Asia trip Day 12 - Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Thursday March 9

Oh no. So many photos. An 8 hour excursion "Historic Tainan". Yes, had to be ready at 7 am. So we had to set our alarm clocks. The ship was already in the harbor when we saw through which little opening it had to come through from the sea.

Just a little something for breakfast and off we went.

 

The buildings we could see were quite spectacular looking. The cruise terminal was brand new and awesome. But in Taiwan we have always wear masks especially in buiildings and large groups. It's very friendly but very official.

As always busses were lined up and waiting. Our guide was very young. First we went to Fort Provintia with the Chihkan Tower. Our guide was gave us way more information we could possibly remember. 

The garden was very nice. Very "feng shui". 

The front entry. There is always some "obstacle" you have to get over in the doorway.

The back door had a special design. To let good spirit in and let bad spirits out.

To go upstairs we had to wait a moment because not too many people can be on the stairs at the same time because it is too fragile. There were some mobile boats and a really nice view.

The rickety stairs. When the guide wanted to take us upstairs he made us wait because he said not too many people should be on it at the same time. When we were going down nobody cared about that.

Back at the gate I decided to better use the restroom. Who knows when and where the next one is. 

No comment!

Tainan is full with motorcycles. Everybody has helmets on and everybody drives orderly and parks orderly. Everything looks very clean and the people are very friendly and smiling at us. 

Next stop was at Confucius Temple. Just when we got out of the bus two military planes flew over us and it was very fast and very loud. Our guide said they have to do that to practice and also when Chinese planes come to close. He said "we never know...".

As at the Chihkan Tower the walls around the property and other buildings are painted red. That means you are in a holy our royal place. 

I can't remember why this pond is exactly half circle. It was an important symbol. It also could be used in case of fire.

No koi fish here this time but lots of turtles. We asked whether they were important. No!

We were given free time to look around.

At the entrance you have to step over an upright board again.

Right next to it was this desk where you could put a stamp on it and write a prayer on it and hang it on the board behind.

In the temple were niches in which on the left a bell was for the morning and a huge drum on the right for the evening. The bell was missing though.

Our next stop was lunch.

We walked upstairs and there were 5 typical chinese tables for us. James and I have sat on one like it several times as part of his business meetings to Asia. We were lucky that we had a couple (formerly from Hong Kong living in Canada) at our table who explained everything to us. It is nice to know WHAT you eat.

Tasted like chicken pot pie in a different crust.

Individual little soup bowls.

Dessert. A type of vanilla pudding with chaved ice and bean paste.

You stir it after you have it in a little container.

Next stop: Anping Fort. We walk from this temple plaza. The guide pointed out the red ballons hanging all around the plaza showing that it is a holy place again.

This too is a former Dutch fort and a surveillance tower. 

I think we mastered 98 steps. The view was really nice.

There were lots and lots of school groups around. They were so well behaved and so much fun telling us "hello" and trying some English words. 

After the fort a quick look into the temple we missed in the beginning.

And walking some streets to a (small) museum. 

The pamphlet says: Tayouan in the 17th century, experiencing the earliest wave of globalization making Anping the first international traiding port in Taiwan. 

Right next door was what the guide called "the Tree House". The former Dutch Warehouse abandond and totally overgrown by trees. 

A bridge to an overlook to see the canal which was used to bring goods to the harbor.

From the bridge we could see this bird underneath us. Nobody knew what it was though.

Back at the terminal.

By the time we had showered and here refreshed I noticed just seconds too late that we had just gotten through that opening again. Doesn't look like there was much room on either side.

For relaxation we decided to open that bottle of champagne we had found in our cabin on arrival and had put into our little fridge. By the way: it is stocked with all sorts of non-alcoholic beverages. We are not coke people but the tonic water and ginger ale are sometimes welcome. 

Every day soooo many decisions to make! Too many choices for the 4 course dinner. By luck we had looked in the cabin on our big screen what the menu was. Good thing that was.

Caviar on some special mashed potatoes.

Borscht soup

Beef Wellington

And, of course, a soufflé again.

And for my friend Kim: at arrival the table is always laid with these Rosenthal plates (I had to look).