Kaohsiung is BEST at night, along the Love river.
A romantic and picturesque destination.
Visitors can enjoy enchanting boat cruises, leisurely strolls along the riverbanks, or a bike ride to see the city lights reflected on the water.
Kaohsiung Music Center features a light show on its exterior at night.
Does anyone really know what time it is?
I’d heard good things about Kaohsiung City in southern Taiwan.
All tourists stop at the Formosa Boulevard subway station ➙ “Dome of Light“.
The Esports World Championships 2025 were hosted in this city. I happened upon a local Esport competition hosted in the subway station. It attracted the local cosplay community. I quickly donned my AI Nano Banana cosplay samurai costume. 😀
It’s amazing how young humans can dress up to look like their favourite cartoon characters. I’d never really thought much about cosplay before seeing them here.
I took the short ferry ride over to Cijin Island.
Rented an inexpensive bike. 8.5 km long, average width 400m. A series of tourists attractions.
Obviously, fish and seafood are important in Taiwan.
On the way back, I toured the Pier-2 Art Center area. Wild and weird instillations.
Walking around Lotus Pond is a treat. Kids love the Tiger + Dragon pagodas as you can walk through the mouth of both.
Buddhism here reminds me more of Hinduism. In these bright, detailed temples, I understand almost nothing of either.
The National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts is impressive. The world’s largest performing art theatre under one roof: Opera House, Concert Hall, Playhouse, and a Recital Hall.
No snow in this city. But one kid was tobogganing down artificial turf on cardboard.
Sun Moon Lake is a highlight for everyone visiting Taiwan.
748 m (2,454 ft) above sea level, temperatures are more moderate than the coastline.
In 2020, the number of annual tourist visits was 4.65 million people. Yet it didn’t feel crowded to me.
Surrounding the lake are biking and hiking trails for visitors.
I did both.
Cycling around is about 30 km + side trips. I stopped at most of the side trip attractions. Several temples.
The highlight was seeing indigenous Formosan macaques at play. They are much shyer than the macaques I’d seen in S.E. Asia.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Highly recommended.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
There are endless temples and pagodas in Taiwan. BUT this one is special.
Sun Moon Lake Wen Wu Temple (Chinese: 日月潭文武廟; pinyin: Rìyuètán Wénwǔ Miào) was rebuilt again in 1969, increasing its size and constructing it in the Chinese palace style. …
The first hall, located on the second floor of the front hall, is a shrine devoted to the First Ancestor Kaiji and the God of Literature. The central hall is devoted to Lord Guan, the Martial God, and another Martial God, Lord Yue. The rear hall is dedicated to Confucius.
Blue Buddha.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
You’ve never heard of Taichung, but it’s the 2nd largest city in Taiwan (2.86 million+).
Home of Giant Bicycles.
AND Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the world’s largest semiconductor foundry.
It’s no magnet for tourists.
But I really enjoyed the National Museum of Natural Science. First class.
The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts is equally well presented, but I’m much less into art.
More interesting than both, for me, is this quirky candy / ice cream shop called Miyahara. A historic building transformed into a luxurious dessert and souvenir store with a Harry Potter-esque interior.
Though an urban sprawl, here and there are some interesting architectural treats.
Train station, for example.
SOME green space. Not as much as I would like.
There are some interesting attractions outside the city, but I found public transportation not nearly as convenient as in Taipei.
So far, after a couple of months, dozens of good hostels, best for me has been Meander 1948 in Taipei.
Turns out Taiwan’s in East Asian, not S.E. Asia — but BEST on my S.E. Asia trip 2025. 😀
BEST is the superb location, walking distance from Taipei Main Station, the biggest transportation hub in the country.
There are 100 restaurants within a 10-minute walk. And you get a voucher / day for any 8 of those restaurants ➙ much better than the free breakfast buffet at most hostels.
Most hostels don’t have enough common area. Meander 1948 is better. I can work on my laptop anytime I want.
