Day 35 - Xinyuan and Donggang Towns, The Long Walk South In Taiwan
Yesterday evening we bought new backpacks at the Mammut store.
Our plan was to ship our old backpacks to our hotel in Taipei, and continue our walk south with the new backpacks.
We packed up what we didn’t think we would need into Jules’ older backpack, including my backpack that folds into a small package.
We also packed away our raincoats, even though they are great quality raincoats that are supposed to be breathable and not make you too hot. We found them to actually be too warm to wear in this tropical weather.
In the heat, it is best to just wear our hiking shirts, which dry very quickly, instead of losing a lot of energy by walking in rain gear that makes you hot.
We also packed away the facial CB masks I bought, the super sharp knife that we were tempted to buy at a local market, the wooden hair pin I bought at the wood turner’s store, and a few other items we didn’t need for the rest of the walk.
We asked the help of the front desk at our hotel to help us ship the unneeded backpacks to our hotel in Taipei.
From their nervousness, I could tell that they do not do it often.
They suggested that we do it at the convenience store around the corner.
Besides the difficulty of filling out the form in Chinese, the convenience store had no boxes to put the pack in.
It became obvious to me that shipping luggage in Taiwan is not as easy as in Japan.
In Japan every hotel can ship your luggage for you to your next hotel.
Finally, we walked over to the post office, and in no time at all and for only $4 USD, including the cost of the box, we shipped the backpack to Taipei.
There was no noticeable difference in the weight of what we each carried in our backpacks between the older backpacks and our new ones, but the weight distribution to our shoulders and hips is more even, and the structure of the new packs does make a big difference.
We have been walking with our older Japanese backpacks for years now, which we chose because they are super light, have nicely padded shoulder straps and are very durable.
They are in perfect shape, although their lack of frames means that they make our backs sweat more and that they hang heavier on our shoulders.
Because we have already walked 50 extra kilometers during the days we stayed in Kaohsuing, we took a bus south, skipping the 26 km of the airport area and the very industrial part of the route, that was full of big and fast moving trucks.
We got off the bus at the town of Donggang.
The bus stop was very close to a big Starbucks cafe, that is used as a rest stop by the huge bus tours that take people on day trips to see a nearby island, visit the fish market by the harbor, and see the local temple.
We ate our breakfast at the Starbucks, and drank almond milk matcha lattes.
It is always so hard to leave the comfortable sofas at the Starbucks, strap on our backpacks and walk in the heat.
Walking around Donggang, we visited the town temple that has a massive and beautiful golden gate, ornately carved and decorated.
The temple itself was very busy with tourists and local people all praying for blessings from the gods, who stood dressed in golden garments in front of piles of offerings.
We walked to the harbor to see the fish market, and the streets leading up to the fish market were full of people selling fresh fish, cleaning the fish and spilling the guts onto the road.
It was a lively town, that clearly thrives as a fishing town.
The fish market had many eateries for people to eat the seafood, most of it farmed in vast fish farms on the outskirts of town.
A busy ferry terminal is located next to the fish market, with many ferries that go to a tiny island named Liuqui which, judging by the amount of ferries and the frequency of the boats departing and returning, is a very popular tourist destination.
As we walked around town, we bought some freshly baked bread in a bakery, and then some lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers from a vegetable stall.
We also bought some dragon fruit for me and some cheese for the sandwiches we planned to eat for dinner.
We headed over to our guesthouse, located a few kilometers from the downtown.
The owner was very nice and showed us to a double room that was cramped with two huge beds that left very little room to walk around the beds to the bathroom.
In my very limited Chinese, I asked if they had a bigger room, and they immediately offered me a much more spacious and comfortable room, which we really appreciated.
He did not ask for more money for the upgrade, because it was clear that we were his only guests for the night.
He gave us vouchers for breakfast, and a map of the area written only in Chinese, listing the breakfast restaurants in which we could redeem the vouchers tomorrow.
They did not have a laundry room, so we washed our clothes by hand in the shower and were happy to stay in our room, relaxing for the rest of the day.
For dinner I made us sandwiches from the ingredients we’d bought in town, and we binge watched a dramatic series on Netflix in bed, catching up on many episodes we haven’t seen before.
With love,
Tali
Today’s Stats:
Steps - 8,940
Daily Distance - 6 km.
Total Distance To Date - 545 km
