Day 19: Heading back North

After yesterday’s disappointing visit to Kaohsiung (our only destinations were the Dream Mall and our hotel’s surrounding streets), we headed out to Tainan, the country’s cultural capital. We had a late start though, partially caused by some light rain slowing down the luggage loading, but mostly as a result of last night’s post bed-check activities. Once again staying in a big city, many took the liberty in sneaking out to explore Kaohsiung’s clubs –  making waking up very difficult with a 6:40 morning call, 7:10 breakfast and an 8:10 boarding time. After some delays, we were on the freeway by nine, heading North for an hour-long drive.

In Front of the National Taiwanese
Museum of Literature.

Tainan was the former capital city of Taiwan, and thus, it’s filled with historical buildings. We started with the National Museum of Taiwanese Literature, near Tainan’s centre; part of the building was built in 1916 during Japanese occupation, but in recent years, the museum has been re-designed with a modern touch. I had visited the site four years ago when I last visited Tainan, but for this visit I had something else to see.

Most of my relatives on my mom’s side live in Tainan, many in close proximity to the Museum of Taiwanese Literature. My grandma, second eldest aunt, and third eldest aunt decided to meet me there. In our tour’s hour of free time, we walked around the museum on our own time, and then went to the building’s café for some tea and coffee.

Left: Maple leaf pin my third aunt wore for the occasion; Right: Tea!


We then took a minute-long bus ride to the Confucius Temple (I don't really understand why we didn’t walk). The temple, another showcase of historical culture, featured some exhibits displaying artifacts regarding Confucianism in Taiwan, but besides a group picture, the visit was fairly uneventful. Until the mayor of Tainan arrived.

Left: Confucius Temple;      Right: Mayor of Tainan and his crew.

Well, that actually didn’t change much either. Essentially, he arrived with a crew of cameramen, news reporters, some other VIP-looking guy, and some guard-like people who cleared a path for him. Oh, and the temple staff prepared an orchestra to accompany him, so we watched the mayor move from spot to spot in the temple, followed by people playing the Chinese flute and other traditional instruments. He later gave a speech, and then had his picture taken, before being escorted out.

Driving around Tainan. The skies are cloudy, but no rain. Yet.

Lunch came next; we stopped at a restaurant nearby Anping, an area just to the west of Tainan, bordering the ocean. Our next destination was to be Anping Fort, built by the Dutch when they arrived in the 17th century, the first Europeans to settle in Taiwan. Unfortunately, heavy rain once again started during our meal (like yesterday), and after a landslide vote, we skipped the fort and headed directly to Sitou, our final stop of the day.

Heavy Rain at Tainan's Waterfront (view from the restaurant's window).

I’ve been to Anping before so I have seen it, though many people on our trip have not. Regardless, I had voted to go to the fort, as we’ve done so little in Tainan and Kaohsiung. Rain in the past two days have given many other students very little to think about of Southern Taiwan: our visit highlights were Kaohsiung’s Dream Mall, and today’s Literature Museum and Confucius Temple.

Anyways, we left Southern Taiwan with a three hour drive northward. Taiwan’s west coast is much more developed than its east coast, with a multilane freeway that allowed us to span greater distances in less time. The east coast had offered us beautiful scenery, but through winding through mountains and turning with the coastline, a short distance on the map can take a long time. Today, we seemed to zoom up the west, passing the Tropic of Cancer once again (so we’re technically not in the tropics anymore).

I would've taken more photos from our bus windows, but the rain and condensation (due to the decreasing temperatures outside) made all the pictures appear like this one.

The Sitou National Forest Recreational Area is in central Taiwan, and is monitored by National Taiwan University’s forestry department. As we left the freeway on the way to the town of Sitou, the highways became smaller, and soon we were climbing a narrow road up the mountains, over 1100 metres above sea level. We arrived at the Sitou Youth Activity Centre, a very nice area with cabins blending in among the trees, rivers, waterfalls, and fog that gives the area its mysterious atmosphere.

Left: The main walkway at our youth center. Right: One of the several smaller pathways.

Our cabins. Despite being in a forest up in the mountains,

 this centre was probably one of the nicest places we've stayed in the entire Down South Trip.

Our rooms.

We were greeted with the message that a tree had fallen over earlier today, taking the power line down with it. No lights, no hot water, no computers, no charging camera batteries. Even the vending machines didn't work for those who wanted a drink. Of course, at four-thirty in the afternoon (we got there early because we skipped Anping), the sun is still up, although the heavy fog kept the light dim. We walked around the area, its nature beautiful, the air fresh, and the temperature cool – no higher than 20 degrees Celcius.

Sights around the Sitou Youth Activity Center.

We had dinner at six, in relative darkness with just a bit of sunlight making it through the windows on the door; we could make out the shape of the food, but we weren’t always sure what the food was until we ate some. The overall experience reminded me of those pitch black restaurants that intend to allow its costumers to fully savour their food by eating in the dark, though I still don’t really see its appeal.

Picture taken during dinner time. Without flash.

After dinner, we had a bus meeting to discuss our group performance for the talent show coming up in a few days. Discussions ended up mixing a lot of ideas, including dance and song, some acting, a fight scene, a wedding, etc. I’m up with the scripting team, so we’ll see how it goes. Anyways, halfway through the meeting, lights turned on, which everyone replied to with applause.

Glad that the power was back, though partially still wanting to see how a night would go without electricity, we (well, at least me) returned to our rooms at around nine. The Sitou Youth Activity Centre is relatively far from the main street of Sitou, which is small to start with. For the first time, we did not have a 7-11 within walking distance - or any other shop. Thus, today was not the day to venture out, so we spent the night hanging out and watching TV. Also, there was no internet (though not a big problem) – explaining why this post is late.