Saturday, Oct 14 – US à Taipei [Leon]
The
flight from JFK to TPE was long but we slept through a good part of it, at
least 8 hours out of 15+. Got to our hotel Les Suites Taipei Ching-Cheng,
checked in, had breakfast, and went to National Palace Museum. It was raining
so museum was the perfect place to go. It was quite nice, with an impressive
collection of Chinese historical artifacts – bronzes, jades, ceramics,
porcelain, calligraphy scrolls, books, paintings – that Nationalists brought
with them from the mainland in 1947. Then we went for lunch at Shilin night
market, which was open early because it was Saturday. Took the metro back to our
hotel and went to sleep for 3 hours. Woke up – still raining, although not as
hard... Anyway, we went for dinner to Din Tai Fung – our favorite dumpling
place. We didn’t want to deal with the Saturday evening crowds, so we picked a
Din Tai Fung branch nearby instead of going to the flagship location at Taipei
101. Now will try to fall asleep again, which is going to be difficult – feels
like 11:00 am!
Sunday, Oct 15 – Taipei [Leon]
It’s
raining again, even harder than yesterday! We tried to stretch our breakfast
hoping the rain will stop, but no such luck. So we braved the rain and went to
Longshan Temple – a colorful ornate Buddhist temple with elaborate carved
dragons. Then we strolled through herb alley next to the temple – a narrow
street full of herb and spice stalls. After that, we visited Bopiliao Old
Street nearby – a couple of blocks of renovated Qing dynasty shophouses. They
looked empty and somewhat abandoned, except for a group of schoolchildren on a
class trip. Then we took a taxi to Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall – a massive
plaza framed by a large white gate, a concert hall, a theater, and the memorial
itself. The concert hall and theater were two huge buildings in Classical
Chinese style. The memorial itself is a giant hall with a blue-tiled roof and a
bronze statue of Chiang under honor guard with shiny bayonets. We decided not
to wait for the guard change ceremony, and walked about half mile to Taiwan
handicraft center – a large gift shop selling various handmade souvenirs. Most
of these seemed authentic and of good quality, but we didn’t really like
anything. Then we visited 2-28 Peace Park and caught MRT Red Line from there to
Yuanshan Station. Here we first visited Dalongdong Baoan Temple – a Taiwanese
folk religion temple with colorful carved dragons and large murals on the
walls. The temple gardens seemed bisected by a busy street in a strange way,
and jets roared overhead, aiming to land at the nearby Songshan airport. Then
we visited the Taipei Confucius Temple located just a block away.
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| Longshan Temple |
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| Longshan Temple |
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| Longshan Temple |
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| Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall |
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| Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Plaza Gate |
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| Dalongdong Baoan Temple |
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| Dalongdong Baoan Temple |
Getting
hungry, we caught a taxi to Taipei Fish Market, recently converted to a
collection of seafood restaurants, raw bar counters, and grocery stores called
Addiction Aquatic Development. It was crowded and a bit chaotic, but we managed
to get ourselves a delicious lunch of sashimi, a donburi bowl of salmon and
ikura, and two giant king crab legs. Feeling happy but sleepy after lunch, we
caught a taxi back to our hotel and crashed for a couple of hours. Woke up
refreshed around 7:00 pm and headed out to Taipei 101. It finally stopped
raining! However it was still cloudy, so we decided not to go up to the
observatory. After hanging out in Taipei 101 mall for a bit and checking out the
adjacent ATT 4 Fun mall, we realized that all restaurants there started
closing. So, we took a taxi to Raohe Street night market. It was a long street
filled with stalls selling all kinds of food. We started out with a hot pork
bun, then had a spinach filled pork roll, grilled oyster mushrooms, and amazing
local mango. Everything was delicious and the atmosphere was fun and festive.
We stayed there until after 11:00 pm and then took metro back to our hotel.
