Feeling Better, Oh Wait, Just Kidding
Taiwan – Kaohsiung – Lotus Lake – Dragon and Tiger Pavilion
Pat finally felt well enough to sightsee again. We started off easy by having a few nice but short days in Kaohsiung before taking the high speed train back to Taipei. In Taipei, we fit in two full days of sightseeing, including a day trip to Juifen, before Pat started feeling ill again. We thought maybe we had done too much too soon, but by Sunday night it was clear that this was not the achy cold that he had last week, but full blown food poisoning. He wasn’t able to keep much food down starting Sunday night. We are hoping that a good day of rest on Monday will mean he’s ready to fly to Thailand on Tuesday. Fingers crossed!
1. Go
- Bus – 6 km. Final leg to and from Juifen.
- Train – 120 km. Tainan to Kaohsiung and a day trip to Juifen from Taipei.
- High Speed Train – 350 km. Kaohsiung to Taipei in only 1.5 hours!
- Metro – 81 km. Around Kaohsiung and Taipei.
- Foot – 76,000 steps in 7 days (approx. 38 miles)
2. See
Because of Pat’s illness last week, we decided to skip Kenting Park on the south end of the island and just do the city of Kaohsiung. Pat’s dad visited this city while in the Navy, but it’s changed a bit since then! It’s still a major port and suffers from some of the worst smog in Taiwan, but they’ve done a lot of work to make the city enjoyable. Kaohsiung is near the south end of the island and much hotter than the northern cities. Despite the heat and humidity we got out and enjoyed the art scene. There are sculptures all over town (even transformers!) and murals on many walls. There is excellent shopping and a nice walkway along Love River that cuts through town.
Just north of downtown Kaohsiung is Lotus Lake. The Lake itself was pretty small, but there was plenty of activity. There were several longboats out rowing and an automated wake boarding course complete with jumps and rails. Lotus Lake is home to the most photographed place in the city, the Dragon and Tiger Pavilion, which is exactly what it sounds like. You enter through the mouth of the dragon and exit through the mouth of the tiger for good luck. The insides of the animals are decorated with elaborate scenes. In each pagoda there is a double helix stairway to the top.
Back in Taipei we visited a few places we had missed during our first stop. We went to the Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Taipei Confucius Temple, Grand Hotel (totally belongs in a Bond film), and the Martyrs’ shrine. Pat’s mom visited Taiwan over 30 years ago and had photos of the last two locations, so we went to take new photos and compare. They pretty much look the same and have been well maintained. The stripes on the ground at the Martyrs’ Shrine are from the shoes of the guards. We happened to catch the changing of the guard ceremony and the five soldiers walk in a v-formation wearing shoes with metal to make the clicking sound. They kick the shoes along the ground and over time it’s left those marks.
During our last sightseeing day in Taipei, we took a day trip to the small town of Juifen in the hills near the ocean. It was the inspiration for the spirit world in the 2001 Miyazaki film Spirited Away. It was a Sunday so it was a complete madhouse. Since we are traveling slowly, we try to avoid tourist destinations on the weekends, but this one couldn’t really be avoided given our departure date. So, for the first time in a long time, we dealt we crazy crowds. It was standing room only for the two hour trip out there, several hours of wandering, and the two hour trip home. Our step count was low, but we were on our feet a lot! It was similar to night markets we’ve been to before, but once the sun set it was magical. In the end we are glad we went, but wish we could have gone during the week instead.
3. Eat
The food in Taiwan is really excellent and we only have one complaint: we wish we could cook for ourselves occasionally. All the hostels have hot water available, so we can have instant noodles, but cooking is another matter. It’s also much cheaper to buy street food than to buy ingredients at the grocery store or market. This week we started wanting some routine and ended up eating at the same places several times in Kaohsiung. There was a night market across the street and a Japanese udon place around the corner from our hostel. We had several lunches and dinners at each.
We finally had the chance to try fishball soup which we have seen everywhere in Taiwan. It’s a basic broth with noodles to which they add three types of “fish balls.” One was similar to a dumpling with meat inside a wrapper. The other two were more like meatballs made with fish. It was surprisingly good and not too fishy.
4. Drink
With the heat and humidity we are always craving something cool to drink. While Pat was sick we looked for a sports drink, but didn’t find any of the usual culprits like Poweraid. Eventually we found a brand that is widely available and tastes good, called “Pocari Sweat.” Not the best name for a drink, but it will do.
5. Sleep
Our place in Kaohsiung (D’Well Hostel) was ranked #1 on TripAdvisor and it really measured up. We had a private room with ensuite bathroom. It was more like a hotel room than a hostel room. They also included breakfast and had instant noodles available in the evening for dinner. Our room had cable TV and A/C.
In Taipei, we stayed at the same place as before, Taipei Walker Guesthouse. It was just as good as before, but much busier. Last time there were only a handful of people, and this time it was completely packed. It was a bit noisier and the bathrooms were in use more often, but it was still very nice.
6. Move
Since Pat was still in recovery mode we didn’t want to push it too much. We got in some longer walking days, but nothing crazy.
When we arrive at new hostels, we tend to ask about running or walking routes that are nice. The staff often recommend the nearby elementary school track (there is always an elementary school nearby and they all have a 200 meter track). It makes for a quick loop, but it’s a bit repetitive. Other than that, the staff typically comment that Taiwanese don’t like exercise!
Check out Pat’s CADENCE Week 24 post (coming soon) for details about this week.
7. Etcetera
One of the things we really like about traveling for a long time is doing “regular” things in other countries, similar to study abroad experiences. Regular things include buying toiletries, going to the pharmacy, or going to a movie. This week we did all of those. Buying toiletries is pretty easy because they have a lot of the brands we have in the States, but trying to find medicine is more difficult. Other than basic pain relievers (like ibuprofen or advil), nothing is really the same. Pat needed something like Pepto Bismal, but they don’t have that here. We got some sort of powder that you swallow with water that is working really well, but is unlike anything we’ve tried before.
Going to a movie in a foreign country is always interesting. We’ve been wanting to see the new Bond film since it come out in Taiwan on November 5th, and we finally made it happen in Taipei. We made sure that it would be in English (not dubbed, only subtitles in Chinese) before going. The girl at the ticket counter spoke no English and laughed hysterically when we said, “Spectre.” Our tickets were for assigned seats and we think there may have been different prices for different seats. They also didn’t let us into the theater until five minutes before showtime. The walls were a bit thin and we could hear other movies during quiet moments, but it was still fun!
Check out our Flickr album to see all our photos from this week.
Nomadic Cadence 
One comment