After seeing a handful of photos from Yehliu Geopark, we knew we wanted to see it ourselves. Located about an hour from downtown Taipei, Yehliu was a great escape from the city and a chance to see some beautiful, unique coastal scenery. We took the bus from Taipei Main Station. We asked the folks at the information desk in the main station how to get there and they quickly pointed us in the right direction. It only cost a few dollars…
We had four fantastic days in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital city. We saw some of the city’s historical temples and shrines, visited the newer downtown area (home to Taipei 101, the world’s 5th tallest building), and sampled lots of local food at several of the city’s night markets. We also did a day trip to Yehliu Geopark. Taipei Temples We started our day with an attempted trip to Confucius Temple but quickly learned a lesson about checking which days of the week…
Kenting was recommended to us by my cousin Carolyn who lived in Taiwan for a year. We were originally thinking of staying in Taipei for a week and doing some day trips from there, but are so glad we instead opted to spend some time in this fantastic beach town! We arrived in Kenting around 6pm on a Wednesday to a bustling night market lining the main street where we stayed. After dropping our bags in our room, we went…
Visiting the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea is one of our top travel highlights so far. We took a DMZ tour from Seoul with Panmunjom Tours, an agency we picked based on positive reviews we’d seen from other bloggers. This was one of the most expensive things we’ve done to date at about $100 USD per person, but was absolutely worth it for such a unique experience. Here’s a rundown of our DMZ tour: Q&A With a North Korean…
Busan We arrived in Korea at the very southern end of the Korean peninsula in the city of Busan after a 3 hour ferry from Fukuoka, Japan. The ferry ride was mostly smooth and uneventful despite some 3 to 4 foot swells in the Sea of Japan. For those of you that like facts, Busan is the second largest city in Korea and the 5th busiest port in the world. My traveling philosophy is that the bare minimum language you…
On our last day in Japan we traveled from Kyoto to Fukuoka where we caught the ferry to Busan, South Korea. When looking at the map, we realized Hiroshima was pretty much on the way so we stopped there for the day to learn more about the city’s history and see the site of the world’s first atomic bomb drop. Getting There and Around We used our JR pass to take the shinkansen (bullet train) directly from Kyoto to Hiroshima….
Kyoto is a charming city with a great public transportation system and we had a great time exploring in the 3 days we were there. What stood out to us the most were the amazing temples and the delicious food. Here are some of our favorites: Our Favorite Kyoto Temples Kiyomizu-dera Temple was a short walk from our Airbnb and offered some of the best views of the city. The fall foliage was especially vibrant here which made for an extra special…
Hakone is a region about an hour and a half southwest of Tokyo that is perhaps best known for it’s spectacular views of Mt. Fiji. We added it to our itinerary to catch a glimpse of the mountain and see some of Japan’s famed fall foliage. Getting to Hakone Getting to Hakone is relatively easy from Tokyo. We used our Japan Rail pass to take the shinkansen (bullet train) to Odawara. From Odawara, we took a regional train to Hakone-Yumoto. From…
The “glass half full” observation of the morning we planned to hike to see the famous snow monkeys at Jigokudani Snow Money Park was that we got to see Japanese rain for the first time in our lives. Luckily, after a couple of rounds of Phase 10 under our heated table, the rain let up enough for us to begin the walk to the monkey park. Shortly into our 30 minute walk the rain stopped completely for what ended up…
After our whirlwind day in Tokyo and our previous urban stops to begin our adventure we were ready to get out of the city and see a little bit of countryside. We took a Japanese Rail (JR) Shinkansen Train, or “bullet train”, to Nagano before transferring to a local train to Yudanaka. From there it was a quick bus ride that got us within a 5 minute walk of our accommodations for the next 2 nights, Nozaru Hostel. Luckily, there are…