipei but I recommend Songshan Fengtian Temple. This is now accessible via the brand new (as of Aug 30) station on the Red metro line.
- Night markets: These are the best way to try out local foods and for a fraction of the price of what you'd pay in the US. Just about every district has some sort of night market, but some are much better than others. I had dinner night 4 at the Ningxia Night Market where I got 3 food items and a drink, all for $7.
Old villages outside Taipei
- If you have some extra time, block off a day to visit some of the old villages east of Taipei. There are a lot of tours that include Jiufen and Shifen, but if you want to also visit Houtong, you may need to do it on your own.
Villages to visit
- Shuifen is a village where you stand right next to the train as it runs through the old street. After you see the old street, walk to their beautiful waterfall and river gorge.
- Houtong is a cat lover's paradise. They have more cats than people and celebrate them with the cat village that includes shops and cafes.
- Juifen is the most famous of the three nearby villages, and is built up along the side of the mountain overlooking the sea. It's famous for it's lantern lined old street.
Sun Moon Lake
Sun Moon Lake is nestled in the mountains in central Taiwan. To get here you need to take the high speed rail to Taichung, then take a bus into the village.
This lake has two main villages, Shuishe on the north and Ita Tao on the south. I stayed in Shuishe which was good for the bus, and biking, but bad for evening. It was pretty quiet with fewer food options than Ita Tao. Next time, I'd stay in Ita Tao.
What to do in Sun Moon Lake
- Bike around the lake: there is a long bike/walking path that runs around the lake. The most popular area is the north side. From Shuishe you can head west towards the Xiangshan Visitor Center or east towards Wenwu Temple.
- SUP/Kayak: Swimming is not allowed in this lake (except one day a year) but you can rent/use standup paddleboards. That is expecting a lot that people don't fall in, but I dont make the rules. You can also kayak.
- Cruise the lake: There are boats that connect both sides of the lake. A ticket gets you across the lake and back on one ticket. These boats stop running at 530pm so plan accordingly.
- Temples: There are two popular temples to visit. Xuan Zang Temple is one of the stops on the boat route, but you do have to climb the hill from the dock. Instead, take the bus here, then you can climb down the hill and catch the boat to Ita Tao (or Shuishe). Wenwu Temple is the other popular (and more accessible) temple. It's a beautiul temple with incredible views overlooking the lake. You can also take the steps across the street down towards the lake. There are 366 stairs for each day of the year (including leap year) so you can get a photo with your birthday stairs. You can get to this temple by bus.
Kaohsiung
Kaoshiung is the second largest city in Taiwan, and also the cultural hub. This city is made for art lovers. They have public art just about everywhere here. It is also on the southern end of the island along the coast. Sadly the beaches aren't great, but you do get some different vegetation here and can enjoy some areas of rocky coastline.
Where to go for art
- Cijin Island: This was quite possibly my favorite day of the trip. Cijin Island is a 5 minute ferry ride from the harbor. The island is filled with large scale art installations, most of which are along the water. The best way to view these is by renting the electric bike carts for 2 hours, which is 500NT or $16. My favorite installations were: Cijin Tunnel, Rainbow Church, and the giant shell. You can also climb up the hill to the light house for views of the brightly colored island.
- Green Line: This is the light rail that runs in a circle around the city center. Near Wenwu temple there's a roughly 10 block stretch where nearly every building along the train path is covered in large scale murals. This also cuts through Hamasen Railway Cultural Park and Pier 2. Both of which have public art.
- Pier 2: In a city filled with art, Pier 2 is the epicenter of public art in Kaohsiung. This area has sculptures at every block, as well as murals and other installations. This is a fun area to walk through.
- Love River: Stroll along the river at dusk to see the various bridges lit up with different colored lights. There are also different sculptures, and a massive dragon sculpture that lights up at night.
- Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts: This is the large, local art museum. But, it also sits at the corner of a huge park. Near the museum there are dozens of sculptures spread throughout the south lawns.
- Central Park: This is a smaller park than the one by the art museum, but they have a ton of public art here, especially along Wufu Road.
Other things to see & do
- Lotus Pond: Located in the Zuoying District, this pond has 3 temples. The Dragon & Tiger Pagoda is the most famous in the city because of its large brightly painted dragon & tiger sculptures that you walk through to enter and exit. The Spring and Autumn Pavilions are also worth visiting. Walk along the path over the pond and climb the stairs to get the best view of the temple.
