Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
columns, and some will even stop for an hour, just enough time to walk around the island
and observe the walls up close.
Getting There & Away
AIR
Daily Air
(
www.dailyair.com.tw
)
has daily flights between Kaohsiung and Chimei
(NT$1754, 35 minutes), and Chimei and Makung (NT$1028, 15 minutes).
BOAT
North Sea Tourist Service Centre
(Běihǎi Yóukè Fúwù Zhōngxīn; 993 3082; Chihkan,
Paisha Island; 6.30am-9.30pm)
Operates boats to Chipei (round-trip NT$300, 15
minutes, every 30 minutes) and some smaller islands north of Paisha.
South Seas Tourist Service Centre
(Nánhǎi Yóukè Fúwù Zhōngxīn; 926 4738; No 3 Fishing
Harbour, Makung Harbour; 6.30am-9.30pm)
Has boats to Chimei, Wang'an and Tongpan,
as well as options for day trips in the high season. A full-day tour (NT$850) hits three or
four islands with one- or two-hour stops depending on how many islands you are visit-
ing. Book at your hotel: hotels often arrange 20% discounts or more.
Getting Around
Rental scooters are available on Chimei, Wang'an and Chipei for NT$400 to NT$500 a
day or for NT$150 if you are just stopping as part of a one-day island tour. Tongpan is
small enough to walk around in the hour that most tours give you.
LANYU
089 / POP 4700
The Tao people call their island home 'Pongso No Tao' (Island of the People), while the
Taiwanese started calling it Lanyu (Lányǔ, Orchid Island) post-WWII, after the flowers
that have since been picked to near extinction. A volcanic island covered with a carpet of
tropical rainforest, Lanyu lies about 65km southeast of the city of Taitung, making it the
southernmost outpost of Taiwan.
Lanyu's status as a far-flung outpost isn't merely geographical, but cultural as well, as
the island is by far the least Chinese part of Taiwan. The Tao people are of Australasian
descent, speak their own distinct language, and have a culture well removed from that of
the people 'on the Mainland' (as they sometimes refer to the Taiwanese).
