People always ask me what other parts of Taiwan I’ve seen, and I have to reply awkwardly that I haven’t done much traveling yet. And the country’s so small that there’s really no excuse! So I used my week vacation for Chinese New Year to visit other parts of the country. To give you a frame of reference, I live in Taipei (in the North), and I went south to Kaohsiung, then the very tip of the island (Kenting), then about halfway back up to Taichung.
I’ve been wanting to go to Kaohsiung for some time. It’s been recommended by several people, and it’s tropical, warm, and coastal. I decided that since this is the furthest I can possibly travel on this island, it would be an ideal time to try the High Speed Rail. Tickets are more expensive, but it cuts the travel time by more than half, and it is a neat experience. The trains look a bit like rocket ships and travel at speeds of up to 186 mph. There is a sign inside the train that tells you the current speed, which is neat.
Overall, it wasn’t a drastically different experience from a regular train, but if I looked out the window for too long I did get a little nauseated. The best way I can describe it is like when you start to fast forward a movie and it starts with the slowest fast forward speed (what is it, 2x normal speed?). It’s still slow enough that you can understand most of the dialogue, but it just feels a little rushed and, if you’re me, makes you a bit anxious until you hit “play” again and you feel like you can relax. That’s what looking out the window was like. It wasn’t faster than a speeding bullet; I could still clearly see everything going by, but it was just a little too fast for my eyes and brain to feel comfortable.
I arrived in Kaohsiung within two hours, which, according to my mom, is about the distance from my hometown in Maine to Boston (a comparison which will only be relevant to my family and friends), a drive that takes at least 4 hours. Additionally, the train made about five stops between Taipei and Kaohsiung; a direct trip would be even shorter. Another comparison, if you look at the map again, is that it took two and a half hours by regular train to go from Kaohsiung up to Taichung.
Ok, enough about trains, just call me Sheldon Cooper. Kaohsiung was a strange city. It’s right on the coast, but try as I might, I couldn’t find the ocean for the first afternoon I was there. My hostel was called “Harbor View,” and on the map the waterfront looked to be only a block or two away, but when I walked in that direction, I found my way barred lots of construction barriers. So, I tried to follow the road parallel to what, I assumed, was the harbor, but it started curving in the wrong way! Frustrated, I decided to visit Lotus Pond in a different area of the city, but I didn’t do enough research into the bus schedule and found myself waiting in vain at a the bus station. Plan #3 was to walk back to my hostel (I’d taken the subway to the bus station) via Love River. I finally found the river, but making my way back to my hostel was a longer, more confusing trip than I anticipated.
I did visit a night market on my way to the hostel, which was fun, and absolutely bursting with sea food.
The next day, Chinese New Year, I managed to get to Lotus Pond (I gave up on the bus and walked from the nearest subway station). Lotus Pond is home to a few famous sites: the Spring and Autumn Pavilions, the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, and a Confucian Temple. I read that there are usually food vendors on the route around the pond, but I visited on Chinese New Year, so there was quite the little street fair.
Kaohsiung is also home to the Formosa Boulevard subway station (“Formosa” is the original name of Taiwan. You still see the word used quite frequently, although in this case it actually refers to a specific political incident). It houses the Dome of Light, the largest glasswork installation in the world (go figure). Apparently it is offered as a space for weddings. It’s beautiful and all, but I don’t think I’d want to get married in a subway station.
That afternoon, I hopped on the ferry to Cijin Island. It was only $15NT ($.30 USD), which I thought was a steal, until the ferry ride itself took about 30 seconds. You could swim to this island. Still, it was neat, and it had the same sort of street fair that I saw on Lotus Pond. And of course, being an island, it had an awesome beach. Unfortunately, that was only the first time on this trip that I saw this sign.
Also, I was astounded at the number of large shipping boats I could see on the horizon. I counted them several times while I was sitting on the beach, and it was usually around 35, although once I got up to 52. I know, sometimes my travel adventures are thrilling.
The ferry ride back had a beautiful view.