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| Raohe Street Night Market |
Monday, Oct 16 – Taipei [Sofia]
Woke
up, had breakfast and headed out by metro to hike the Four Beasts Mountain
trails. The weather is nice and sunny today which makes everything around look
so much happier. First we went up to Elephant Mountain, walking to the
trailhead through an upscale and very green neighborhood. The Elephant Mountain
trail was quite steep, and it was getting very hot and humid, which made for
challenging hiking conditions. The views of Taipei 101 and the rest of the city
below were spectacular! A great view is always the best reward after a tough
climb, but we weren’t done yet…
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| Taipei 101 - View from Elephant Mountain trail |
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| Taipei 101 - View from Elephant Mountain |
After
reaching the top of Elephant Mountain, Leon wanted to follow the path to Tiger
Mountain, but the trails were confusing. Fortunately, we met some locals
guiding a small group of tourists. We tagged along with them and continued our
climb to the Thumb Mountain for even better views of Taipei 101. Then we
followed one friendly local hiker who took us to Jiuwufeng Peak (9-5 Peak) –
the highest mountain of the Four Beasts trail system. After enjoying the view
and resting a bit, we started descending towards Tiger Mountain area. The trail
was very green and tropical, with dragonflies and big black-and-blue
butterflies zooming around. Our guide showed us the way down and continued
further along the ridge, while we descended along Tiger trail. The entire hike
took about 3-4 hours.
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| Top of Thumb Mountain |
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| Top of Jiuwufeng Peak |
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| Tiger Trail |
Our
clothes were soaked with sweat and we went back to the hotel to change. Then we
took metro to Taipei 101 where we had lunch at the flagship location of Din Tai
Fung, and Leon finally ordered his favorite pork buns. After that we took the elevator
up to Taipei 101 observatory on the 89th floor. The views and
visibility were great. Taipei has a few architecturally interesting buildings.
There was one that was spiralized and a few that looked like stadiums built for
the Olympics. Floor 91 had an outdoor terrace.
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| View from Taipei 101 Observatory |
In
the evening we hit the Shilin market again, which was very different from
yesterday's Raohe Street market. Much more commercial, organized and busier.
There was plenty of sitting place to eat downstairs but the food was all the
same everywhere – fried rice, oyster omelet, shrimp... Leon found an arcade
stand with an airsoft version of AR15 and won a stuffed penguin for me.
Tuesday, Oct 17 – Taipei [Sofia]
It’s
raining again! Anyway, we decided to ignore the rain and headed out to the Maokong
tea plantations. As we got off the metro, the rain became stronger, almost a
torrential downpour. The Maokong gondola ride was 30 minutes to the top, with a
stop at Zhinan Temple station. We came out, went for a short walk, and
visited the richly decorated Zhinan Temple and Lingxiao Chapel with multiple
gold statues and beautiful gold altar. From there we went up one more stop on the
gondola and made an honest attempt to hike a trail through tea plantations in a
very strong rain. After about 30 minutes of this foolishness we gave up and
went looking for a place to have lunch. We found a remote tea house called “The
highest point in Maokong” which actually required a climb up the hill. We sat
on a covered deck with a great view of Taipei shrouded in clouds, rain, and
fog, and ate shrimp in tea leaves and fried rice with tea leaves, all served
with hot local tea. After lunch, we took the gondola back down the mountain and
discovered that the rain had almost stopped. By the time we got off the metro
at our hotel, it was sunny and almost dry. Looks like the rain stopped here
more than an hour ago.
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| Around Zhinan Temple |
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| Zhinan Temple |
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| Taipei view from "The highest point in Maokong" |
For
dinner that day we made reservations at a Japanese fusion restaurant called
Ikki just half a mile from our hotel. They had a set 5-course menu served in a
very creative way, with hot stones, bamboo stalks and flames. Leon had a
grilled short rib and I had beef for main course, wrapping up with a Japanese green
tea ice cream dessert.
Wednesday, Oct 18 – Taipei à Taroko [Sofia]
Today
at 10 am Mr. Pan from Chialease Car Rental delivered our car – a little red
Mazda 3 hatchback – to our hotel as promised. The formalities took just a few
minutes and Mr. Pan left saying that he will meet us at the airport on the 28th.
We found the freeway and after about an hour got to Yilan – a rough around the
edges provincial town. After 20-30 minutes on surprisingly clogged back roads we
drove up to the Kavalan Whisky Distillery. The distillery had a decidedly
industrial look with just a few tourists wandering around. As usual we went
through the distillery where malted barley is turned into whisky and then aged
in various types of barrels. After Yamazaki and Nikka the process was already
familiar. The tasting started at 1 pm and we got just a few drops of classic Kavalan.
For better tasting experience we needed to pay 400 TWD, and we ended up trying
a few most expensive whiskeys – all of them amazingly fragrant and flavorful.
Then we bought a bottle of Distillery Reserve single malt and headed out.
