27 March 2017
Final destination
From Puli back to Taipei via a Shaoxing brewery
I am back in Taipei, where my journey started. I will be here for another 4 nights.
To celebrate my return to a place I have been to many times, I took almost no photos today. This was partially due to every transport leg lining up perfectly, so there was no time to kill wandering around taking pointless photos.
Before I started my journey to Taipei, I took one last wander around Puli, the weather today made all the mountains look very very enticing. So enticing that I somehow ended up at a rice wine brewery tourist centre and memorial combination which opens at 8:30am to allow the buses to park.
They have a museum / gift shop, and as you shall see, an exploded still (think dukes of hazard moonshine) which apparently killed off most of the workers many years ago.
There are multiple ways to get to Taipei from Puli, actually in Taiwan, everything leads back to Taipei eventually, kind of like London in England. I could have taken the direct bus, or the bus / high speed train combo. I decided to take whichever one was coming first, which is not easy to figure out as its 2 different companies selling tickets.
I had to enquire at the window what time the bus leaves for Taipei. And they told me (about 20 mintues time), and I thanked them, and walked off, they then chased after me trying to sell me a ticket. A taxi driver joined in as well asking me where I wanted to go.
This made my selection easier, I will go with the local bus / high speed train option as they are not chasing me around the bus station.
A well placed elementary school overpass gave me an opportunity to take a photo of the town and the mountains. Parents crossing with their children were concerned that I was hanging out taking photos, so I had to move on.
Here is the exploded liquor still at the Shaoxing brewery. Shaoxing is a city in mainland China, so I dont know what rights Puli has to call their brewery that. Trademark infringement like Champagne in France.
On the museum gift shop tour, you can walk through a cave of liquor vats. There is not a lot of room and they seem to just be resting on planks!
One last photo of Puli before entering the bus station. I climbed that mountain back there!
Todays picture from a moving bus, nice mountains.
For the sake of completeness, here is the inside of the high speed train again. Quite full today.
Picture of Taichung city from a moving train, featuring Chinese man with gas mask.
This is the winch in my hotel room. Its to lift fat people on and off the bed / toilet.
Actually I think its for me to abseil out the window. There is no rope or harness. I guess they throw one up to you if you are about to burn to death?
My room is much bigger than it appears from here. The bathroom has a regular, non glass door (important info for my mother).
It is called the Energy Inn. They were very insistent at check in that I select my breakfast for tomorrow morning, and a specific time to eat it. I guess I better turn up.
The internet speed is maxing out the network card on my laptop, 100mbit up and down.
I am smack bang in the middle of the fashionable XiMenDing district, centre of youth culture in Taipei. I am the oldest person here.
As it was still early, I headed out and enjoyed a delicious iced tea, followed by a visit to the bakery next door to my hotel for some tiny finger sandwiches and a selection of cakes.