The next day I took a two hour shared-taxi ride to Kenting, the southernmost tip of Taiwan. For all I know, Kenting could have a rich cultural history, but to the casual observer, it appears to be a town built entirely for tourists. Every other store was a surf shop, and the in-between ones were hostels. The surrounding area is a national park, and I’m sure it offered some great hiking. But I wanted nothing more than a day on the beach, and that’s what I got.
Still, they don’t let you swim. If you do, a man will quickly four-wheeler on over and blow his whistle at you until you come out of the water. Clearly, they’re paying attention, so why not turn those people into life-guards, if the problem is one of safety?
The next day, I left Kaohsiung for Taichung. Taichung had been recommended to me by several people who live or have family there, but upon mentioning it to other tourists and ex-pats, I was met with the reaction of “Taichung? Why? There’s nothing there.” It’s mostly known for its museums, which I had every intention of visiting, but when it really came down to it, it was a sunny day and I didn’t want to spend it inside. Instead, I went to Rainbow Village. It’s about an hour’s bus ride from the center of the city and was built in the 1950’s as housing for military dependents when the KMT withdrew to Taiwan. A Mr. Huang began painting the buildings in 2008, beginning with his own house and then expanding to cover the entire village, walkways, and the walls enclosing the space. It’s now a major tourist draw, complete with gift shop and a street performer dressed in an Iron Man mask (I read somewhere that he’s Mr. Huang’s son). Although, the whole time I was there I didn’t see him do any actual performing, he mostly just takes pictures with people.
There is no theme to the art other than color. There are paintings of animals, celebrities, airplanes, etc.
Iron Man even had a set of painted ukuleles that he let kids pose with for pictures.
That afternoon, I went to the restaurant that is, so they claim, the creator of bubble tea. For those who may not know, bubble tea is a phenomenon that originated in Taiwan and has since taken the world by storm. I remember when I first heard about it: I was in high school, and some friends had tried it in NYC; it was the new big thing. By the time I was a senior in college, a bubble tea shop had appeared in my college town in Western Massachusetts. Last year I lived in the Czech Republic, and bubble tea was just making its first appearance in the shopping center in Liberec. And here I am now, where it all started. Anyway, to continue, it’s milk tea (black tea somehow prepared deliciously with, I think, condensed milk) with tapioca pearls (chewy, black things). It has since expanded to include an almost endless variety of flavors and fillings, the latter including flavored jelly, fruit seeds, etc. Since I was at the “home” of bubble tea, I felt compelled to have the original, but since they had such an extensive menu, I wanted to branch out a bit. I compromised, and got a jasmine bubble tea.
They take it very seriously:
That night I visited the Fengchia Night Market, reputed to be the largest night market in the island. Unfortunately, it was an hour’s bus ride from my hostel. Night markets are really great experiences, but they can be a bit overwhelming for me, especially when I’m by myself. There’s just so much sensory stimulation, with the people, the sights, the smells, and the sheer volume of choices.
Supposedly, Fengchia not only has the largest variety of street market food, it’s also the testing ground for new food ideas, before they’re introduced to other night markets around the island. I played it fairly safe, but still strangely and deliciously, with Sweet Potato Balls. They’re just that: deep fried puffs of sweet potato.
Other purchasing options include meat cooked by blowtorch.
“Bear Paws.”
International underwear.
Molecular liquid nitrogen ice cream.
And of course, fried chicken, which Taiwanese seem to love just as much as Americans.
After recounting everything, I realized that it seems like this was an awesome trip, and in many ways, I guess it was. I decided not to write about the food poisoning, the re-opened blisters, and the bed bugs, because who wants to hear about all of that? And now I feel like a more confident resident of Taiwan, since I’ve seen more of the country. I also got a chance to pull the “Actually, I live here” card when asked why I was visiting the country, which was particularly satisfying. Check out my two ukulele videos from the trip (only one uploaded at the time of writing this) at theukulelediaries.wordpress.com!
Going Out Your Door 