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| Kavalan Whisky Distillery |
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| Kavalan Whisky tasting |
Getting
hungry, we drove up to Silks Place Yilan where we attempted to get into a place
called Red Lantern which supposedly serves the most amazing cherry wood smoked
duck sushi rolls. According to Conde Nast Travel, this place requires reservations
90 days in advance. So our direct approach failed and we ended up eating ramen
with kimchi at the food court. In a couple of days we saw a news report that a
Serbian mayor passed away in Yilan after eating at a restaurant in Silks Place.
Hopefully he got to try that duck we didn’t get!
Back
on the road, we started climbing up into the mountains. The freeway soon turned
into a narrow one lane road and we got stuck first behind a big truck and then
behind a car carrier. It was already getting dark when we turned off the main
road and into Taroko National Park. We found ourselves driving in complete
darkness on a narrow mountain road similar to road to Hana in Maui. After about
30 minutes of this driving and a few scary-looking narrow tunnels with
overhanging cliffs we came to Silks Place Taroko hotel. Our room has a balcony
overlooking a mountain river by the sound of it. The gorge and river view should
be amazing – I suppose we will see it tomorrow… The hotel looks somewhat
deserted with most of the people sitting at the dinner buffet. We headed there as
well. The food was pretty good and plentiful with steamed shrimp, beef and
duck, and many salads and vegetable dishes.
Thursday, Oct 19 – Taroko [Leon]
Woke
up this morning to a bright blue cloudless sky and a beautiful view of a
rushing Liwu River. While we were having breakfast outside, a few large monkeys
strolled by a short distance away. After breakfast we drove out to Lushui,
parked and hiked the Lushui Trail to Heliu. The views of the gorge, the river,
and waterfalls were stunning. In a couple of places we had to walk through
small waterfalls which felt nice and refreshing. Then we returned to the
parking lot via the road and drove further down to Chimu Bridge with nice lion
statues, stopping on the way to look at a couple of spectacular waterfalls.
Then we drove through the long tunnel called the Tunnel of Nine Turns and
stopped at Jinheng Bridge with little bird statues. Here we spent some time
relaxing on a viewing platform soaking up the sun and watching mountain scenery
and the rushing river below. And then two busloads of tourists showed up and we
escaped, got back in the car and drove on in search of Swallow Grotto. Just as
we were told at the hotel front desk the day before, the trail to Swallow
Grotto was closed due to rain damage. Moreover, the road was blocked by
construction, so we could not go any further.
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| View from our room at Silks Place Taroko |
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| Taroko Gorge |
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| Taroko Gorge |
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| Our little Mazda |
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| At Jinheng Bridge |
It
was getting close to lunchtime anyway, so we turned around and went back to the
Tianxiang area next to our hotel. Here we had a quick lunch of chicken, pork,
and dumplings in some local hole in the wall place. Then it was almost time for
our afternoon tour. Taking a break from driving, we got on a minibus and went
first to Taroko Arch at the entrance to national park. It was one of those
“must do” kind of tourist trap stops with nothing much to do but take a few
photos and browse through souvenir shops. Fortunately it was brief, and we were
soon on our way to Quingshui Cliffs – stunning rocky cliffs soaring up directly
from Pacific Ocean, with a sliver of a volcanic black sand beach below. It all
looked very wild and beautiful. We spent almost an hour there walking around
and taking in the scenery. Then we got back on the bus and went to our final
stop – Shakadang Trail. This was a nice easy trail a bit over 1 km long,
running along a mountain stream with huge marble boulders and clear blue-green
water. After hiking it both ways, we got back to our hotel and went to their
little gym for a quick workout. For dinner we went to their full service
restaurant to take a break from buffet. The set menu included with our hotel
package didn’t change from the day before, and dinner was unremarkable to say
the least.
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| Quingshui Cliffs |
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| Shakadang Trail |
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| Shakadang Trail |
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| Shakadang Trail |
Friday, Oct 20 – Taroko [Sofia]
We
woke up early this morning – before 6 am – and went to explore a walking trail
next to our hotel with multiple stairs leading up the hill to Xiangde Temple. Walking
back across the bridge to our hotel we saw several monkeys – one sitting on
bridge railings and three more dumpster diving of course! After that we got in
the car and drove out looking for the trail to Changchun Eternal Spring Shrine.