Excellent staff. Special events scheduled for any guest who wants to sign-up.
For example, I joined in the Thursday hiking trip. Perfect for me.
Super clean and efficient. Hot showers with good water pressure.
Very large and quiet pod-style dorm beds.
FREE coffee 24 hours / day!
There are several Meander hostels. This one is designated 1948 because it’s housed in an historical building from 1948.
This is not the least expensive hostel, by any means. Over 7 nights I paid an average of USD $28 / night. High for S.E. Asia. Location, location, location saved me time and money getting to where I wanted to go with a (fairly expensive) transit pass.
Of course I prefer hostels over 4 star hotels.
Almost every tourist itinerary includes Jiufen.
It’s a tiny seaside town outside Taipei City. 45 minute bus ride.
I went, actually, for the Teapot Mountain Trail — but Jufien was terrific, as well.
Jiufen Old Street is the main attraction, a narrow, winding alleyway with shops, teahouses, and restaurants that offer tourists something of a view of traditional Taiwanese life.
It was positively packed when I arrived at dusk.
Happily, I found a restaurant balcony providing a view of the chaos below. 😀
The lanterns are evocative.
There is an incredible variety of foods to try in the night market.
Old street closes early when the ice-cream mini-trucks arrive. Actually, small garbage trucks play music, trying to get tourists to get out of the way.
I stayed just above the impressive Jiufen Zhaoling Temple.
Definitely an excellent stop.
Taipei 101 is a 508 m (1,667 ft), 101-story skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. …
It was officially classified as the world’s tallest building from its opening on 31 December 2004, until it was dethroned by the Burj Khalifa.
Now the 11th tallest building in the world, I wasn’t all that keen to pay the ticket price — but I’m glad I did.
The elevator is the world’s fastest: 5th to 89th floor in 37 seconds up to 60.6 km/h (37.7 mph).
That was cool.
The vistas are positively scary. It feels you are above the clouds and totally removed from the earth. I went at sunset — as did all these folks.
Apparently it’s built to survive the Pacific Ring of Fire‘s earthquakes and the region’s tropical storms.
This tuned mass damper is designed to reduce mechanical vibrations,
I only paid for a ticket to the indoor observation deck on 88th and 89th floors. You can pay extra to go higher, if you wish.
Here’s the view from nearby Elephant mountain.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
My new home away from home in S.E. Asia.
I used to consider Hong Kong my jumping off point for Asia — but I don’t like the dictator-for-life who now runs that city.
I first got to Singapore in 1996. Amazing airport. Fantastic zoos.
Everything WORKS in Singapore. It’s ultra-modern in most ways.
Very welcoming for tourists.
Public transportation is a dream. You tap a credit card to take any subway or bus. And they run everywhere frequently.
I stay in Little India, the least expensive area. Most of the hostels are there.
Mustafa Centre is a highlight. Open 24 hours. Packed at all hours of the day and night. An experience.
YES, Singapore is expensive. But there are plenty of free attractions to keep you busy if you don’t want to pay $30 for a museum entrance.
For example, Shimano Cycling World will rent you a high end road bike for $150. Or you can take one of their mountain bikes for free. Nice.
I did a lot of hiking on my most recent trip. The Botanic Gardens are excellent and mostly free.
It’s a surprisingly green city.
I explored Sentosa island more this time.
My A.I. Halloween costume in front of Universal Studios globe.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
More PHOTOS
6-7 is oh so last year.
I turned 68-years-young today.
I’m finally old enough to join the Old Fart Adventure Travel TikTok Crew. 😀
On the road in Singapore.
I’ve had many birthdays on the backpacker trail.
Tam and Les bought me birthday lunch in Little India. We had a robot waiter — though it was too uncoordinated to actually make it to our table. A waiter brought it the last mile.
For decades already I’ve been the oldest person in most hostels. I’ve grown used to the distinction.
Mostly, the kids treat me as a bit of a novelty: How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?
Life is short ➙ If you want to travel, travel.
Rick McCharles 