Since we took the train from Taipei to Jiaoxi, I decided we should try the coach back to Taipei. Its actually cheaper and faster to travel by coach. Journey time is nearly half by the 雪山隧道 and cost is also half.
The reason why we took train here 1st then coach back is because due to the check in time, we have more spared time to do travelling when during our arrival. Train took us about 2hrs to reach Jiao Xi from Taipei. To reach Luodong, it would take another 20min. However, on our return leg, as I have plans for other places of interest to visit in Taipei today, thus would want to get to Taipei @ the shortest time without having to wake up that early.
The bus terminals for Luo Dong is located at the rear exit of Luo Dong station. We took a taxi here from our hotel and it costs NTD100. The frequency here is pretty fast, 15-20 min. Much faster than the trains.
As we alight from the taxi, I went straight to the 1st counter I see to purchase the tickets to Taipei. Turns out that the coach is departing soon as its full already, didn't have time to check out the bus station.
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| 罗东后站 |
The coach we took belongs to Capital bus ( 首都客运）. It costs NTD120 per pax for the tickets. It is VIP Style and is very comfortable with a lot of leg room and best of all, its clean! I cannot stand dirty seats..
There are 2 routes from Luo Dong bus terminal. 1 goes straight to Taipei and the other 1 will en-route to Jiaoxi before going to Taipei. As our bus is full, thus it skipped Jiaoxi station. I am not very sure of the pick up point in Jiao Xi but I did see the buses passing thru when I was there. Both of them will terminate at Taipei City Hall Station（市府转运站） where you can transfer to their subway to get around Taipei.
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| Tickets |
Initially I had plan to take Kamalan bus ( 葛玛阑汽车客运） back as it stops at Taipei Main station which is much nearer to our hotel. But in my excitement when I saw the coach leaving, I forgot to check which company it belongs to prior to buying the tickets. It is only after buying the tickets den I realised I brought the other bus company tickets. Hehe
Capital Bus (首都客运) Website:
http://www.capital-bus.com.tw/yilan/businfo.html
Kamalan Bus (葛玛阑汽车客运) website：
http://www.kamalan.com.tw/route.php
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| Coach interior |
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| Going on 国道5号 |
The route the coach took is freeway no. 5 which connects Yilan to Taipei thru 雪山隧道. Journey is pretty smooth though it threatens to rain but we are lucky that it didn't. As its mountainous where we are travelling, heavy rain would make the route dangerous.
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| Plantations everywhere |
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| Travelling by the mountian side |
We were greeted by a cold and gloomy Taipei when we reached. Totally unprepared and under dress. Whahah. We took a cab from City hall station to XMD where our hotel is located. Set us back by NTD220. Taxi here runs on meter.
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| 台北市政府转运站 |
Changed into warmer clothes and we begin our Taipei tour :)
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| Cold and gloomly Taipei |
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