A Day Trip To Bali

On Sunday it was hot. Very hot. But we had to do something with the day, so we got on the metro to Tamsui. Tamsui is a northern suburb of New Taipei City. New Taipei City surrounds Taipei. It is all a bit complicated but irrelevant.

We had read good things about Tamsui so figured it must be worth a visit. It was very hot when we got there, but we ventured out to have a look. Firstly, it was crowded. Tamsui is very popular with the locals for a weekend day out. But it wasn’t too bad. We wandered down the waterfront, along the Tamsui river, then ventured up an alley to Old Tamsui Road. This was narrow, crowded, and fun. There were all sorts of shops, from fishmongers and butchers to cooked food and souvenirs.

Having managed to make our way through the throng, a bit like trying to swim up a waterfall, we went back to the waterfront where we had some freshly cooked fried cuttlefish. As we were meandering along we noticed a commotion and heard some loud drumming. A dragon dance thing was walking off one boat, led by a drum large enought to need a bloke dragging it on a trolley. They did their thing then walked onto another boat and sailed off. Our timing was great as we weren’t expecting to see that at all.

We proceeded to walk further along the river towards the sea. It was very hot and we didn’t go too far before heading back the way we had come to get the ferry over the river to Bali. Once off the ferry we hired bikes to cycle on the cycle/pedestrian path that stretches along the river. We headed towards Taipei to start with, then turned around and went back past the ferry station and onward. It was a nice ride, the breeze made it bearable in the heat, and it was easier than walking.

The scenery was ok, but the waterfront in Kaohsiung was much nicer. Having returned the bikes, we got the ferry back to Tamsui and then back on the metro to Taipei. We could have gone to the much vaunted Fisherman’s Wharf, but we just couldn’t be bothered. It was too hot.

Once back in Taipei the temperature was more pleasant and we had a small wander around the area near our hotel. This was very close to where we stayed last time, but this time, by turning a different corner, we found the flash malls and high-end retailers. Despite this, just two minutes from our hotel we got dinner for $NZ2.50 each. Our German dinner, including drinks, cost almost 10 times that.

On the way back to the hotel we found the bluetooth robots, as I call them. This is one big and two small robots with speakers in them. You can connect your phone to them by bluetooth and play music. I decided the Ramones were a good choice, even if the volume was somewhat limited. The few locals around didn’t seem to mind, though I suspect they had never heard the Ramones before.