The Taichung bus system turns any activity into an 8 hour journey.
I went to a big park on top of a hill, you would think it would be a popular spot, full of old people travelling there by bus. No. Theres no one there, and the bus doesnt even come once an hour as advertised.
Theres one main road through the city, which is never ending, as I found out today it goes all the way to the sea with multiple areas of new city along it.
However if you want a bus either side of here, it seems to be pot luck. Not just for me, every bus I get on has 10 people asking the driver if it goes anywhere near x, no.
Anyway, I get lots of walking done, another few hours to and from the park walking past bus stops that have been erected for no good reason.
The good news is the extended travel time meant I was late enough to have lunch in my favourite restaurant, I go to one of their stores on every trip. You cant go at a real meal time as you will be in line for hours, still. Din Tai Fung mass hype is still alive and well.
The local old fashion train station has a vending machine to rent library books, right on the platform. Unfortunately the only place this local train goes is to the high speed rail station. I will take it tomorrow. I might borrow a library book.
The first bus I got on diverted off the main road almost immediately, much to my surprise, and most of those people around me!
It then travelled about a mile before stopping with numerous old people yelling at the driver.
When I got off, there were squirrels.
There was also a giant family of goats.
And a butter willy. One of my favourite flavours of willy.
A new one for me, the footpath has been replaced with a goldfish pond.
To get back to the main road, I had to go through a local market.
Theres no need to get off your scooter to go shopping.
Anyway, after a 70 minute journey up the main road once I got on another bus, I got to this point, and no bus came so I walked, up a hill. It had a great view.
The hill is in no mans land between the main part of the city and the port part. You can see both sides from the hill.
There were a few farms up here, but more exciting, air force jets flying circuits to the nearby airport.
At one stage a formation of 4 flew over.
The park was huge, and all there just for me.
The water was not running, I thought maybe it was in a state of disrepair, but a sign tells me it only runs in summer, and its purpose is to run once every hour, and you then are supposed to walk over the stones.
This is like a foot massage, they run just enough water to cool the stones down. At least thats what I thought the sign said.
The park also featured an optomistic sun dial, theres rarely sun here.
You can also practice your dancing. I did.
Or perhaps catch a show at the amphiteater. The minimalist performance was very modern.
The view of the city in the distance.
And a lesser part of the city. If it were a clear day, this might be great.
The park could do a better job to create a view, a raised platform, saw down a few trees.
As I exited, 2 bridal parties showed up, and set up right by the entrance gate, no point in walking I guess.
More brides.
I waited for a bus for a good 30 minutes, no. So I walked back down the hill. When I was nearly at the bottom, 3 buses came nose to tail, all the same number!
Anyway, this is Taichung art street. Full of cafes and book stores and antiques. Its a nice street, with plants and whatever, and lots of dogs roaming about.
Honesty in advertising.
About half way back to my hotel I hopped off the main road bus for Din Tai Fung. Fantastic as always. The service is a little over the top.
They give you free tea, any time I so much as reached for it the girl would top up my cup. It got to the point where I would just sort of flinch towards the cup and she would be there with the teapot.
Also at one point I wiped chilli off my face and tears from my eyes (cause thats how I eat my soup), and as I opened my eyes there was another napkin on her hand 3 inches from my face.
My beef noodle soup and chilli overdose from lunch had left me with super powers.
This has happened before. They must put something in this soup. Its probably illegal in Australia. I want more of it.
This meant I didnt have time to take boring photos, I was too busy charging about like a lunatic.
Tomorrow I go to Taipei, I have been there twice before, which obviously means I must like it.
Taichung is not a top tourist destination. The ladder climbing was excellent, and I suspect theres plenty more hills to climb, but getting to them or anywhere is a struggle!
The city itself has no real centres, which is unusual. The photos below show an area which could be the new centre, but it was a ghost town, I am not sure if anyones moved in yet.
They are building a bus rapid transit system, which if it works as advertised should help things. It is unacceptable for it to take over an hour to travel 8km outside of peak hour.
The night market is what most people who come here rave about. The atmosphere is great but most of the food is deep fried, and finding somewhere to safely eat anything would be a challenge. But going just to people watch is fun.
I think the only other westerner I saw stood out even more than me. I saw him this evening in a fur coat, walking 6 matching tiny white dogs, singing loudly, that Katy Perry song where shes naked on the pink cloud and Snoop Dogg appears for no good reason.
I am a star.
This is the new centre of town, with all the lights off and no people.
My dinner came from a Japanese chain, yes Japanese again, called Ootoya. They have outlets all over the world.
I made an exception to my no more Japanese food on this trip rule because the sign showed this, and its vegetarian and looks great.
It was indeed, excellent. I want to have it again.