Taiwan – May 2023
It’s a couple weeks after I started to work for a Japanese travel agency remotely from a small fishing village in Taiwan and I finally take some time to see more of the country. I travel from the center of the East Coast all the way to Tainan in the Southwest of the island. Thankfully, the journey doesn’t take too long by high-speed train and after arriving at my destination I still have plenty of time to explore the city centre. Once I have checked into the lovely 365.Hostel, I go out for an afternoon walk despite the pre-monsoon heat. I roughly put down Tainan Park as the first stopping point and make my way there through the narrow backstreets lined with surprisingly artistic houses and lots of small temples. The many scooters and colourful lanterns really make me feel like I’m back in Southeast Asia.
Before arriving at the park I make a mandatory stop at a boba shop to order a mango tea. With the refreshing drink in hand, I sit down on a bench in the shade where I switch between reading my book and watching the family fishing in the large pond. Once I feel rested, I make my way back to the streets and walk all they way south to the Confucian Temple. As it’s getting later during the day, the city seems to begin to get back to life. While the small backroads were practically deserted before, the streetside restaurants shaded by arcades are slowly start to fill up. Via Ximen Market I reach The Spring just before sunset. What looks like a huge skatepark to me at first glance, turns out to be a concrete city park with water shows (hence the name). I don’t stay long since my legs are gettinig tired and the heat reflecting from the ground is still pretty strong.
Instead, I head back to the hostel through the traditional style Shennong Street. This area really strongly reminds me of Georgetown in Malaysia and thinking of the delicious food there, I start to feel hungry. But first I take a rest at the coziest hostel I’ve stayed at in a while. The interior design is clearly well sought out and I take lots of pictures for inspiration. After dark I head out into the streets again, this time on the hunt for the best nightmarket experience. I first wander through more narrow backroads, this time lit up by the colourful temple lanterns. Eventually I reach Hua Yuan Night Market. Here I specifically look to try all of the delicious looking things that I have no idea what they are. With the help of Google Translate and finger pointing, I successfully eat my way through the different food stands.
From savoury to spicy and sweet, the flavours hit all the right spots. But when I finish my tour of the huge market, I’m still hungry for more of the electric Taiwanese night experience. So I head over to Wusheng Night Market. It’s the oldest night market in Tainan and slightly smaller than Hua Yuan. This combination makes it feel a little less like a tourist attraction and more like a place where the local residents meet up. I stroll around the market stalls once again, this time also taking some time to look at the various clothing, accessories and traditional game sections. In the end I only have one more meal: delicious steamed dumplings and another cup of bubble tea. Then I finally return to my hostel through yet another set of lantern filled side streets.
The next morning I wake up somewhat early to beat the heat. The other place I wanted to see in Tainan was the Anping Old Street area. However, I choose the wrong bus and end up travelling north rather than west. As I check my Google Maps for reference, I realize that we’re getting closer and closer to the port and canal system. At some point I just follow my gut instinct to hop off and continue on foot. I’m not deep in residential and industrial territory, but it’s super fun to see all the random shops selling all kinds of stuff. And every now and then a huge temple appears out of nowhere and I stop for a moment to take in the non-chalant way of how the traditional life blends in with things like 7-11 convenience stores. Since there isn’t much else to see in the area other than this, I slowly walk back south along the mainroad, hoping to catch the right bus heading to Anping after all. I end up walking for about 30 minutes before a bus finally stops near me. I get on and again do my best to navigate with Google Maps.
Unfortunately, I’d have to change once at West District to reach Anping. So I get off near The Spring and continue once again on foot. The 3 kilometer walk along the Anping Canal Park in the early June sun is brutal. I take rests here and there and stay energised by means of 7-11 snacks. And finally, around lunch time I reach the historic harbour area. It’s extremely busy with tourists shopping at the various souvenir shops and eateries. I pass a few traditionalish looking businesses like a couple of grandmas selling seafood and teaching pottery. But mostly it’s cute cafés, bubble tea and ice cream stands. Pretty tired and a little dissappointed cause I didn’t quite find what I was looking for, I head down the quieter side streets lined with ancient merchant houses. Here I rest for a while at the dam separating the old town from the canals before returning to my hostel by bus. And then it’s already time to continue my journey to Taichung.