Taiwan – West Side

After our race South I found the quirkiest hotel ever! Honestly I was beginning to think we’d entered an alternate universe! Maybe the Nuclear Power station 30 mins away is affecting everything including my mind?

This place was good value, clean and spacious! The housekeeper, as she described herself was very friendly and when Tatjana discovered a Mulberry tree in the grounds, she picked the fruit for us to take away.

We were at bit of a loss where to aim for going North. This is such a populated part of the Island. We knew we would be meeting another host in Tainan, the old Capital of Taiwan in a few days.

We headed for Kaohsiung and on route I noticed on Google maps a place that had a few good reviews but, the thing that swung it for me was one review that said, non touristy! Well Wow! A Treasure!

Jiadong has a traditional Hakka house. The family who lived there have made it into a wonderful museum. The man who gave us entry was born there!

Hakka were originally Chinese though they seem to have assimilated with the local indigenous people. This particular house was at the forefront of resistance against the Japanese in the late 1800’s.

The house had a few courtyards in the center then an outer walkways with rooms for various family members. It was very interesting.

Now for something completely different!

Kaohsiung the industrial city, where plastic and petroleum products are made. We weren’t aiming for this part of town, it was in the way as we  navigated one of the busiest ports in Taiwan. We were trying to get to the island of Cijin just offshore.

After worrying we might end up in the port proper squashed between huge trucks, we made it onto the long thin Island.

Cijin has a historic part and we made for this and wandered around and up to the lighthouse and got fabulous views of the modern Kaohsiung city and the older Cijin town.