16 May 2023
They let me in!
Rainbow bridge and Raohe night market
I finally managed to be allowed to eat at a Japanese curry franchise fast food restaurant in Taiwan, the Coco challenge has been conquered. More on that below.
This evening I set off in a westerly direction, re-creating a walk I did the night I arrived here on a previous trip. On that occasion I had been travelling for 24 hours and was determined to stay awake until bed time. I remember that was the first time I found out that when very sleep deprived, I cannot hear/feel my own footsteps, a sensation I have since noticed on a few other occasions.
Last time I walked this way it was dark, and so I did not know about the great river / bridge / mountain view, which was particularly great at sunset today.
The market itself was full of foreigners, with guides? Including people my age with guides, so not some kind of religious exchange program which is the normal source of extremely happy guides. It seems a strange concept to me that a 50+ year old couple would rent a kid to take them to the night market. Actually I sometimes dislike how easy it is these days to use things like google maps and google translate when travelling, bus dramas aside. It is very hard to be lost these days.
Here is the Taipei stadium, where many a ping pong battle has been raged.
Oooh, great light for the sunset.
I took a shot from this spot in the dark last time I was here.
Now for some bridge shots. The mountain in the background here is Yangmingshan.
And looking the other way, the mountain behind the buildings here is tomorrows hike.
I walked around and up onto the red bridge, which is called the rainbow bridge (there is a more famous rainbow bridge in Tokyo) and behold, the sunset.
Night market temple.
They say this night market is the one to go to if you want a more authentic experience than you would get at Shilin market, although I think they have all been made a lot more sanitary in the last decade. They used to kill snakes in the street and cook them / drink their blood.
General vibe of the night market at dusk.
And... drum roll please... Coco curry! I did not even want to go as I had eaten a big lunch, but I swore whenever I saw a branch, I would try and get in, no matter the time or place. Just to say I managed to get in after so many (2) rejections. I built my own curry of omurice, spinach, mushrooms, and beef. Very delicious. Now to research tomorrows hike, which due to the existence of a subway system, won't require much research.