There's a tangible sense that whatever the most kitsch, raucous and gaudy product on this seething mass of an island, it's definitely to be found in the back alleys and waterfront boardwalk of this spot, as long as it's cheap, possibly nasty, but always, just always, remarkable and very interesting!
The accompanying food ranges from the local delicacies, among them most parts of a pig's entrails and other squishy bits, all the way through to deep fried flattened whole squids on a stick and ice-creams that defy gravity with a foot high swirl of icy confectionery.
This could be nowhere else than the fabled jewel of the north coast, the Yahweh of the Damshui, the emperor of the rivermouth, yes, indeed, the vibrant twin towns of Damshui-Bali. We'd been disgorged with the madding hordes at the terminus station of Damshui in the late morning on Sunday, to be greeted with a biblical crowd of tourists and a searing sun set to wreak havoc upon our lily white visages. The train had become increasingly packed as we approached the coast, yet when the train doors whooshed open, the wave of people slowly washed down the stairs and through the electronic gates before fizzing out onto the forecourt, spreading and dampening the riverside parks and seating areas with its rather awesome volume and variety.
We took a sharp turn right to dodge the froth, yet soon encountered a street barrier. In very un-Taiwanese fashion we threaded our way through the barrier, crossed the street illegally then squeezed our way back onto "Old Street" as it speared away from the station. The sights and sounds and smells never cease to surprise and amaze, despite the rather kitsch nature of the proffered goods, services and food. A cacophony of chatter and tinny background music blasts away as you move down the street and each shopfront competes to draw the eye with some visual assault or other. After we reached about the 3/4 mark we ducked into a tight alley that headed towards the waterfront boulevard...
Despite the relatively early hour, the boardwalk was already filling up, so after a bit more of a wander upriver, we headed back to the ferry wharf to book a berth over to the western bank and the twin town of Bali. We were ushered in quick fashion onto a utilitarian ferry chock full of humanity for the dash across the powerful, wide Damshui River. The entry point (a drop down bow) was raised to make the journey, reminding us of a troop carrier en-route to a foreign beach under fire: we half expected artillery to start pinging off the metal door rather than the odd dramatic crash of boat wake!
Bali was a sizzling melting pot of humanity squeezed onto a narrow waterfront promenade with corresponding rows of fast food stalls and tacky souvenirs, until we made our way further towards the river mouth when the park widened dramatically, the stalls disappeared and grass and trees made a reappearance. After a pleasant stroll through undulating parkland with a pleasant breeze whistling off the water, we wandered through venues with karaoke singing men with a dedicated following and racetracks with dozens of tiny designer cars being driven by tiny tots! If they were too young to operate them, the cars could be guided by remote control by a trailing parent: so cute.
Our lunch venue, The Four Seasons Waterfront was a real treat. I'd spied this place in a photo taken by one of my Taiwanese colleagues and she gave a vague description of its location, so we tried to track it down and with some success. We each had a four course lunch in French style, slightly incongruous as it was served in Balinese style thatched roofed pagodas, but hey, this is Taiwan, the land of the beautifully quirky! We posed for the obligatory shot near their wet edge pool looking out over the river before re-tracing our steps back to the ferry wharf.
A queue for the ferry of at least 500 metres length was slightly off-putting, but the ferrymen and pilots were so efficient, that the line was whittled down within half an hour and we were cruising across to wander back through the park and hop on the train back home in no time at all. It was an enervating afternoon and evening and we managed to stay up for only a relatively short time before getting an early night to be ready for work today. We'd been over to the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi buildings on Saturday to see Billy Flynn's Long Halftime Walk (a rare disappointment from the usually reliable Ang Lee) and eat at Thai Town, so we'd had a rather busy weekend.
Cass with stars of a movie at Shin Kong, and various shots from our Sunday outing to Damshui and Bali.