Day trip to Jiufen (九分)
It was a wet day which I had chosen to take a day trip out of Taipei city to the small town of Jiufen (九分).
Early in the morning, I took the regular train (区间车) to Ruifang (瑞芳) for NT$54. The journey took about 1 hour. There are express trains to Ruifang, but they costs more (as much as NT$80) and only run at certain timings.
From Ruifang, I took a bus which cost NT$22 and the journey was about 15 minutes. (基隆客运，基隆-金瓜石线). I discovered that there is actually direct bus from Taipei main station to Jiufen, but I did not note the bus company and do not know where is the station in Taipei located.
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Jiufen was a mining town. It became famous because of the the movie City of Sadness (《悲情城市》). It is now a popular tourist destination. There were bus-loads of tourists heading there. Most of the to
urists appeared to be Hongkong tourists, with some Japanese as well as local Taiwanese.It's main street has basically become a tourist belt, almost a tourist trap. However, there is enough interesting eateries and gift shops (for the tourist anyway) that it still has a certain charm. One of the famous snack in Jiufen is the "meat ball" and there is actually a vegetarian version of it. Of course, I wouldn't miss it.
It's actually quite a nice little town to explore. There are many interesting and delightful sights if you look carefully.
As I was wandering around, I was delighted find a secondhand bookstore. (Chiufen Lobo secondhand bookstore 九分乐伯二手书店). It's located off the tourist belt. It's along the Jishan street(基山街), just a little further from the view point at the stretch were there are no more tou
rist shops. (see picture) This secondhand bookstore has quite a good selection of literature fiction, which is not common among secondhand bookstores. I was happy to find an out-of-print book which I had borrowed from the library more than 10 years ago. Most of the books are priced at half the original listed price with a further 15% discount. I found an anthology of peoms in mint condition going for NT$105 and I bought that exact same anthology new the day before for NT$240! Urgh! I decided to get it any way. I had not been able to find this book in Singapore.I don't mind giving it as a gift to someone who like the same poems.
There were quite a wide variety of snacks in Jiufen. I tried some yam pastries as well as fresh pink guavas. I found a stall selling BBQ stinking tofu. It turned out to be quite tasty. Before I left, I a bag full of floral and fruit tea which I found to be quite cheap. I actually left behind the tea in the stall where I ate lunch and only remembered it when I was at the bus stop. Luckily it was still there when I went back to get it.
Just as I was leaving, I ran into a gay couple whom I knew back in Singapore.
Trip to Yeliu Geopark 野柳地质公园
In the morning, I was rather undecided whether I should spend the afternoon town-hopping along the Pingxi (平溪线) railway line or go further afield to Yeliu Geopark.
The old Pingxi railway that runs from Ruifang (瑞芳) to Pingxi (平溪) has a few idyllic towns along its stretch. When I was at the Ruifang train station, I saw that there is a day pass that allows you to take unlimited trip along the line for NT$54.
In the end, I decided to have an adventure and head towards Yeliu instead. I took a bus from Jiufen that was heading to Keelung (基隆). The journey was about 45 minutes for NT$45.
It was about 2:30pm when I reach Keelung. A taxi driver approached me. He rightly guessed that I was heading towards Yeliu and was touting his service to drive me there for NT$400. He told me that the Geopark close at 5pm (I knew that). Then he told me that the bus journey will take 1 hour, it's another 15 minutes walk from the bus stop to the Geopark, and that the bus heading there just left. I was actually getting a little anxious and was running late on time. But then, I was willing to treat this as a little adventure and was alright if I missed visiting the park in the end. So I decided to stick with taking the bus.
I went into a 7-eleven by the bus stop to change for some coins as the intercity buses did not accept Easycard and did not give change. As I got out of 7-eleven, the bus heading to Yeliu was at the bus stop and I almost missed it. As I guessed rightly, the taxi driver was exaggerating. The journey to Yeliu took only 40 minutes. The fare was NT$54. (基隆客运, 基隆-金山线)
For some reason, I had the impression that the Geopark was out in the middle of nowhere. It turns out that Yeliu was actually a small fishing port. It was just a short walk from the bus stop to the entrance of the Geopark. Most tourists would come in tourist buses which head direct to the Geopark and hence miss the fishing port entirely. The port has a small town feel too it, with a bit of idleness and melancholy. If I had more time, I would linger around for a while. However, it was slightly after 3:30pm and the Geopark only opened till 5pm.
