Day 43 - Goodbye Taiwan

What turned out to be photographically my least productive day so far on the journey, started with a grey sky and rain.
This called for the best way to spend a day like this, by going to a museum and what better museum than the Palace Museum to see the Chinese history over 6000 years.

Since photography is not allowed in the museum there are not many photos I can share from how I spent most of my day but the visit to the museum is well worth it and one of the must see things in Taiwan.
There is really a lit to see there with different exhibitions and exhibits and even some interactive elements, although it could do with more of those. The time I had was barely enough to see the main exhibits and some other few bits.

After losing track of time in the museum and having to rush for my train in Taipei to get to Taichung on time, I was left at the station far outside town without a connecting train to the port but only 45 minutes to get there.
A (too long) taxi drive later I stood in the passenger terminal and managed to get the people in the ticket office as they were about to leave. They were nice enough to give me a ticket before we discovered that I did not have enough cash with me and there was no ATM anywhere in sight.
Thanks to some very helpful security guys there and the girls on the counter, I managed to (slightly over-) pay with a combination of NT$, RMB and EURO for my ferry ticket and get on the ferry with some time to spare.

So this is another lesson learned, if you take the ferry go to and depart from Keelung as the port is just 2 minutes from the rail station, there are ATMs available and it is quicker and cheaper to get there. The downside is that the boat only goes there every 4 days.
This or you could just get to Taichung with enough time to spare and have enough cash with you, so whatever you think is easier or more adventurous. ;)

Last but not least, thanks Jenny for everything and showing me around (all the food places)! :)

Day 42 - Tea Mountain and Night Market

As you can see from the picture above, I took the cable car up a mountain and did not hike. yes, I took the convenient way up but did not feel like hiking all the way as I have done on Huashan.
The mountain in question is the Maokong mountain in Taipei where you can see some nice temples, lots of tea houses and the Tea Promotion Centre, here you get a free tea tasting and can learn more about the local teas.

It was a nice day for a trip out of the city as it was warm but not too sunny so doing a bit of light hiking was enjoyable.
The first stop was Zinan Temple and from there in search of  'potholes' a hike to Maokong station for tea tasting and lunch.

The hike was mostly along the main road so not very demanding but it was quite peaceful and enjoyable due to almost no traffic. The views were very nice along the way and you can discover quite a bit if you keep your eyes open.

The potholes were a bit strange and without knowing the full background I was not hugely impressed (you can see for yourself above) but it was quite nice overall.

After taking the cable car down and enjoying the views by night of Taipei and the towering 101, the next stop for the day was the night market in Shilin for a browse around.
The market is pretty cool and as with all those markets, there is always plenty of stuff to see, photograph and buy. I focussed on the seeing and photographing part and let others do the buying. ;)

Tomorrow will be my last day in Taiwan and I will be taking the ferry from Taichung to Xiamen, should all go well. In case there are unexpected delays,  I guess you will get more posts from Taiwan. :)

Day 41 - Taipei 101

After arriving back to Taipei from Kaoshiung and having lunch, the destination for the day was Taipei 101 and enjoying the views. A lot of cities look the same from above but it's always a worth experience.

It was a fairly clear day so the views from the observation desk were very nice but in order not to bore you with just pictures from above, I did what I usually do an focused on the people there and tried to incorporate some other details.

You can see really far from the first observation platform and the few clouds in the sky provided a nice contrast for taking pictures.

Unlike other high buildings in places like New York, the 101 stands quite alone towering over everything so nothing you can see comes even remotely close to it in terms of hight.

After visiting the open air observation deck and the Tuned Mass Damper, which (sadly?) did not move, it was almost time for the sunset so the decision was easy to just stay a bit longer and take in the sunset.
The sunset was not very spectacular but once all the lights were on the city looked great from up here and provided great opportunities for photos.

Day 40 - Lotus Lake and Cijin Island

Woke up in the morning to head to Zuoying and walk around the Lotus Lake, this got recommended and the temples and pagodas looked very nice in photos.

The temples built on to the lake looked great, especially from a distance but from close up  found them a bit kitschy in a way and they reminded me of fun fair attractions where you walk through the mouth of a tiger or dragon to get to your ride.

It was very interesting to see and quite a departure from other temples I have seen in China or Japan but I was not quite sure what to make of it. I could not shake the feeling that they looked fake and a bit commercial rather than being proper temples.

There is also nothing much to see around the lake otherwise and there are not even a lot of shops or cafes nearby, especially at the north end of the lake.
So after walking all around the lake and seeing all temples, I figured I had seen enough and headed back to Kaoshiung to take the ferry to Cijin Island before it got too late.

Cijin Island was very nice with the market, lots of nice seafood restaurants, the sea and people out and about. It is certainly worth seeing and I should have gotten there earlier as the lighthouse was already closed by the time I got up there. I still managed to find my way in the darkness from the lighthouse to the fort, which provided a great view over the island and Kaoshiung. So despite t being late, I would say the view from there is worth going up even after dark.

Once I took in the view and some long exposure photos, I headed back to Kaoshiung and had a nice ice dessert before taking some more pictures at the Dome of Light (I really like the colours there).

Tomorrow morning, I will be heading back to Taipei for a few days before taking the ferry back to Xiamen.

As you would have noticed, keeping my blog up to date (or even close to that) proves quite a challenge and with me being around so much, I hardly have time to sort through pictures and internet access is also patchy when I do have time to post.

Day 39 - Jade, Flowers and Kaoshiung Art

I thought I got out of my hotel way too late to see the best of the flower and jade markets, turns out that Taiwanese are not morning people so they were still setting up their stands when I got there mid morning.

Both markets are well worth a look and seem great for buying souvenirs, the jade market probably more as I don't think flowers will survive a flight back or my round the world trip intact. The markets are fairly big and are right under a elevated highway, the flower market even has a cool air humidifier system. As mentioned before, you don't need to get up early for either as most sellers seem to arrive at around 10 am to set things up in the jade market.

After exploring the markets and the nearby park, I got to the train station and bought a ticket for Kaoshiung in the fast train, this only takes 90 minutes to go from north Taiwan to the south of the island. During the train ride it occurred to me that the island is not very big given that even the slow train gets from north to south in 5-6 hours.

In Kaoshiung my first stop after checking in to the hotel was the Formosa Boulevard station to see the Dome of Light. I have to say it's pretty cool with some nice motives and colours. It's definitely worth a look and it's central enough so you will be going past when in Kaoshiung.
Everything was set up for a wedding of sorts so there were banners and a piano in the way but I tried to include some of the decorations and piano in my pictures. If you can't get rid of it, might as well make use of it.

The next stop was meant to be Cijin island but I got sidetracked by the Pier 2 Art District, the Lovers Pier and Banana Wharf. After spending quite a bit of time walking around there and taking pictures, I decided Cijin Island would have to wait for tomorrow.