I can’t decide what to call this.  I didn’t do a whole lot of anything in Taitung.  I spent a lot of time wandering around and drinking coffee, but that’s not much of a surprise.  It was cold and rainy most of my time there, but the last day was really nice.

I wandered through Tie Hua Music Village admiring the hundreds of lanterns then made my way down to the beach to watch the waves.  I went to a bookstore to look at everything  I couldn’t read and still avoided eating like the plague because it was intimidating.

It sounds like I didn’t enjoy it all that much, but I did.  I was still in my funk here.  It was an enjoyable little place and I finally found an ATM that worked with my card.  It took like eight tries and I’m not even kidding here.  Thank you, Western Union.  My hostel/B&B/Guesthouse was awesome and the people were really friendly.  I would definitely go back.  I’m glad I didn’t skip it.  Although, I’m not even sure why I went there so long in the first place.  I just had to go to get to Lanyu.

Helpful things:

• You can get here easily from Hualien and Taipei by train.
• Find a place to stay in the city if you want to explore it a lot.  It can be annoying getting to the city center from near the train station every day.  I did love my hostel though, I’m Here B&B, I would highly recommend it.
• It can get really chilly in the winter, prepare for that just in case.  Or check the weather ahead of time.
• Hang around Tie Hua Music Park until it’s dark to see the lanterns lit up.
• If it’s warm, maybe not in the winter, bring a towel and hang out at the beach.  It’s an easy walk from the city and Tie Hua.  The water was rough when I was there, so be cautious, but bring a book to read or just take a nap in the sun.

Have you been to Taitung?  What did you think of it?