Distances can be deceiving. From looking at a map, one would think that it would take only X amount of hours to travel a Y amount of distance. One thing I learned from our vacation to the east coast of Taiwan is to ask other people how long it takes to get from point A to point B. Before we embarked on that trip to Hualien, I asked my nephew and he told me it would take us 5 hours. I was a bit skeptical as the distance did not seem that far. Boy, was I wrong. Here’s a summary of the driving time and distance from Taipei to Hualien. I also include the time and distance for Taipei to Hsinchu for comparison.
Taipei to Hualien
Distance: approximately 200 kms.
Driving time: 5 hours minimum
Taipei to Hsinchu
Distance: approximately 90 km.
Driving time: 1 hour maximum (no traffic)
It actually took us 6 hours to get to Hualien with frequent stops because of a carsick child. The way back from Hualien to Taipei took 7 hours despite only one toilet stop. The traffic on the mountains increased the traveling time.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Our Chinese New Year's Vacation
It has now been a week after the recent week-long Chinese New Year holidays. By now we’ve hopefully recovered from our slightly stressful vacation. In hindsight, the vacation was interesting but we’ll probably not repeat it again unless we have a much longer vacation time.
We spent 3 days in Hualien’s Ocean Park Resort. These 3 days were more like 2 days driving with one day of rest. Before we embarked on the drive to Hualien, we spent the night at L’s sister’s apartment. We left Taipei at around 8:40 am and drove towards Ilan using the new Pei-I (#5) highway. Part of the highway was open and it shortened the travel time a bit before we had to hit the mountain roads. It took us about 2 hours to get to Su Ao in Ilan. Upon reaching Su Ao, I was thinking that we would reach our destination in Hualien in about the same time of 2 hours. Eventually it took us another 4 hours before we got to Hualien. By the time we checked into our hotel room, all I wanted to do was stay in the room till about dinnertime. I’m glad I brought along my laptop and spend the time reading emails and internet surfing. The rest of our party – four kids, a set of parents, L, and our domestic helper, Nehriza went swimming in the hotel’s swimming pool.
We had reservations at the Chinese restaurant at the hotel and I waited for everyone to come eat dinner after their swim. We sat at a table right next to a small stone fountain that had no water. This small stone fountain was like a magnet to the two younger kids, Erika and Kenny. Both Erika and Kenny went up the fountain’s edge and walked around and around. Unfortunately, Kenny fell in and hit his head hard against a sharp edge. He had a small hole in his forehead that needed two stitches at a nearby hospital. To the hotel’s credit, they took Kenny and his parents to the hospital and back to the hotel later. Kenny was a bit shaken but otherwise fine.
The next morning was the high point of the vacation. We went down to Hualien Ocean Park and enjoyed the rides and the dolphin, sea lion, and mermaid shows. The place was jampacked with people but the main thing is that the kids enjoyed themselves. I don’t know about the other parents but I was there just to take pictures of my kids and my nephew and niece. At night we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant at the hotel and went swimming at the hotel’s pool. This time I went to enjoy the pool. It was quite interesting as there were three pools with different temperatures. The kiddie pool had 34ºC water, another Jacuzzi like pool had 39ºC, and the main pool for swimming had 30ºC.
On the third day, we had to drive back to Taipei then to Hsinchu. We had a heavy breakfast and packed along some food to eat on the way back to Taipei. We did not plan on stopping for lunch along the way. We left at a little over half past ten in the morning and got to Taipei at around 5:30pm – 7 hours of driving. We drove the van and it had enough space for all of us, plus our luggage. Maita displayed her special talent by sleeping for most of the trip to Taipei – she must have slept 4 or 5 hours.
We had dinner in Taipei before driving home to Hsinchu. This trip home took approximately one hour of driving.
We spent 3 days in Hualien’s Ocean Park Resort. These 3 days were more like 2 days driving with one day of rest. Before we embarked on the drive to Hualien, we spent the night at L’s sister’s apartment. We left Taipei at around 8:40 am and drove towards Ilan using the new Pei-I (#5) highway. Part of the highway was open and it shortened the travel time a bit before we had to hit the mountain roads. It took us about 2 hours to get to Su Ao in Ilan. Upon reaching Su Ao, I was thinking that we would reach our destination in Hualien in about the same time of 2 hours. Eventually it took us another 4 hours before we got to Hualien. By the time we checked into our hotel room, all I wanted to do was stay in the room till about dinnertime. I’m glad I brought along my laptop and spend the time reading emails and internet surfing. The rest of our party – four kids, a set of parents, L, and our domestic helper, Nehriza went swimming in the hotel’s swimming pool.
We had reservations at the Chinese restaurant at the hotel and I waited for everyone to come eat dinner after their swim. We sat at a table right next to a small stone fountain that had no water. This small stone fountain was like a magnet to the two younger kids, Erika and Kenny. Both Erika and Kenny went up the fountain’s edge and walked around and around. Unfortunately, Kenny fell in and hit his head hard against a sharp edge. He had a small hole in his forehead that needed two stitches at a nearby hospital. To the hotel’s credit, they took Kenny and his parents to the hospital and back to the hotel later. Kenny was a bit shaken but otherwise fine.
The next morning was the high point of the vacation. We went down to Hualien Ocean Park and enjoyed the rides and the dolphin, sea lion, and mermaid shows. The place was jampacked with people but the main thing is that the kids enjoyed themselves. I don’t know about the other parents but I was there just to take pictures of my kids and my nephew and niece. At night we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant at the hotel and went swimming at the hotel’s pool. This time I went to enjoy the pool. It was quite interesting as there were three pools with different temperatures. The kiddie pool had 34ºC water, another Jacuzzi like pool had 39ºC, and the main pool for swimming had 30ºC.
On the third day, we had to drive back to Taipei then to Hsinchu. We had a heavy breakfast and packed along some food to eat on the way back to Taipei. We did not plan on stopping for lunch along the way. We left at a little over half past ten in the morning and got to Taipei at around 5:30pm – 7 hours of driving. We drove the van and it had enough space for all of us, plus our luggage. Maita displayed her special talent by sleeping for most of the trip to Taipei – she must have slept 4 or 5 hours.
We had dinner in Taipei before driving home to Hsinchu. This trip home took approximately one hour of driving.
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