On Monday we got a local train to Keelung City, about an hour from Taipei. Once checked in to our hotel we wandered around the local area which is part of the port, where the coast guard and, as we found out later, the cruise ships dock. We lunched at the busy-though-it-wasn’t-yet-night night market, and spent a fruitless bit of time trying to find the tourist information office which wasn’t where the official local government website said it was. It also wasn’t where the signs pointed to (we found it quite by accident the next day).
We were trying to find out how to get to the Yehliu Geopark, which was the reason we went to Keelung. With the help of Google Translate we were able to get the correct information from our hotel’s staff.
So we got up early the next morning, keen to beat the crowds. After wandering around trying to find the right bus stop (a friendly local walked us to it), we got on the bus and eventually, after initially riding to the end of the bus route which was well past the correct bus stop (the result of not listening when the Kiwi suggests using Google Maps to tell us when to get off the bus), we got there. And we didn’t beat the crowds. There were more than 20 coaches parked up and inside the park it was chaos. The tourists appeared to be Chinese, either from Taiwan or the Mainland (we couldn’t tell). There were umbrellas (on a rather warm sunny day; got to keep the sun off) and selfie sticks everywhere. The park is all about naturally eroded stone formations. The most famous one is called the Queen’s Head, as from one angle it looks like the head of a woman with a fancy head dress on. We walked along the path away from the entrance and found a path to the bird watching area. We took it out of curiosity, and found ourselves almost alone and in a quiet zone. We did see some birds, as well as hundreds of dragonflies, butterflies, and a few lizards. There was also a nice breeze coming off the ocean in places, which was much appreciated. We walked as far along the headland as we could, then headed back. Once we got back to the main part of the park it was still bedlam. There were security people blowing whistles and telling people off for crossing into no-go areas, a long queue to take a selfie with the Queen’s Head, and generally just too much going on. So after looking at a few of the stones we left.
Upon our return to town we discovered the reason for Yehliu being so busy; there was a big cruise ship parked up. We didn’t notice it when we got on the bus. but there it was nonetheless. There was another there the next day.
A bit later on we decided to check out the local abandoned house, an almost 90 year old house which has been abandoned for 30 years. It is quite famous and signposted from the main road. We just had to walk up the narrow lane which became stairs to find it. It has great views over the city, views which would have been much different when it was built. The house is slowly disintegrating, there is no roof and the internal stairs have been removed. Much like parts of Angkor Wat the trees have taken over. After having a look around and enjoying the breeze, we went back to the main road and walked to Chung Cheng Park, where there is a large temple and a largish Buddha. There is also a 22 metre tall statue of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy.
Keelung was a great example of how Taiwan is a mixture of modern sophisticated economy, and developing world economy. There are restaurants that would be at home anywhere, and then there are the food stalls in the markets and the family run food and drink places where the customers sit on stools at folding tables and the dishes are done under a cold water tap next to the footpath. I wonder if the new generation will keep such places going, they are certainly busy.
One thing I found interesting in Keelung was the book-vending machine. I haven’t seen one of those before.
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