Day 31 - A Visit To A Sugar Factory, Temples On A Lake, And Arriving In Kaohsuing, The Long Walk South In Taiwan

 

Day 31 - A Visit To A Sugar Factory, Temples On A Lake, And  Arriving In Kaohsuing, The Long Walk South In Taiwan  

We got up early today, at 6:30 am, so we could eat breakfast at the hotel and still catch an early train to Gangshan, where we started walking with our friend Wendy.  

Wendy suggested that along the way we visit a historic  Japanese-era sugar factory, now converted into a museum.

The sugar industry played a big part in the history of Taiwan, and is still a major land owner, owning a big portion of the island.

The old factory’s administrative buildings were built by the Japanese using European-style architecture.

They displayed the old trains that were used to transport the sugar to the plant for processing.  

The sugar factory had its own railway and its own trains.

Everything in the factory was still there, although some of the rusty equipment was taken and used to create metal sculptures that are displayed in the gardens.

The vast grounds of the factory that are no longer in use have been planted with many trees.

Before leaving the sugar museum, we stopped at a small cafe and bought some water for the road.

The couple running the cafe told Wendy that they had met just yesterday a local Taiwanese couple who were also walking around Taiwan.

Next, we left the sugar museum and walked south through Kaohsuing Metropolitan park, along a canal and then the river.  

We came across a small group of guys who meet there every day, to fly their remote control battery powered model airplanes.

This reminded me of my childhood, when I had a brief fascination with model airplanes, and even bought kits of Balsa wood to build simple models.

Of course none of my models flew as nicely as those beautifully made airplanes that the guys flew.  

We walked along the river in the park for some distance.  

I am tired of mentioning again the hot weather, but it was yet another very hot day, and mostly sunny.

When we finished the walk by the river, we had to climb up off the path to get to the car bridge that crossed the river.

A guy was hanging out, exactly at the spot where we had to climb up.

He gave each one of us his hand, and helped us get off the path and onto the stairs.

I was thinking how sweet and fortunate it was.

Normally when you hike a long pedestrian path, seeing a man hanging around might be a scary encounter, but here he was, so eager to help us and to be useful.

It reminded me that we create the horror movies that are inside our own minds, where in reality, most stories are love stories, involving much kindness and help.

Right after we crossed the bridge,  we came across a Michelin recommended (from 2020, 2022 and 2023) simple dumpling restaurant, which had a table for us for lunch.

It was extremely busy and packed with customers.  

The vegetable dumplings were delicious, and the bread-strings with onions were delicious too.

It was a nice break from walking for a few minutes.  

After lunch, we walked for about an hour and a half to a big lake, north of Kaohsuing.

The lake has some big temples around it and it attracts many people.

The first temple we visited was a Confucian temple, a replica of the buildings in the forbidden city in Beijing.  

Wendy said that it looked too vast and too perfect for her taste, and that she much prefers the old beautiful temples that have more character and charm.

We sat in a cafe in the Confucian temple to have some iced green tea and mango gelato.

After we toured each of the buildings, we walked along the lake to a large, brightly painted Taoist temple, dedicated to the god of wealth.

A huge statue of the god of wealth was sitting on top of the temple.

Then we walked down to the spring and autumn pavilions, which are connected by a dragon that you can walk into.  

The goddess of mercy stood on the dragon as well as a crow, carrying a string of pearls in its mouth.

Real live crows and doves live on the golden crow statue.

Before we returned to Tainan, we walked over to see the old stone north gate of the city.

The wall and gate are located in the neighborhood of Zuoying, the Old Fongshan City.  That was the first city wall built in the County by the Qing Government after taking control of Taiwan.

The wall was built with coral stone from Chaishan, located on the sea just west of Zuoing, and it was filled with cement.

The arch of the gate was built with granite from China. 

We walked to the Zuoing train station and took the train back to Tainan.  

We said goodbye to Wendy and thanked her again for the fabulous job that she did in choosing our walking route today and showing us some of her favorite places in Tainan and Kaohsiung.  

Instead of returning to the hotel with Wendy, we walked over to the Starbucks in the Mitzukoshi department store, to relax and gather our thoughts before dinner.  

We decided to try to get dinner at the tiny vegan ramen bar. This time, we were lucky that they did have two seats for us.  

The light and tasty ramen we chose was made with soy milk and truffles.

As we were walking back towards the hotel, we ran into Wendy and her husband Joseph, who were at a street stall selling a traditional rice based dessert that was highly recommended by their daughter.

We watched how this rice dessert was made, and Joseph bought six pieces for us to try.  

Afterwords, we walked together to see two of the oldest temples in the city, the Chikan Tower, a 17th century fort that has a temple inside it, and Tainan Guan Gong Temple, dating back to 1665. 

Guan Gong is the god of wealth.  

Both places were beautifully lit at night.

On the temple grounds, we sat to try a sticky rice dessert which was steamed and delicious.

Back at the hotel, we used the hot baths to relax our muscles.

I also dipped my feet in the cold bath, to ease the tension in my legs.

I was surprised to see how many women were bathing at the hot baths, so late and close to closing time.

Overall, we concluded that this was a great and enjoyable day full of beautiful things to see and lovely experiences.

We enjoyed walking with local friends, and felt grateful for their help and generosity.

With love,

Tali

Today’s Stats:

Steps - 37,080

Daily Distance - 25 km.  

Total Distance To Date - 498 km