The view was stunning – with a temple high on the mountain and several big waterfalls
streaming down from there. The shrine was built to honor over 200 workers –
mostly military veterans – who died while building the road through these mountains
in the 1950s. The trail as expected was closed, so we could not get close to
Changchun Shrine. Instead we went across the bridge and up the road next to big
boulders and wild stream to Changuang Temple – a Zen monastery built in 1970s
style with many open decks and plastic looking statues. From there we went up
the mountain via a very high and long suspension bridge to the bell tower, to
view the monastery from a different point and saw our little red car all the
way down below in the parking lot.
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| Changchun Eternal Spring Shrine |
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| Changuang Temple - view from bell tower |
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| Another view from bell tower |
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| On the bridge |
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| Another view of Changchun Eternal Spring Shrine |
Then
we drove up to Buluowan – a high terraced plateau with a small hotel ran by the
members of Truku native tribe. There was supposed to be a hiking trail there
with another way to access the Swallow Grotto. However, even though the
National Parks website didn’t say so, the trail was closed. Overall, Buluowan
felt a bit like a tourist trap, with souvenir shops and a huge parking lot for
buses. We decided not to take chances trying to find lunch there. Instead, we drove
down to Xiulin town right outside Taroko park entrance and went to Dageeli
Tribe Restaurant which was highly rated online. We ordered a 12-course meal
complete with bamboo rice (it comes in a bamboo stick which needs to be broken
on a rock before eating) and a nicely smoked cinnamon pork knuckle. This place is
like a wonderland – all made of carved wood with aromatic smoke coming from
everywhere and a dozen orange stripy cats running around and shamelessly
begging and stealing food from the tables.
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| Lunch at Dageeli Tribe Restaurant |
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| Dageeli Tribe Restaurant - cat show |
After
lunch we drove back to our hotel stopping at several points along the way to
enjoy magnificent views of Taroko Gorge once again. Then we just relaxed and
wrapped up the day with a dinner at the buffet.
Saturday, Oct 21 – Taroko à Kaohsiung [Sofia]
Today
we again got up early to start on our 7 hour drive to Kaohsiung. The road led
us through the town of Hualien and to scenic Highway 11 which follows the
rugged Pacific coastline. We had hopes of stopping by the beach and swimming in
the Pacific, but the ocean today looked stormy, wild, and threatening. We made
a few stops and even managed to approach and dip out toes in the ocean in one
place, but swimming was obviously out of the question. The road gently curves
around the ocean and is absolutely empty. At some point the plants started
looking more and more tropical and palm trees showed up. We stopped by the
marker for Tropic of Cancer and snapped a few pictures. At the tropical fruit
stand next to it we purchased amazing apples, plums and persimmons. Driving on,
we made it to the city of Taitung around midday. We proceeded to Fugang Street
lined with little seafood restaurants and found a place called Gang Kou
Seafood, where we dug into fresh sashimi, miso fish soup, fried oysters, and
other good stuff until Leon said that he can't eat anymore. As we were
finishing lunch, it started to rain.
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| Stormy Pacific |
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| Tropic of Cancer marker |
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| At the beach |
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| Lunch at Gang Kou Seafood |
We
got back on the road and resumed driving under annoying drizzle. Past Taitung,
Highway 11 merged with Highway 9 and continued down the coast for another
couple of hours. Then the road moved away from the ocean and started climbing
up through the central mountain range as we crossed over to the west side of Taiwan.
As we started descending, the rain stopped and the fog and clouds disappeared.
Here it was sunny, calm, and the ocean looked quiet. Shrimp ponds, mango farms
and fruit stands started appearing on both sides of the road. Approaching and
entering Kaohsiung, we got stuck for 30 minutes in a bad Saturday night traffic
jam, but finally made it to our hotel.
Our
Hotel Dua is ultra-modern and fancy, with multiple elevators and sculptures.
The room is large and newly decorated in dark colors with a nice comfortable
bed. We dropped our bags and went to see the Dome of Light – a big artsy light
installation inside Formosa Boulevard metro station a couple of minutes by walk
from our hotel. From there we decided to head out to Ruifeng Night Market which
is the biggest night market in Taiwan. The types of food were similar to other
places but the crowds were intolerable. I guess it had to be expected on a
Saturday night. We got a pig knuckle and some takoyaki with quail egg, quickly
ate on a side of the road, and ran back to the metro. Purely for comparison
purposes, we then went by the Liuhe Night Market close to our hotel. This market
was much more spacious and less crowded, and we finished our walking dinner
there with a pepper bun and some sliced local mango.
