FURTHER SOUTH TO KAOHSIUNG

 12th - 16th Dec 2023

85 Sky Tower in Kaohsiung

At the Xinyin train station I went to one of the ever helpful 'customer information' offices and asked for info on trains to Kaohsiung, which is on the west coast about 40 miles south of Tainan. The young man at the desk not only gave me advice (he spoke good English), but a gift of a pack of amusing playing cards. He took me to the ticket desk and then even escorted me down to the correct platform. What an amazing service! (or perhaps he was just making sure I disappeared). I was impressed. Can you imagine anyone in UK doing that for a foreign tourist?

The 'slow local' train took 1hr 45mins arriving in Kaohsiung at 1.05pm (on time of course). There is a good shopping centre at the station here including a series of cafés. I went for a cup of coffee and bite to eat and happened to meet a couple of fellow tourists. 

Left: Fellow tourists, Mark and Dorota from Wales. We had a good chat before we went our separate ways. I mentioned that I would include them in my 'blog', so have done so! I gave them the details so they might see it. I hope they had a good trip.

There is a good Metro system around this city. It was two stops south to my hotel, the Fine Hotel, located on the16th floor of a high-rise building and which was great value for money (all mod-cons including cooking facilities for £22 per night). 

The local Metro station was at a shopping mall (right), at Sanduo Shopping District. As with all else in this country the 'mall' was sparkling bright and clean and with very upmarket shops.

One shop caught my eye. It sold expensive skin and hair lotions. This 'mannequin' was advertising it. It doesn't say much for the product!

All the metro stations were gleaming as well, with very accurate and informative illuminated signs. This one (right) shows the cleaning lady busy about her business.

That evening, wandering around town, I came across this bar (Old Fart DJ Bar). Well how could I resist popping in for a drink! Most bars in Taiwan don't open until after 8.00pm.

I was the only customer. It was a great place, and the background music was old-fashioned Western songs....not played too loudly. The 'landlord', Tony, enjoyed singing along to them.

Right: Mine hosts, Tony and Eva. They were great company and both, especially Eva, spoke excellent English. She was very interesting on a load of subjects including much about Taiwan. It was quite educational. I took their photo and told them not to smile to conform to my 'grumpy old man' demeanour! I went there twice. On the second occasion a young German chap, Marcus, turned up with a group of 4 studenty types. They were competing in a showjumping competition  in town. Interesting chap Marcus. Ex-Dresden, he has lived in Taiwan for 5 years. He runs a stable of 60 horses and instructs showjumping and dressage. Only the very wealthy can afford to keep horses in Taiwan (cost of importing them) and they can't do cross-country due to the nature of the countryside (mountains, jungle or farmed arable).

Right: The 85 Sky Tower here is the 2nd tallest building in Taiwan (after the Taipei 101). It was completed in 1997 and is 1,140 ft high (with a 100ft antenna on top). It originally housed all sorts of venues such as an amusement park, smart hotels, shops, an exhibition centre etc. as well as offices. There is a viewing platform up top. The company that built it (Tuntex) went bust some years ago and as such the building has become virtually abandoned and much of it, inside, is now very dilapidated. You can go up (in a scruffy lift), which I did, to the 12th floor where there are some shops, offices and a hotel. The rest is closed off, so no going up to the observation platform. Boring, and what a waste of a most impressive building! BTW, it does not have a 44th floor. The locals suffer from 'tetraphobia'; a fear of the number 4. No, I haven't a clue either! (Just looked it up. Apparently the Chinese character for '4' resembles that of the character for 'death').  I might suggest to our useless British Government that it would be suitable accommodation for some of our illegal immigrants!

Left: Another impressive building nearby and close to the harbour called 'The Rythm of the Sea'. I went into it, and it seemed rather deserted. I believe it houses offices to do with shipping.

Then on to the impressive Exhibition and Conference Centre where I had a good beef noodle soup. Again.

Below: These articulated roadwork warning signs were much in evidence. Quite amusing, I thought.

Kaohsiung has an important and extensive harbour and port. Much more about that interesting area in the next edition. I am well behind with these blogs; far too much to see and do and I'm now not even in the country!

I'm writing this on Christmas Day, so you can see how far behind I am.......