Taiwan- Resources

When you plan your adventure to Taiwan in February/March when the season is moving from winter to spring like me, you may want to take note of the following:

Day backpack packing list

day backpack (big enough for jacket and all the stuffs here)
digital camera with video function (preferably water resistant)
lip balm
masks (disposable)
medicines/first aid
phone with panorama mode (preferably water resistant)
powerbank and charging cable
raincoat (disposable)
snacks/energy bars
stamp album

stamp collection at HSR stations, places of interests, hostels, airport, etc. 😁

swimming attire, swimming cap, towel, toiletries (if you plan to go to the hot spring)
umbrella
water bottle (buy a bottle of drinking water from 7-eleven for NT$20 and use the bottle to refill at water dispensers commonly found at bus stations, train stations, hostels, etc.) 😁
water dispenser and coolers at Taipei Main Station

water dispenser at HSR Taichung Station

water dispensers at TRA Chiayi Station

water dispensers at TRA Hualien Station

water dispenser at Old Man Captain Hostel II

Clothings

cap
jacket (preferably thermal, water repellent and with hoodie)
shoes (trekking ones if you intend to go hiking e.g. taroko national park)
socks (woollen)

Google Maps

Translation app

Google Translate- to translate to and from Chinese (Traditional)

💡

Use promo code 'BetterOnApp' to get 5% off your first booking on the Klook mobile app.

Transport apps

Bus+
Go!Taipei Metro
T-EX 行動購票 (THSR app)
台鐵e訂通 (TRA app)

Bus+

Bus+ was a bus information app and was a very useful app for me in Taiwan.

The functions included bus routes, bus arrival and transport directions.
The app also included train maps from Taipei MRT, Taoyuan Airport MRT, Taichung MRT and Kaohsiung MRT with interactive maps for the Taipei and Kaohsiung systems.

Bus routes/bus arrival function:

Ensure that you select the correct city as the same bus service number can be used in different cities.
Shows you the bus registration number as well.
Tracks the bus arrival time thus you can compare and select which bus you wish to take, how fast you need to get to the bus stop and how soon you need to standby to flag the bus.
You can set 'Arrival Notice' of 3, 5, 10 or 3 to 30 minutes under the 'Advanced' option, according to your requirements. I used it 2 ways- to alert me of bus arrival when I needed to take a bus and to wake me up before arrival at my destination bus stop. 😴

Directions function

Like Google Maps- set 'Where to go?' and 'Your location'. The app would generate different routes (including train), travel times, fares, trip durations, transfers, etc.
If you are using an EasyCard or iPass, you do not have to worry about getting the exact fares for your bus rides.
After you have decided which route to take, you can click the bus service to see the arrival times.
While using the app to do your research, you could specify your departure or arrival time as you may be working on your itinerary after the bus services have ended.

Go! Taipei Metro

IMG_F213D195DD27-1 2.jpeg

The Go! Taipei Metro app was an app mainly for the metro system in Taipei and showed adult/full fares, senior/charity fares, travel times, station information, transfer information, bicycles and journey planner.

For fares and travel times, select the departure station and the fares/travel times would be indicated on the rest of the stations.
For station information, click on a station and the estimated times for train arrivals, exits information and station facilities would be displayed.
- For exits information, it shows the location of the exits, which exits are wheelchair friendly, have stairs, escalators or lifts. Click on an exit and it would show on the map the location of the exit.
- For station facilities, it shows facilities like the location(s) of information counters, location of restrooms, breastfeeding room, diaper changing station and of course, lockers! (including the number and sizes of lockers available).
For transfer information, click on a station and it shows transfers to the transit parking lots, YouBike stations and buses. You can even sought the bus transfer information by order of MRT exits or bus routes.
When you select the bicycles option, it shows on the train map which stations do not have access for passengers with bicycles. At the point of writing, it was for all stations on the Wenhu Line (brown line) and Circular Line (yellow line).

a YouBike station

For Journey Planner, you select the departure and destination stations and the app shows you the fares, first and last trains, travel time and route.
There are also outlinks to Metro Taipei, Metro Taoyuan, Metro Kaohsiung, Taiwan High Speed Rail, Taiwan Railways, Maokong Gondola, Fun Travel in Taipei, Taipei Children's Amusement Park, Beitou Resort and Taipei Arena.

T-EX 行動購票 (THSR app)

The T-EX app was the app for the Taiwan High Speed Rail.

The functions available were mainly My Ticket, Booking, Status and Retrieve. Other functions under 'More" included Timetable, Fare Information and Reservation Enquiry which I did not find them useful.

When you buy HSR tickets on their portal, you can use the 'Retrieve' function to download them to the app and use the e-tickets in the 'My Ticket' function for entry and exit by scanning the QR codes at the fare gates.

'Status' was used to show Unpaid and Uncollected tickets. You can also use the 'Modify' and 'Refund' functions within if you wish to modify and cancel your tickets. Remember to complete the process 30 minutes before the schedule departure of the train.

台鐵e訂通 (TRA app)

The 台鐵e訂通 app is for the TRA, also know as the Taiwan Railway.

Main functions included Booking Ticket, Timetable, Train Information nad Live Train Info.

It works quite similarly to the Taiwan HSR app where you could also download your tickets to the app to use as e-tickets.

小北百货 (Xiao Bei Bai Huo)

While on my adventure, I discovered the above departmental store which opened 24 hours and sold stuffs which travellers might need, at affordable prices.

My camera battery charging cable decided to give up during my adventure and I bought a USB<>Type C cable for NT $99 and 2 pairs of woollen socks for NT $30.