HSR Zuoying Station→東埔山莊

According to the law in Taiwan, all passengers have to fasten seat belts, no matter what ages they are. For a baby below 4-year-old or a young child who cannot comfortably be on the seat with a seat belt, it is necessary to use a car seat or a safety booster. There is a check box for renting a baby car seat or a child safety booster on the check-out page. Each rental fee is NT$300. If you need multiple car seats/boosters or you need an infant car seat, please check with our online customer service first. Tripool encourages parents to bring their car seats and boosters, and, of course, it is free of charge.

To take the High Speed Rail (HSR) from HSR Zuoying Station to 東埔山莊, HSR is quick but pricey. From the earliest departure at 05:50 to the latest at 22:55, there are up to 60 high-speed rail from Zuoying to Chiayi each day. Assuming you depart from HSR Zuoying Station (Zuoying District, Kaohsiung City) , it is about a 10-minute walk to the HSR boarding platform, with an estimated 10 minutes. Then, take a 30-35-minute (31 min on average) HSR ride from Zuoying Station to Chiayi HSR Station. The ticket price is NT$410 per person, followed by a 5-minute walk to exit the station, wait for a ride at the taxi stand, and after a trip of about 142 minutes with a fare of NT$2,600, you will arrive at your destination at 東埔山莊 (Alishan Township, Chiayi County). The entire journey, including transfers, takes a total of 3 hours and 18 minutes. Assuming 5 people traveling together (and have to split into two taxis), the average cost per person for the HSR and transfers is NT$1,450. In contrast, if you use Tripool for a door-to-door private car service, the average cost per person is about NT$1,410, and the journey takes 3 hours and 24 minutes. For long-distance travel, the HSR is indeed faster than a car by 6 minutes, but it comes with an extra transportation cost of about NT$200. Therefore, for those who are not in a major hurry, booking with Tripool is the more cost-effective option. If you are traveling in a group of three or less, you can also consider Tripool's carpooling service to save up to an additional 50% on transportation costs.

If you have a Taiwanese driver's license, are confident in your driving skills, and you do not need to rest in the car (since you will be the one driving), and most importantly, if you plan to make a same-day round trip, then iRent, which allows you to pick up and drop off a car on the street in the Kaohsiung City area, is likely your cheapest option. After registering on the iRent app, you can rent a small car for NT$115-205 per hour with an additional charge of NT$3.2 per kilometer. The estimated cost from HSR Zuoying Station to 東埔山莊 is between NT$2500 and NT$3250 (the price difference depends on weekday/weekend rates, car model, and how soon you make the return trip after reaching your destination). Although the estimate already includes potential eTag tolls and a roadside parking fee of NT$40 per hour, you are responsible for any additional car insurance and potential traffic fines. Furthermore, iRent by Hotai only offers basic models like the Toyota Yaris, Prius C, and Vios—functional, yes, but far from the comfort you'd expect for anything beyond a grocery run. If your group has more than four people, larger 7-seater or 9-seater vehicles are not available. Moreover, the most common complaint about self-service car-sharing services is the vehicle's condition; you might open the door to find trash left by the previous user or unrepaired dents. Every rental feels like opening a blind box—sometimes fine, sometimes frustrating. Additionally, you might occasionally face issues like the previous user not returning the car on time for your reservation, or being unable to find a parking spot when you need to return it. This poses a significant risk for those in a hurry or traveling with other passengers. Finally, while picking up and dropping off the car on the street seems convenient, it is restricted to specific operational zones. The available parking spots may still be some distance away from your actual departure or arrival point, making it very inconvenient in rainy weather or when carrying luggage.