When I got t
o the park, I was glad I decided to come here. There were a lot of interesting rock formations. However, I was a little aghast that people were allowed to trample all over the rocks. There was a very ugly red line drawn across the rocks to demarcate the danger zone. On the other hand, it would not have been enjoyable if we were restricted to the pavements and could not walk among the rock formations.Most tourists clustered around the area near the entrance where most of the rock formations were found. That's were the famous "Queen head" (see picture) was found. I looked around a while and took s
ome photographs. Then I headed towards the end of the cape.The area around the end of the cape was mostly deserted save for a few fishermen. Few tourists ventured as far. That suited me fine and I lingered around for quite a while.
In the park, I found the toilet labeled as Cape number 1. I found it rather ticklish in part because it was obvious a pun on it as an address and a toilet (in Chinese, no. 1 is euphemism for toilet) and partly because the Taiwanese movie Cape Number 7 was screening in Taiwan when I was visiting.
It had been a rainy overcast day. There was no sunset to be seen. As the daylight was fading away, I trekked up the cape.
Along the way, I spotted some little humming birds that was only the size of my thumb nail.
It was closed to the closing time of the park and I was going at a pretty brisked pace. When I reached the viewpoint at the top, I was wet with perspiration. There was no one there. So that was the excuse to take off my singlet and take a picture. Hehe...
It turns out that even though the park was closed at 5pm, they did not chase people out of the park. There were still some people fishing. A few couples were lingering around in the twilight. So I also took my time and wandered around some more.
It was dark when I finally left the park. The streets of Yeliu were practically deserted. All the shops were closed except for a few seafood restaurant. In the darkness, the fishing vessels lined along the port quietly. A dog hurriedly carried away a bag full of stuff it was guarding jealously as I approached.
As I waited at the lonely junction for the bus to Taipei, the cutie in the yellow long sleeve shirt (see picture) whom I had spotted in the Geopark came with his girlfriend. I think they were from Hong Kong. They got onto the same bus to Taipei.
I had two ways of getting back to Taipei. One way to was take a bus back to Keelung and then take a train. I considered that for a while. I could go and explore the night market in Keelung. My friend told me the night market there is more interesting that the one in Taipei.
But my backpack was full of books bought in Jiufen, and I had another bag of floral tea as well. I decided to take the direct bus back to Taipei instead. The bus journey took 1.5 hours and cost NT$102. (国光客运，台北-金山线)
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi (新光三越）
It was about 7pm when the bus arrived at Taipei Main Station. My sister had asked me to help her get something from Shin Kong Mitsukoshi. Since I was directly in front of it, I decided to drop in and settle it.
It must be the biggest departmental store I had ever visited. There were 13 storeys of it in all! However, it was a high end departmental store and the prices weren't cheap. I just got what my sister wanted and left.
Longshan Temple (龙山寺) and Huaxi Night Market (华西夜市)
It was good to stay in a guesthouse right by the Taipei Main Station. I walked back and dumped my books and stuff and headed out again.
It was 8pm and I was hungry. I decided to head towards the Longshan Temple. I read on the internet that there were a number of vegetarian outlets near the temple. It would be a good place to settle dinner. The Longshan Temple was just next to the MRT station named after it. I was surprised to find that it was still open at night and was quite busy. I went in and had a quick look. I decided that it was worth paying a visit the next day. Right then, I need to feed myself first.
But I had problem finding the vegetarian food outlets I had read about on the internet. Then I saw a small eatery. They were starting to clear away the food and was closing for the day. I asked if they had any food left and was told that there was still mushroom noodles. I settled for that. It was noodles in a plain soup with some mushrooms. It cost NT$40. I found it rather unsatisfying, but at least I was not hungry any more.
Then as I explored the area around the temple, I discovered more vegetarian stalls and eateries. Since the mushroom noodles wasn't satisfying I decided to eat at another roadside stall. I had a very tasty Yangchun noodles (阳春面) a few days ago, so I ordered that and a portion of stewed tofu. It turn out to be nothing similar to what I had eaten a few days ago. I wasn't going to waste food, so I finished it. But with two bowls of noodle down in my stomach, I had no room for other goodies I discovered later.
The Huaxi Night Market, also known as the Snake Alley, had a rather seedy feel to it compared to the other night markets. Snakes were still killed and sold there. There were many sex toy stalls. I was quite surprised by the open display of sex toys by the roadside. Do Taiwanese really buy sex toys out in the public? Pornographic VCDs were also openly sold.
There is a street near the temple that sold Buddhist statues and artifacts. I tried to look for wooden stupas (I collect them) but could not find any.
It was almost ten when I head back to the guest house.
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