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| Formosa Boulevard metro - Dome of Light |
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| Formosa Boulevard metro - Dome of Light |
Sunday, Oct 22 – Kaohsiung [Leon]
This
morning we had breakfast in the lounge on the top floor of our hotel, with
great views of Kaohsiung. The weather is warm and sunny, although the city
seems shrouded in some sort of a haze. After breakfast we headed out to the Lotus
Lake, taking the red metro line to Ecological District station and then
catching a short taxi ride to the lake. Lotus Lake is really a large man-made pond
surrounded by many temples, with gigantic Dragon and Tiger double pagodas being
the most famous. True to its name, the lake has many lotus flowers blooming on
its surface. We explored Dragon and Tiger pagodas first and took lots of
pictures of colorful whimsical tiger figures. Then we leisurely walked along
the lakeshore stopping by Spring and Autumn Pavilions and a few other temples,
all very colorful and fun. I was tempted to rent a stand-up paddleboard and go
for a quick paddle around the lake… but I didn’t have my swimming trunks with
me and didn’t want to risk spending half a day in wet clothes in case of a
mishap.
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| Dragon and Tiger double pagodas |
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| Tiger pagoda |
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| Tiger pagoda |
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| More tigers and dragons |
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| Spring and Autumn Pavilions |
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| Spring and Autumn Pavilions |
Afterwards,
we decided to go to Cijin Island. Taxi seemed like the most direct way to get
there, however the driver of the taxi we flagged down didn’t understand any
English. We almost gave up on him, but he actually called a tourist service of
some kind, so we explained to them where we wanted to go and they told him. He
drove us to the ferry terminal, and after a short wait we took the ferry over
to the island. The ferry ride itself was just 5 minutes. The island has many tourist
attractions, including a lighthouse, a fort, and a few temples. Feeling a bit
lazy, we decided not to climb up to the lighthouse and fort. Instead, we took a
leisurely walk on the black sand beach at surf’s edge, dipping our feet in the warm
Pacific Ocean. Now, Cijin Island was supposed to have the freshest seafood in
Kaohsiung and we were definitely getting hungry. So, we found Miaoqian Street
lined with seafood establishments, and chose a place called Qi Hou Fresh Raw
Seafood. The food was great – big plates of sashimi, other fish, crab, shrimp,
and scallops. It all went splendidly with Tiger Beer.
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| Seafood at Cijin Island |
After
lunch, we followed Miaoqian Street to the ferry terminal and crossed the narrow
channel back to Gushan Pier. Not sure what to do next, we took a somewhat long
and crowded light rail to the Dream Mall. We spent a bit of time hanging out
there and checked out a few stores – the prices seemed higher than in the US.
Then we sat at a Starbucks for a bit, although once again they refused to pour
espresso over ice. On the way out of the mall, we chatted with a Tesla
salesperson – apparently Tesla sells very well in Taiwan… Then we took a taxi
back to our hotel and relaxed for an hour or so. For dinner, we went to Shun Yi
Tuna Sashimi in Sanduo district and had absolutely amazing delicious chutoro,
otoro, and Hokkaido scallops! This little casual chain restaurant hands down
beats any fancy sushi place and would just by itself make Kaohsiung worth
returning to!
Monday, Oct 23 – Kaohsiung à Tainan [Sofia]
This
morning we checked out from our Hotel Dua in Kaohsiung. The haze in the air seems
to be always present here due to pollution, which doesn't help my allergies.
However, overall this was a very fun city to visit. After a 40 minute drive we got
to Fo Guang Shan – a massive complex on hundreds of acres with pagodas and
other buildings, and a colossal golden statue of Buddha. We walked through the
newer main section and tried to make it to the older part with the working
monastery and another big Buddha. This section was hard to get to and its layout
was somewhat confusing. Perhaps Humanistic Buddhism passive-aggressively
discourages people from visiting their cult center. We had lunch at the vegetarian
restaurant inside Fo Guang Shan – eggplant and mushroom dish, sweet potatoes,
coconut cakes, and dumplings with cabbage. All was pretty good although Leon had
asked a couple times, for vegetarian pork and beer. And then we were back in
our car and on the freeway to Tainan.
