The train scythed through rice paddies, hurtled through built up areas on the edge of cities and jettisoned into mountain tunnels all at an astonishing clip, eclipsing all steel road traveling we'd done in Taiwan to this date. We were on our way at 300 km/h to Taiwan's second largest metropolis of Kaohsiung for a long weekend of touristing, taking advantage of one of our personal days to extend the regular weekend into Monday.
We ate our breakfast on Saturday at a civilized hour before loading up a single "trolley dolly" to trundle down to the MRT station at Mingde, ride to Taipei and transfer to the High Speed Rail. We'd left far too much time, forgetting the awesome efficiency of this place. Nonetheless, we boarded a slick bullet train, not dissimilar to the Shinkansens in Japan and the TGVs in France that we'd used in the past many times. Our hotel was a skip beyond the main station that we linked to via Kaohsiung's own version of the MRT: too easy, even our value added cards worked! The functional hotel room was equipped with everything you could think of and possibly more, the pulsing, massaging shower being the highlight....ugly but incredible! We got the lie of the land, got sun-screened and hatted, then braved the searing heat to wander the streets in search of the Love River.
Kaohsiung is a busy port city and is fed by the creatively monikered "Love River". After quite a trek, we wandered the banks and eventually found a tiny cruise terminal where we shared a cute boat with a few locals and motored up and down the river gazing at the awesome modern architecture and quirky river traffic. Back on dry land we wandered some more streets, were surprised at some of the street art installations and found our way to a nearby metro station. Our destination was Formosa Boulevard, where a massive glass installation was quite the attraction. Murano glass installed by Germans and Mexicans under the guidance of an Italian artist, the installation is quite spectacular. Part of it was shrouded for a backstage area and we weren't there at the light show times, but even so, it was quite the sight. The heat, however, was enervating and we were glad to get back and shower and cool off, grab some local quick bites for tea and get ready for Sunday.
Breakfast at the Kindness Hotel was quite the event! We'd been regaled with the wonders of the complimentary "midnight snacks" the night before, which apparently was a magnet for our fellow travellers. We'd wandered in, around and straight out when we realized the "snacks" were catering to the local taste and not offering us the cake and coffee we were searching for! The breakfast buffet was vast and a massive counter was stocked with dumplings, fish, noodles and vegetable dishes of every description. The other side was dedicated to salads, breads, eggs, fried foods, omelettes etc. Cass and I each sourced suitable fare from the array of choices and, fortified, we headed out again into the searing heat.
We had the metro system wired after a day: it was so similar in style to Taipei's, albeit more shiny and new! I'd discovered a few highlights of the city blogged by a couple of young Singaporean girls which, incredibly, seemed to match our taste exactly. We followed their advice to visit Pier 2 Art Area followed by a ferry ride to Cinjn Island. First up, Pier 2! What a trip! The entire area was spread out over a few blocks where abandoned warehouses had been restored and re-purposed allowing spaces for creative workshops, live music and theatre as well as art workshopping. The buildings were splashed with giant murals, and even utilities like electric boxes were creatively re-used with interesting ideas and artistic additives. There were crazy sculptures of enormous scale: shipping containers tilted into a gravity defying helix and invented creatures confronting the old buildings while Logan's Runesque light rail trams whispered through the park. It was a creative oasis of wonder in the middle of a bustling city, yet despite its artistic salve, the brutal realities of a hot day in the south of the country were taking their toll on the pale skinned visitors!
We burrowed into the depths of the subway system yet again to emerge on the edge of the harbourside precinct. Enterprising stallholders were selling all manner of hats and coverings so I got a cheap hat which we were surprised to find was 100%paper, according to the label. Winding our way a few blocks to the ferry wharf, we were met by a queue of people waiting to board, but the line soon whittled down as one ferry after another magically maneuvered into minuscule spots on the wharf and people and scooters embarked and disembarked accordingly. Seven minutes later we'd braved the port entrance and were disgorged with the masses onto Cinjin Island.
Swapping a little money and an identity card, we were soon armed with a tandem bike with electric assistance motor, roof adorned with Winnie the Pooh and a map of the island's bike paths. First stop, the starlight tunnel. The walking tunnel through the headland leads to an ocean-side boardwalk complete with rugged, rocky cliffs and copses of flowering cacti. It was here you could almost reach out and touch container ships entering the narrow port entrance and get deafened by their warning horns. Back on the bike and past the "fat sweating men" bar (!) we journeyed from one kitsch seaside sculpture to the next for various photo opportunities. It was beautiful to catch the sea breeze and look out on the ocean vistas as we purred along. We retraced our tracks to deposit the bike back with the entrepreneurial rental boys, lined up, ferried back then subwayed our way all the way home to the hotel. We'd sweated copious amounts so were relieved to shower and cool off before embarking on our next adventure of dinner at Andrea's Pizza!
Just a few short blocks from the hotel and scoped from a Google maps search for pizza near out GPS location was Andrea Pizza, in a backstreet and a postage stamped size, just three tables and a bar. It's the best pizza we've had in Taiwan, even besting the famous Oggi! We reckon it rivals (and Cass says the quatro formaggi beats) the best we've had round the world including Gusta Pizza in Florence and Amsterdam's Palorma Pizzeria! We even had our favourite cherry and blond Belgian beers as an accompaniment and left after a relaxing meal, bellies full and minds blown by our discovery in a little Kaohsiung alley.
Late breakfast and checkout was in order on that most decadent of days: when you're getting paid to work yet you're doing nothing of the sort! Monday morning late we caught the metro out to the terminal station for the High Speed Rail, Zhouying, with plans to shuttle bus onwards to a massive Buddhist monastery and series of temples and giant Buddha. We shunted our bag into a locker after some comical efforts at reading the instructions, then discovered we'd just missed the shuttle bus and another wouldn't arrive for an hour. Undeterred, we decided to walk to another attraction a couple of kilometeres away, the Lotus Lake. After another enervating, hot walk where we were entertained by birds and squirrels along the way, the cooling winds whipped from the waters of the lake were very welcome. The lake was ringed by out-sized temples, pagodas, dragons, Buddhas and other statues, all interesting and diverting. We tried an alternative route back, got discombobulated by swooping and stacked expressways, and eventually wended our way through to the back entrance of the station with loads of time to retrieve our bag, re-fuel, then board the juggernaut ready for the trip back home.
Successfully whisked back to the top of the island with a minimum of fuss and time, we dined at an Indian restaurant in the main station before getting our own metro back home to Mingde. Mary was pleased to see us and we were pleased to see she'd survived her heroic three days without support. Somehow, we'd remained in a media blackout in order to watch the Knights "live" which we did and they won: a perfect cherry on top of a blissfully full and delicious dessert of a weekend! Photo album here.