Day 9: Kaohsiung and Tainan

Once again we gorged on the delicious offerings at the breakfast buffet at the Hotel Dua. Afterwards we frittered about in the room for a bit, then decided to check out and head for the train station.

Our cab dropped us in front of the Kaohsiung Main Station just before 11am. After some twirling place, I spotted the line ups for "today's tickets" and bought us three tickets for the next train to Tainan - which happened to leave in 10 minutes. We hoofed it to Platform 4b and had just stashed our luggage when the train started moving.

The train ride to Tainan was quiet and uneventful. We arrived just after 11:30am and made our way to the taxi stand. We had another interesting taxi experience - this time, the cab's truck had a gigantic plastic container in it and there seemed to be no room for our suitcases. The driver managed to pack Mom and Simone's big pieces into the trunk. When I showed him my carry-on luggage he waved at me to put it on my lap. "Okay, then," I thought. We got into the cab and he started driving away before I could tell him where we were going. I told him the name of the hotel and the address in Mandarin but something was amiss. He pulled over and I showed him the English and Chinese versions of the hotel name and address, but he still seemed confused. I asked him if he understood and he hesitated so I suggested to Mom and Simone that we should get out and catch another cab. As soon as Mom opened her door the driver suddenly knew where the hotel was and motioned for us to stay inside. We decided to give it a try and see what happened.

When we got close to the hotel I figured out the issue: the hotel name and address was written in pinyin, but Tainan uses a different Romanization system for Chinese writing. "Wenxian" Road was actually "Wunshun" Road.

It was too early to check in at the Hotel Hwa Du so we caught a cab into town and did the "Temple Tour", as I like to think of it - Fort Provintia/Chihkan Tower, Tainan Grand Matsu Temple, Beiji Temple, Tiangong Temple (just glimpses), National Museum of Taiwanese Literature (outside only), and Tainan Confucius Temple. Sadly, the most interesting parts of the Confucius Temple were being restored so we could only explore the musical instrument and sacrificial implements displays.

The heat was getting to us by then so we caught a cab back to the Hwa Du Hotel and checked in. I'd booked us the "Oriental Suite," thinking that the king-sized bed and extra space would be a real splurge. You guessed it - the "king-sized" bed was just a large double. Thankfully I had ordered a rollaway bed just in case. Well, I was thankful until I saw that it was about as wide as my body, had no mattress, and the folding/support bar was located so conveniently that no matter how I shifted, it was always jabbing me in the middle of the back.

To be fair, the room was clean and in good nick. It just had a sad quality about it. Simone summed it up perfectly when she said that she could handle staying there two days, but she would become darkly depressed if she had to stay there any longer.

After settling in we talked about options for evening activities. I hesitated to suggest the Flower Night Market because I'd had such a bad experience there the last time I was in town. I was surprised when they jumped on the suggestion. The hotel had a free shuttle to the market between 7:30pm and 9:00pm. However, I knew from past experience that the market would be jammed solid with people by 7:00pm. So, we caught a cab there just after 6:30pm. It was a good thing that we got there so early, too - we had just enough time to make a slow lap around the outer perimeter and try some food before it became impossible to move independently of the crowd.

At a certain point night markets reach a maximum capacity and you lose all choice about where you go. You move forward with the crowd, turn with the crowd, and stop with the crowd. To exit the night market you have to thrash your arms and knock your body against other people until you force an opening and throw yourself out into traffic or onto the sidewalk. In the case of the Tainan Flower Market, you get spit out into a dark parking lot where vehicles are jostling to leave the market or get one of the precious parking spaces.

We were catching our breath in the parking lot when Simone noticed some people looking at us - two young "whiteys" in dress shirts and ties, and three Taiwanese guys in regular attire. We went over to say hello and learned that the two whiteys were Mormons. They were missionaries sent by the church to spread the word of God in Taiwan. One of the young men had been in Taiwan for two years and was heading home next week. The other young man had been in Taiwan for a year and still had a year left before he would return home. The three young Taiwanese men were clearly some local Christian friends. We chatted for a good 30 minutes then said our goodbye's and headed home.