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| At Fo Guang Shan |
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| At Fo Guang Shan |
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| At Fo Guang Shan |
The
drive to Tainan led through some not very pretty dusty towns. After entering
Tainan, we had to navigate a maze of narrow streets both on the outskirts and
in the old center of the city. In any case, we made it to Silks Place Tainan in
about an hour. The room was again surprisingly large and comfortable. After
dropping off our luggage, we headed out for Anping Fort – a Dutch fortification
dating from 1624-34. In 1661, this trading outpost of the Dutch East India
Company was besieged and occupied by Koxinga – a famous Chinese Ming dynasty
general. His victory over the Dutch put an end to their colonial ambitions in
Formosa. We walked around, looked at a temple with lots of dragons on top and a
big banyan tree, commenting that it was not as big as the one in Lahaina. Then
we stumbled upon a street market with a friendly English-speaking coffee
vendor. He made us a cup of high mountain coffee from Alishan, which was very
good but also very expensive. William, the coffee guy, went to City College of
New York and worked on Wall Street as a security analyst in the 80-90s. He even
had dinner with Donald Trump and Marla Maples at Taj Mahal, back when Trump’s
firm was in financial trouble. William did a “blind sniff test” with Leon
having him close his eyes and smell 3 different types of coffee – Kenyan,
Colombian and Guatemalan and Leon, our coffee expert, guessed them all!
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| Gate at Anping |
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| Temple at Anping |
For
dinner we tried to go to Shan Gen Sushi restaurant recommended by our hotel
staff, but it didn’t look all that attractive. Proximity of tables to a busy
scooter-clogged street and a large open trash dumpster had something to do with
that… So, we took a taxi to another sushi place called Zhu Di Sushi. Fish there
was fine but not all that remarkable. Afterwards we hung out at the nearby Dadong
Night Market which wasn't too busy and sold some useful stuff.
Tuesday, Oct 24 – Tainan [Leon]
This
morning we decided to explore some of the many famous temples in Tainan. We
started by taking a taxi to the Chihkan Tower. This tower was built on the site
of former Fort Provintia – another Dutch outpost from 1650s. Just like Anping,
this fort was also surrendered to Koxinga in 1660s. After visiting Chihkan
Tower, we headed across the street to the Official God of War Temple – a Taoist
temple built around 1665 and dedicated to Guan Di, a famous general and patron
saint of soldiers. Then we briefly stopped at Guangdong Temple and proceeded to
Tainan Grand Matsu Temple, originally built in 1664 as a palace for a Ming
dynasty prince. Then we visited Tiantan Temple (Altar of Heaven) – a Taoist
temple to Tiangong (Jade Emperor). Passing by the National Museum of Taiwan
Literature, we then walked over to the Confucius Temple which was built in 1665
and looked somewhat less austere then most other Confucian temples we had seen.
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| Chihkan Tower |
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| Tiantan Temple |
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| Tiantan Temple |
Getting
a bit tired of temples, we stopped by an interesting-looking coffee shop called
David Yang Coffee, with the name stenciled in the same font as Starbucks
Coffee. We got two little bottles of cold brew coffee which was surprisingly
good. We then considered what to do next and decided that lunch at a fish market
is worth a one-hour drive.
So,
we quickly walked back to our hotel, got our car and drove out to Budai. At
first, we got a bit lost trying to navigate the jumble of old narrow streets
out of Tainan city center. I also wanted to avoid going to Highway 1 which
Google recommended but which looked like a long roundabout way. Then I found
Rt. 17 which led us to Rt. 61. This brand new highway followed the coastline
and was elevated over the marshlands. For some reason, it was completely empty
– no other cars. I even thought that perhaps it’s unfinished and will end at
some point… Well, since it was such a nice empty road, I stepped on the gas and
we got to Budai pretty quickly! The Budai Harbor Fish Market was very nice –
lots of fresh fish, crabs, oysters, shrimp, and other seafood. We had a great
seafood lunch at one of the restaurants lining the perimeter of the market,
following my rules of selecting a restaurant – pick the one with the most local
customers and avoid those with hosts trying to invite you in. Then we strolled
through the market some more, indulging in our hobby of fish watching.
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| At Budai Harbor Fish Market |
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| At Budai Harbor Fish Market |
Driving
back to Tainan, we stopped by the Taiwan Salt Museum and Salt Mountain at
Chigu. We didn’t go into the museum, but did climb the salt hill to snap some
pictures and see the view of surrounding marshlands. Back in Tainan, we relaxed
a bit and headed over to Dadong Night Market for dinner. We weren’t too hungry
after our big lunch at Budai Fish Market, so we just caught a few snacks. I
also tried my hand at longbow archery and won a stuffed chipmunk for Sofia,
which she picked thinking it was a squirrel.
