We left Kaohsiung together with FSB club bikers on 17 April evening 1130pm to board vessel Tai Hwa, a passenger and transport ship for Penghu Island. Most of the club members had brought along their bike bag so that they would carry it as luggage and do not have to pay for the bicycle fee to be loaded on the veichel deck of Tai Wah. We did not have the bike bag with us and we paid NTD235 for each bike to be loaded on board. Frankly, I was glad that I paid for it because it was a hassle to carry our luggage and bike during check-in on board. But if you were carrying just a single luggage, I would advice you do the same and pack your bike.
Sleeping on board can be very challenging if you did not book for a sleeper cabin. The economy class do not offer sleeping option so basically you will find the whole deck space littered with sleepers. I had brought along my camping gears and found a nice spot to laid out my Therm-a-rest mat. The journey took about 6hours and we arrived Makung, Penghu Island in the morning 0630am.
The FSB Club bikers and families, almost 30 odd members including 3 babies were on this trip. They had planned only a night on Penghu Island while we decided to stay longer. Without wasting anytime after arriving on the island, we set off touring the whole island on our bikes. The whole round island trip we rode on that day covered almost 80Km.
The next day the FSB bikers decided to visit the remaining part of the island. After consulting with AK on their route, I decided to stay back as where they are heading, it will be my planned route for the next few days on the island. We checked out the Hostel around 1130am and headed our way and spent another 4 nights on the island and visting the rest of the islands.
We departed Penghu island via Budai which only took 80mins boat ride back to mainland. We did not have to pay for the bikes to be loaded just a one way ticket cost NTD950. We arrived at Budai around 630pm.
From Budai, Tainan is around 45km and Kaohsiung is 95km. I thought if we cycled to Tainan and spend a night we should be there just before 930pm but somehow when we arrived at Tainan, my partner suggested that we should continue our ride back to Kaohsiung!!! So taking our sweet time and few breaks along way, we arrived back in Kaohsiung 230am.
My views on Penghu Island
Penghu is a beautiful island, it gets better if you head away from Makung. Most visitor to Penghu would rent a scooter to go around the island but after my experience, I felt it is far better to ride around the island on a bicycle since there are many bike lanes around the island. The best option to tour Penghu is 4 days 3 nights on a bike. I have not seen any camping facilities on the island but you still can camp out just like we did.
Beside Makung, the rest of Penghu you can't find food along the way. You have to note the 711 around the island where you can get your supplies and make sure you carry atleast one meal with you.
Penghu residence have to really look back at their act. Beside the beautiful view around the island, there are still many rubbish littered along the way. If this keeps up, in no time Penghu Island will be a rubbish dump.
If you wish to travel to Penghu by boat, the best is to go from Budai if your are near the area. This is the fast ferry we took. It takes only 80mins boat ride and they have daily departure. On top of that, they do not incur additional charges for bicycle.
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