Korean Job Discussion Forums

[DanseurVertical]

I'm pretty inexperienced at international travel alone. I'm planning to book a flight to Taiwan

a) How is getting around in Taipei? Are there transit cards in Taiwan analogous to in Korea? How about from the airport?

b) I would also need to book a hostel room and get a bus from the airport to where I'd be staying.

c) And maybe then rent a bicycle.

I've known and know Taiwanese people, and the English level in Taiwan is higher than in Korea (or maybe Taiwanese just aren't frightened to speak English?) But I've never been there, so I don't know just how much more English to expect.

[northway]

a) There are cheap busses from the airport (~$10 US) that take about an hour to get into Taipei. The subway has metro cards similar to those in Seoul, but it's also really easy to just get a token from the machine each time you go anywhere.

b) Whatever you do, don't stay at Taipei Hostel. That place is a dump.

c) Can't say.

I've found the English to be significantly better than what I encounter in Korea, though not everyone agrees.

[jammo]

Hostel = eight elephants/dreaming dragon. great price and location.

[jc1257]

The subway in Taipei is very easy to navigate and has English announcements, just like in Seoul. The level of English there also seems to be very high. Even convenience store clerks spoke English at a good level.

This post about budget travel in Taipei might help you figure stuff out a bit, too.

http://tripologist.com/asia/taiwan-asia/taipei-taiwan-a-30-day/

[bbud656]

I found it harder to find English speakers in Taipei than in Seoul. Outside of Taipei, you better be good at charades. The subway was easy enough to navigate. It isnt that huge. I stayed at a hostel called 'JVs' which was pretty nice and right near one of the night markets in the center of the city. If you can, get out of taipei and go down to the southern, south/eastern coast. Might be a little stressful communication wise, but the scenery is great.

[DanseurVertical]

[DanseurVertical]

[DanseurVertical]

[yourboychris]

I stayed at Star Hostel on 2 different occasions for a total of about 3 weeks.
I stayed in 2 other hostels, and star hostel was the best one by far

[iselynjenniep]

I traveled to Taiwan and it was easy to get around with just English. We took buses, trains, subways, and taxis. Went to Hualien (Taroko Gorge) and Taipei.

[mikesaidyes]

I went to Taiwan for a full week for Christmas vacation. I only spent two days in Taipei, but from my brief visit, I found minimal English being spoken. Yes, they had it on the subway and some buses had English stop names, but otherwise nada.

For example, I took the FreeGo bus (not free, like $9 USD) to my hostel. I told them my hostel at the counter, she told me oh get off at the second stop. Low and behold, I actually had to transfer buses and didn't know. No English was spoken, so they just kind of motioned at me and were like "come, come." I consider myself a "roll with the punches" guy, but it was odd.

Of course, the hostels all spoke English. I stayed at Taipei International Backpackers Hostel in Ximen. Good, good place. Cheap, excellent location, clean, friendly.

After the first night in Taipei, I took the High Speed Train down to Zouying Station to go to Kenting Beach. You have to take a bus from Zouying to Kenting, but our hostel offered a "shuttle" pickup (aka their guy in a taxi). That was fine and FAST FAST FAST. I stayed at Afei Surf Hostel, right across the street from the quiet, not crowded beach.

After three nights at the beach (sleepy beach town, not much to do except relax), we took the slow train up the east coast to Hualien (have to taxi halfway back to Zuoying to Fangliao). Like 4-5 hrs. No other option. We stayed at Colorful Taiwan Hostel located right next to the train station.

Stayed in Hualien for two nights (only there one day to explore the Gorge) and then back to Taipei on the train for two hours. We stayed at a hotel by the airport that night (friend's dad paid for it) and it was inconvenient with all the back and forth to drop bags, etc. (Not to mention my friend got too drunk, lost all our money home and hotel key card).

Did NYE in Taipei...too hard, in fact, and missed my flight home haha. All in all, a relaxing, beautiful vacation.