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| Salt Mountain at Chigu |
Wednesday, Oct 25 – Tainan à Alishan [Leon + Sofia]
We
spent the morning exploring a few more temples in Tainan that we missed the day
before. First we visited Tainan Fu City God Temple, built in 1669 and dedicated
to the deity in charge of the spiritual and moral character of city’s
inhabitants, especially government officials. Then we proceeded to the Dongyue
Temple primarily dedicated to deities of the underworld – very dark and mysterious.
After that, we walked over to the Lady Linshue Temple, dedicated to the goddess
of birth and fertility, protector of women and children. Finally, we made our
way to the Koxinga Shrine, built to commemorate the life and heroic deeds of
the Chinese general (real name Zheng Chenggong), who kicked the Dutch out of
Taiwan. The story of Koxinga’s life was almost unreal, like an Asian Game of
Thrones, with so many twists, plots, and counter-plots.
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| At Tainan Fu City God Temple |
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| At Tainan Fu City God Temple |
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| At Tainan Fu City God Temple |
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| At Dongyue Temple |
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| At Lady Linshue Temple |
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| At Lady Linshue Temple |
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| At Koxinga Shrine |
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| At Koxinga Shrine |
Afterwards,
we ran back to the hotel, got our car and drove out. Getting used to the web of
narrow Tainan streets, we found Highway 1 relatively quickly. After about an
hour on this road and a bit more on another highway, we switched to Route 18.
We stopped at Fanlu to look at a temple and a hanging bridge. The road started
climbing up quickly after Fanlu. After an hour of slow mountain driving we
ended up at Fenqihu. We decided to skip the traditional train bento box lunch
in lieu of more indigenous food – tea oil chicken and deep fried fish with chayote.
The little Fenqihu town had a street full of vendors selling all kinds of
creative snacks in addition to tea – mochi, wasabi peanuts, and preserved
lemons. Then we went to the railway museum with a few locomotives from
beginning of last century, all very well preserved. Feeling a bit drowsy because
of altitude we continued our drive to Alishan. At the station, the shuttle bus
to our hotel just left, so we had to wait 30 minutes. Leon made a good use of
the time by going to buy tickets to sunrise train for tomorrow morning. The
temperature dropped quickly and dramatically, all the way to 14C! We had to put
on all our layers just to keep warm.
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| Temple at Fanlu |
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| Railway museum at Fenqihu |
The
hotel was just a 3 minute drive from the station. We ran around to explore the old
building frozen in time and saw a picture-perfect sunset. For dinner at the buffet
dining room Leon ordered and fearlessly drank half a bottle of sweet millet
wine which tasted more like sweetened condensed milk. Leon seemed to like it
and acted somewhat funky the entire evening after that.
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| Alishan sunset |
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| Alishan sunset |
Thursday, Oct 26 –
Alishan [Sofia]
We
woke up at 4 am to go see the famous sunrise over Alishan Mountains. We took the
hotel shuttle to the station, followed by a 20 minute choo-choo train ride with
a bunch of primarily mainland Chinese tourists. It was very cold – about 11C.
Shivering and drinking ginger tea we stumbled to the main viewing platform. It
was quite crowded, so we walked another 500 meters uphill to another viewing
platform at Mt. Ogasawara – 2,488 meters above sea level. The sunrise at 5:25 am
was absolutely amazing – with gentle gradient light on distant mountain peaks
and bright orange sun rising behind them.
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| Alishan sunrise |
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| Alishan sunrise |
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| At Alishan station after sunrise |
We
took the train back and went for breakfast at our hotel. Feeling re-energized,
we decided to hike Tashan Trail (3.5 km one way) to the point 2,663 meters high
with great views of the Jade Mountain. First we walked through the park and
past picturesque Sister Ponds. Then we found Tashan trailhead and proceeded
next to the railroad, with stairs leading up and down the trail – mostly up of
course. It was sunny and starting to warm up, so the hike was pleasant but
still challenging due to high elevation. We saw a whole family of monkeys
jumping not very gracefully high up from branch to branch, scratching and doing
other monkey things. For the last 1.5 km the trail got steeper, all stairs with
significant elevation gain up the cliff. Resting on the viewing platform at the
top of the trail, we couldn't see much because of the fog. But then the wind
blew the fog and the clouds away, and we snapped a few photos of Jade Mountain,
the highest peak in Southeast Asia. It took us two hours to hike up the Tashan
Trail, and about an hour and a half to go back down. We caught a shuttle to the
station and ended up in a welcoming hot pot lunch place that Leon really liked.
