High Speed Rail
Trip Start
May 11, 2009
1
14
22
Trip End
Jul 21, 2009
Tainan,
Taiwan
Friday, June 19, 2009
All I can really remember about the Taiwan High Speed Rail is that houses were flying by in the window. I think there is a similar kind of train in Japan and if there is, they are lucky because it is a fast and convenient way to Travel.
When we arrived, we dropped our things off at the hotel and got to wandering around the streets. The city of Tainan is a very dense, but not very big place, so we were able to see lots of Lonely Planet recommended tourist sites before day's end.
We started with the Southern Gate, which was built by the emperor in ancient times to protect the city of Tainan from Northern invasion. There was a huge Banyan tree in the courtyard and for those of you who don't who what a Banyan tree is you should wiki it because it is pretty cool. The trunk of the tree had grown so big that it had to send down a new set of roots in order to support itself. I will try to post a picture when I meet up with Keith in California.
After the Southern Gate, we walked a couple of blocks to the 5 Concubines Temple. I don't think there is any way for 5 concubines NOT to be interesting. We were recruited into an impromptu tour (likely because Katherine and Luke are white) and sat there listening to a lecture in Taiwanese (which none of us can understand).
We didn't want to be rude so we listened patiently and nodded regularly at the tour guide.
The Five Concubines Temple
I took some pictures of the burial mounds, which were constructed in the late Ming Dynasty to honor the 5 concubines who committed suicide when their emperor was succeded.After having a lunch of Beef Noodle Soup, we made our way to the Chihkan Tower. The tower was built on a site originally occupied by the Dutch. Today, there is a Japanese Style Fort there and it is surrounded by commemorative stone tablets (which pay tribute to Tainan's history at a port city).
It was getting dark, so we hurried to our final destination of the day: The Official God of War Temple. This temple had many cool and intricately carved wooden rafters and spiritual icons depicting the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac festooned the walls.
On the next morning, we met up with one of Luke's friends. We drove to the nearby city of Anping where we visited Fort Zeelandia. I bought a marble soda (something I haven't had in many years) and tried some milk fish soup (a Tainan delicacy). After a lunch of oyster omelet and dried mangoes, we visited Anping's Merchant House/Tree House.
The Tree House was especially interesting because a Banyan tree had completely overgrown and replaced one of the wall of the structure. The remaining rooms had been decorated with modern furniture which subscribed to Asian contemporary aesthetics. It was the closest thing to a Museum I have been to since Nairobi.
The group made its way to the Tainan Ecological Zone where we visited their Whales Studies Department. I don't know if any of you remember seeing in the news (a few years ago) that a giant whale had exploded in a busy intersection while in transit, showering commuters in a sea of sizzling intestines. That event actually happened in Tainan and the residents (strangely) have kept that whale skeleton in a museum. Katherine, Luke and I took a late train back to Taipei where I bid goodbye to them.
Yesterday I visited the graves of my grandparents at Wu-hwa and Yuanmingshan National Memorial Parks. These mountains have been terraced and are now lined with beautiful tombs where the ancestors of the Taiwanese people are buried and honored. It was a very emotional morning for me because it made me realize how very transient life can be. I was overcome with a mixture of sadness and guilt, as I felt that I had not made the most of my time with my grandparents when they were alive.
Now that I have grown and can understand matters of the spirits a little bit better, I think back and regret my own childish ungratefulness. I only hope that wherever they are now, my grandparents know that I think of them constantly and that I am trying to live my life in the tradition of their ideals.
Tomorrow I leave for Bangkok, Thailand. My Round-The-World Journey is coming to a close but I still have a few places to see before I return. Keep reading and stay cool.
