Fresh mangoesDay 51: Donggang and Sinyuan
Back on the move, in fairly warm weather too. I really like Donggang. It has got a certain lively charm. It is a bustling, important-ish place, with the huge numbers of fishing boats, the ferries going over to Xiao Liuchou, and various ship related industries and schools. There are also lots of tourists passing through, as well as locals and Indonesian and Filipino fishermen on their days off. But it doesn’t feel hectically busy. And the presence of the sea gives it a freshness that takes the edge off the scooter exhaust!
Donggang Bridge 
Clouds looming over the southern Central Mountains
I walked out across the landmark red Donggang Bridge, and into the small settlements to the east of the city. At a secondary fish harbor nearby, I met a friendly Filipino fisherman guy who biked along beside me while I walked. He told me that some of the boats went all the way to the Indian Ocean, and that his captain was not a bad guy. In the heat of noon, he invited me to have some cold beer under a tree with some mates. Tempting, but no thanks!
Under the bridge
There are many ship-building facilities between Donggang and Kaohsiung
I walked through small towns with little harbors and slanting roads, catching a glimpse of a Taiwan quite removed from Taipei 101 and the MRT. Here and there I’d encounter random jewels like a traditional temple icon carver. Proud of his work, he was happy for me to come in and see his shop.
All hand-carved from wood
The artisan at work
Small town life
Fish processing centers
A quiet country road
Above: the view behind. Below, ahead.
Damaged bridge to Linyuan
When I got to the Shuangyuan Bridge over the Kaopin River, which divides Kaohsiung and Pingdong, I found out that there were no sidewalks, as the bridge had been damaged by Typhoon Morakot. Dang!
Peaceful countryside in Donggang Township
Little park in Sinyuan
So, I headed north along the flood wall on the east side of the river, hoping to find another bridge. As the sun was getting low, I left the river wall and took farm and village roads. My trudging soon brought me through the small traditional towns in Sinyuan Township. It was really old-school semi rural stuff.
At one park, an odd woman kept calling out “Adoga! Adoga!” when she saw me, and gathered her children as if I might want to eat them.
Trudge trudge trudge along increasingly busy and commercial roads. Darkness fell, and I was still a few kilometers from the nearest bridge. I decided to call it a day, and took the bus back to Donggang for a long sleep.
Zoomed view of the mountains, taken from a busy roadDay 52: Linyuan Industrial Park
The next morning I took a taxi across the Shuangyuan Bridge to Linyuan Industrial Park, and resumed the walk. It was quite a fascinating place, with many large facilities with massive arrays of equipment. This may well be the biggest heavy industrial park in Taiwan involved in industries such as petroleum refining, pain and plastics manufacture, etc.
Lovely stuff to live next to! But live next to it many people did: there were older communities near the sea, based apparently around aquaculture or fishing to a large extent.
Just after this temple, as I was walking along looking for the best way back to the beach, I had a defining Taiwan moment. All day I had been irritated by people over-reacting to a Westerner being around, with reactions varying from laughing, pointing, and manic "Hello!"-ing, to shock and even fear. It felt like 350 years ago. But then suddenly, as I was walking along covered in sweat, a Taiwanese guy on a motorbike pulled up next to me, gave me a bottle of water, and left. No eyeballing, no bullshit - just a friendly act. Taiwan -touch my heart when you aren't pissing me off!
These guys were sooooooo cuuuuute!
After an initial hour or so in the heavy industrial part of Linyuan, my path took me through these not terribly prosperous but reasonably livable settlements. They were interesting enough, except for the fact that there were few bridges over small rivers cutting through, so I had to keep cutting inland to get back to the beach. It seems like the locals had no need to cross them, content not to bother getting to know their neighbors just a few meters away!
Genuine fly-dried fish
Yesterday's hi-tech becomes today's junk
