Going to Chixintang 七星潭 (near Hualien 花蓮), Taiwan

Today, we took the train #2039 limited express from Taipei main station, car 9 seats 14 and 16 at noon. The trip duration was 3h and 8 minutes and the train started exactly on time and made it on time.

Was this an habit inherited from when Japan occupied Taiwan? Are the train on the mainland generally on time? It is depressing to compare this to the sorry state of public transportation and train transportation in North America.

One of the hotel owner took us from Hualien station to the hotel as we were one of the very few visitors that came without a car.

We were immediately impressed by the gorgeous blue and white exterior of the Bay View hotel 七星潭渡假飯店. All employees are very friendly and for once, the room was even better!

Located on the 5th and top floor, it has a superb view of the ocean as the name promised and the room setting is pretty close to the ideal we have for the dream apartment! It has a big bath, a spacious shower, a comfortable bed. The bathroom is surrounded by glass so it is possible to take a bath and admire the ocean view! To top it all NO STUPID CARPETING! Yeah!

The roof has also a lounge area and a jacuzzi that sadly wasn't working. The police will also not permit you to swim in the ocean due to the dangerous waves. I learned that when two of them came and told me to get out after I had some fun breaking the rule and feigning ignorance at the chinese only sign. I still had enough time to enjoy the experience of surprisingly warm water crashing into me a few times.

Since water is out, you have to fallback on the good and free bicycles and the wonderful 10 km coast bike trail. The mountains looking north are quite a sight. You also get a peek at the airforce base (with F16 galore) and the AA flak cannons. I can only imagine that this is possible with the recent detente in relationships with mainland China.

We are also looking forward to the sunrise tomorrow at 5:13 am which should be great since our view is due east.

A can't miss hotel on the east coast of Taiwan although the limited activities and food options probably mean you'll spend only one or two nights. Luckily the area is surrounded with sights and places to go. More in future posts.