For those who have never read my articles before let me reveal something about myself, I love trains and train travel. The sleek ultra high speed Bullet trains hold a special fascination. I this ultra organised country the process of prebooking, ticketing and the 2 hour journey travelling at 300km per hour down to the far south of this island unfolds seamlessly.
Our destination is the port city of Kaohsiung the third largest in Taiwan. It is a bit off the tourist trail but has enough of interest for a day. We start the sightseeing at Lotus ponds, on the shores of which are the dragon and tiger pagodas. Sadly both were covered in restoration scaffolding but we are allowed to still walk through entering the dragon’s mouth and leaving the tigers mouth taking in the interesting murals. A short stroll in the enervating heat takes down to more pagodas built around a dragon which again is a mural gallery inside.
The nearby old town sports old walls and pretty gates but the actual “old town” resembles a modern slum and we don’t linger.
A short cab ride to Formosa station has us in the metro station to photograph the weird and wonderful Dome of Light.
A short cab ride to Formosa station has us in the metro station to photograph the weird and wonderful Dome of Light.
After lunch it is down to the raison d’etre for this city the waterfront. At Glory pier there is the quirky larger than life fallen rubber ducky and we are a short walk to the 85 sky tower.
A visit to the night market finishes the day and we even manage to pickup some ultra cheap clothing there.