The soup was boiling hot and spicy – just what we needed after a long morning
hike. Exactly on the clock at 2 pm thick white fog started to roll in, covered
everything and the temperature quickly dropped. We made it back to our hotel on
foot through this fog, and even scored a little bottle of Johnnie Walker Black
at 7-11 store on the way, since I refused to drink spiked condensed milk a.k.a.
millet wine.
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| Sister Ponds |
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| Tashan Trail - almost at the end! |
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| Sea of Clouds |
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| Jade Mountain |
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| Jade Mountain |
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| Hot Pot lunch |
Friday, Oct 27 – Alishan
à Taichung [Sofia]
We
woke up to get an earlier start on our day. This hotel has been great – with
amazing views and good food in the restaurant, especially smoked mackerel. It's
sunny again, but still cold in the early morning air. Driving down curvy
mountain roads wasn't much fun, and we both felt a bit nauseous. Finally we
descended the mountain and stopped at Fanlu again to change back into shorts. Then
we continued our drive and in a couple of hours arrived to the old city of
Lukang, famous for its historic temples, baked goods, and handcrafts. Exploring
this city on foot is a challenge due to lack of walkways and aggressive
unfriendly scooters. We saw a few temples including Mazu Temple and Lungshan
Temple, and another very old weathered and sun bleached Buddhist temple. Then we
caught a good lunch in a busy place serving fried seafood – oyster omelet,
oyster bun, fried shrimp and squid, all with lots of garlic.
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| Another glorious morning at Alishan |
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| Lukang temple ornament |
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| Lukang temple ornament |
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| Lukang temple ornament |
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| Lungshan Temple at Lukang |
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| Lungshan Temple at Lukang |
One
more hour of driving and we were in Taichung – third largest city in Taiwan,
without subway and with lots of traffic. The city looks very modern and quite
spread out. We checked into our Hotel Landis in the center of the city, very
modern and with a great view, and ran outside to explore. We strolled through a
nice green park with funky sculptures called Calligraphy Walk leading up to
Taiwan Art Museum. After that we took a cab to Rainbow Village – a few
buildings painted by an old war veteran with primitive colorful art. Then we
got stuck in a cab in a major Friday night traffic jam… The cab dropped us off
at the Maple Park which is built on an excavation site, open and lit up even at
night, with several turtle and fish ponds. The park is surrounded by some
amazing modern high rise buildings, creating beautifully illuminated skyline
views on all four sides. Then we walked over to a new building of Taichung National
Theater which was completed just a year ago to replace the old building damaged
by an earthquake. The new building is absolutely amazing, very modern and
fluid, open to public, with some shops and galleries and a big cave-like area
for theater performances. The 6th floor hosted an open air garden with a
waterfall, surrounded by high rise luxury buildings. For dinner we went to a Japanese
restaurant not far from the theater called Hibiki Sushi. It was sort of a
modern omakaze place, and we had a very nice multi-course sushi dinner.
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| Rainbow Village |
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| Maple Park |
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| Taichung National Theater |
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| Taichung National Theater |
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| At Hibiki Sushi |
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| At Hibiki Sushi |
Saturday, Oct 28 –
Taichung à US [Sofia]
Today
is our last day in Taiwan and we spent it hanging out in the old part of
Taichung close to the train station. Seems like a very nice place to hang out,
with a few lovely Japanese architecture buildings, shops and restaurants. Some
buildings were creatively renovated where the facade was left in place
with shop windows behind the columns replaced. We found famous dessert emporium
called Miyahara Eye Clinic – the building actually housed an optometry practice
during Japanese occupation. But that was a long time ago, and now they serve
countless flavors of amazing ice cream. So, at 10 am we shared a gigantic
multicolored ice cream sundae with cookies and waffle butterflies.
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| Taichung - Japanese architecture |
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| Miyahara Eye Clinic |
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| Miyahara Eye Clinic ice cream |
The
2 hour drive to Taoyuan Airport was uneventful, up Highway 1 through mainly industrial
landscape. Mr. Pan met us at the terminal as promised. He picked up the car and
we said goodbye to him, our little Mazda and Taiwan.
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