If you choose to take a taxi directly, in the Kaohsiung City area, you can use apps to hail a cab from 55688 Taiwan Taxi, Uber, Line Go, Yoxi, etc., and if you cannot hail a cab on the street, you can also consider calling the only neighborhood taxi company in Zuoying District, Kaohsiung City, 中華正大車隊 to try to book a ride. Based on the meter, the estimated fare is between NT$3,435 and 4,100. However, when considering the return trip, in Chiayi County there are only about 330 licensed taxis. This is about 3% of the number of taxis in Kaohsiung City, and its density is just 0.4% of the Taipei/New Taipei metro area, making it 240 times more difficult to hail a cab there. Although a metered taxi from central HSR Zuoying Station to central 東埔山莊 might be cheaper, you still face the risk of not being able to find a cab—or ending up with a driver who refuses to use the meter. If your group has more than four people, splitting into two taxis is inconvenient. In this case, Tripool, which offers pre-booking and reliable quality, might be a more suitable option for you. Considering all factors, Tripool is your best choice for traveling from HSR Zuoying Station to 東埔山莊 in terms of both price and service quality.

There are many gypsy cabs or illegal taxis in Line and Facebook groups. Their fares are cheap but with many risks. If the cabs are pulled over by polices, passengers cannot continue the trip. If there is an accident, none of the insurance companies will settle a claim. Worst of all, illegal drivers may conduct crimes without any trace. Don't put your life at risk for just saving a few bucks. On the other hand, tripool contracts with legal drivers without any criminal record. All vehicles provide up to $5 million in insurance. The easiest way to distinguish a legal vehicle is the car plate number. Unless the initial character of the car plate number is either T or R, the car is 100% illegal for taxi service.

For regular long-distance travelers, they find Tripool's price may be too low to be good. On the contrary, Tripool has a high standard for selecting drivers and vehicles. Besides dropping drivers who are low rated, we also send mystery shoppers regularly to test drivers' service. Tripool's drivers are not allowed to smoke in the cars, and they have to wear masks all the time during the pandemic. We don't compromise our service for a low cost. Tripool can provide excellent service with 70~80% of the market price because of AI algorithms. We use these to dispatch vehicles to increase efficiency. Tripool can use fewer drivers to serve more travelers, especially in high seasons like Chinese New Year, Christmas, and summer vacation. Fewer drivers mean better quality control. The price on tripool's website and app are dynamic. Generally, the earlier a ride is booked, the lower price it is. Most of all, all booking are 100% refundable as long as the cancelation request is made one day before noon, no matter what the reason is. If you are preparing to go from HSR Zuoying Station to 東埔山莊, it's better to reserve it now to secure the best price.

Customers are always looking for a lower price with better service. There are Taiwan Taxi, Metro Taxi, Line Taxi, and Uber for short-range service in the Taiwan taxi market. There are CallCarBar, JoinMe, Car Plus, Easy Rent for long-range private car services. And for charter day tour services, there are KKDAY and Klook. Tripool focuses on long-distance point-to-point transportation and hourly ride service. No matter where you're from or where you'll go (of course, including HSR Zuoying Station to 東埔山莊), we guarantee there will be a vehicle available to take you there. Tripool uses AI algorithms to dispatch hundreds of cars around the island to increase efficiency and lower the price by 20~30%. Travelers can easily find that tripool is the best choice for private car service.

Fewer travelers book hotels through traditional travel agents, and most go through OTAs (online travel agents). It is easy to filter areas, prices, types of rooms, special needs on OTAs' websites. Still, customers can also get a 20~40% discount compared to hotels' official websites. The most popular OTAs in Taiwan are Booking.com, Agoda.com, Hotels.com, Expedia.com, and Trip.com. In general, travelers can make reservations on websites or apps. Once finishing the online payment, everything is set, and there is not necessary to double-check the reservation by phone. However, some hotels may oversell their rooms on multiple platforms. To avoid being rejected by hotels once you arrive, choose high-rated hotels with more reviews online or make a phone call to hotels to confirm again. For B&Bs (also called minsus), locals prefer to book rooms through B&Bs' websites or contact the hosts directly. Sometimes, the price is better than OTAs. The downside is that their websites don't accept foreign credit cards or guests have to do wire transfers. If you want to save all these troubles and find decent B&Bs, Airbnb and AsiaYo (a local brand) are the best alternatives.