- Sunfong Temple: This temple has a sea of lanterns hung across the courtyard that are best viewed at night. Be sure to climb up the stairs to get the views from above.
- Night Markets: Every large city, and district has a night market of some sort. Kaohsiung has multiples, but for food I liked Liouhe Night Market. It is right off the Formosa Boulevard metro stop. They have a ton of options for food. There are tables and chairs to sit and eat or take a break. And, unlike Lingya/Ziqiang Night Market, they do not have scooters buzzing through.
- Massage: One can really never get too many massages, especially for these prices. I recommend Muyu Spa. They have two central locations and are open late. They also have incredible prices. You can get a 2 hour massage for 1800NT, or around $56. Yes please.
Travel Lessons Learned
Unfortunately we live in a world where dynamic pricing exists. This is just a nice term for price gouging. Since there aren't really any legal guardrails in place, this means anything from flights and hotels to trains vary in price, based on when you book.
Three years ago my friends and I got tickets for the final weekend of the Eras Tour. The tickets went on sale in October of 2023, and the concert wasn't until Dec 2024. After getting the extremely coveted tickets, we went to book our hotel only to find out all of downtown Vancouver (and surrounding areas) was basically sold out for hotels and vacation rentals. We had time to wait, but we booked something to be safe and let's just say it was bonkers expensive. 5 figures for 2 nights expensive.
Fast forward 13 months and there was finally more inventory available, and while it was also cheaper, it was still expensive. We rebooked our hotel for half the cost it was originally.
Lesson:
Always book refundable hotels and rental cars with free cancellation. This gives you the flexibility to keep looking and hopefully book something cheaper closer to the date of travel.
If you know you are going somewhere during a big event, whether thats a concert, sports event, conference, etc., book your hotels ASAP to 1) make sure you have one and 2) to get the best rate possible. Then check back periodically to see if the prices go down at all.
Same with flights. Depending on the airline, if you find your flight is cheaper, rebook and get credit back for a future flight.
Save money on travel
The best way to save on travel is to not pay for flights or hotel. Seems obvious, but you do need to have a strategy to earn points and or miles. That's a bit of a deeper discussion. Once you have points earned, if you see a good deal, use them! They'll only devalue over time so unless you have something specific in the future, use when you can.
Booking award flights can save a ton of money, especially if you book them during flight sales. I'm a Delta girlie, and have been burning through my miles ever since they changed their status requirements, and you can now count award flights towards your status.
This year alone I took two international round trip flights for under 80K miles total. I flew to Europe in January for (initially) 34K miles. (This did go up because I had to extend my trip). This past month, my trip to Taiwan, including the flight from Minneapolis to Seattle, was only 37K miles. Considering a normal flight is starting at over $700 (70K miles) that's an insane deal.
If you have a lot of miles with one airline, make sure to pay attention to their emails with award flight deals. For Delta, they usually only last for 72 hours. You can also subscribe to newsletters that send out flight deals for cash and miles, like Thrifty Traveler and Daily Drop.
At least with Delta, you can cancel award flights right up to your flight and get all your miles and taxes back. So if you see a good deal, book it and then decide if you actually can go later.
Need help with planning a trip?
Starting to think about summer travel, or a future milestone trip? Reach out for assistance with planning and booking your future travels.
I can book everything from hotels and cruises to private airport transportation and day tours and in between.
Blog Posts
Catch up on some of my blog posts below:
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How to spend a layover in Washington DC
Have a long layover in Washington DC? Don’t waste your time hanging out at the airport, head into the city instead.
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Southside Historic District: Explore Chattanooga’s Liveliest Neighborhood
The best area to spend your time in Chattanooga is not downtown. Instead, visit the Southside Historic District where local shops, bars and restaurants are all in walking distance.
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The Best Things to do In Rehoboth Beach, DE
There are plenty of things to do in Rehoboth Beach Delaware, from visiting the soft sandy beaches, to the incredible food scene. You will have plenty to fill your time, whether it’s for a day or a week.
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Travel Must Haves
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Waterproof sneakers
Having lived away from the midwest for 20 years I forgot what it's like when it pours, and basically flash floods.
Night 1 in Fargo I was out walking around, it was lightly raining. NBD. I go into a shop, next thing I know the sidewalk and streets are almost flooded.
Of course, its the one trip I didn't bring my waterproof sneakers. My feet were soaked and shoes wet for 2 days 😑 Never again.
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Thanks for following along!
Carli
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