Must Know Before Going to Taiwan

My friends and I decided to have a five day trip to Taiwan, simply because we wanted to feel the coldness of autumn in a place where we've never been. Searching online on what to expect and what to pack was still not enough until you saw it first hand. Here are must-knows and helpful tips before traveling to Taiwan.

First and foremost, are the necessary travel documents, visa and all. since Philippine passport holders were given a visa free entry to Taiwan which started November 1, 2017, that was not a problem with us. For non-Philippine passport holders, please check with your visa requirements. Even if, we , Filipinos were granted visa-free entry, we still need necessary documents like a roundtrip ticket and hotel accommodation sometimes even tour details to be presented to the immigration officer. I had this funny experience, My friend, Keith was coming from Singapore and she was the one who booked our hotel accommodation, she sent me the booking details, however whenever i present the booking to any officials, i was always asked who is Keith Sale, and i have to explain over and over again who is Keith actually. haha.

So much for that, next to take note is the weather. We were monitoring the weather condition a week before our flight, it was autumn and raining few days before our scheduled travel. Accuweather was telling us temp ranges from 15-22 degrees centigrade. so we packed sweaters and jackets to keep us warm. but just a little advice be prepared to pack and prepare for all seasons because you'll never know.our first day in Taipei was pretty cold but a light jacket can handle it. the next two days were the opposite

our first night at ximending night market was actually cold. I was wearing a Uniqlo long sleeves and turtleneck black top, but i still needed a white maong jacket to keep me warm

Second day, temple/palace hoping turned the weather a 180 degrees turn. it was very humid, hot and we were perspiring. good thing we had packed a light dress and there's no need for sweaters.

our second night was relatively cold, but  a light jacket is enough

travel to Jiufen and Shifen village was really cold. it was around 17-20 degrees, raining and windy. you really need something thick to keep you warm

another trip to Shilin Market was again hot. we need to buy clothes because i ran out of casual summer wear all that was left are jackets and long sleeves.

we were wrongly dressed during this day. it was really hot and this was the day we went to the Elephant mountain. this is the hottest day i experienced in Taiwan.

But our last night was really cold, we even bought coat because our jackets were not enough. then i realised, when the sun is up, it was so hot, but once the sun goes hiding, the wind was so cold. especially at night and when it is raining. so for a little piece of advice, be prepared to whatever weather the city of Taipei might give you.

Next on my must-know list is MONEY. Upon arrival at the airport, you need to exchange currencies to NTD covering your entire stay. it may be hard to exchange money in the city. It was very hard to find one. you can only do money exchange at banks during the 8am-5pm office hours, otherwise there's none.

There you go, these are just the few Must-knows before gong to Taiwan which i failed to do for myself. just some little piece of advice to help you plan for your most awaited trip.

Up next in my blog, The Taiwan Experience