Day 54: Kaohsiung harbor and Chijing

A big mamma of a container ship, brand spanking new.

I started this walk from Siaogang KMRT station. The coastal route would have led through restricted-access port facilities, so I hoofed it from Siogang station to Kaohsiung harbor, a journey of a couple of hours, and finally got to see the sea again. I was pretty impressed with the harbor. I love harbors and ships, and this one was world class.

A huge working harbor with all manner of ships, boats and related equipment.

Funky curves on a fishing boat

Huge gantry, maybe 130 meters high

An Indonesian fisherman repairs nets

Some kind of tugboat

A massive wave lifts the big container ship. (Actually, I tilted my camera, as diagonally was the only way to get it into one shot from this range and angle!)

A humbler craft

A mid-sized ship, probably a deep ocean fishing trawler

A matching pair

Green boat of unknown function

Burnt out boat

A big, beautiful ship

Cranes on the waterfront

That's a wrap: Kaohsiung is a major boat-building area

Cijing island is an interesting place. It's a long, thin island, roughly 10 km in length and one in width, that forms a natural barrier protecting Kaohsiung's harbor. In fact, it is one of the reason why Kaohsiung has a great harbor, as Cijin shelters it from wind and wave, including fierce seasonal typhoons.

Because of its position, it has a dual nature: the western side is open to the ocean and is fresh and natural; the eastern side faces the harbor and is more gritty and polluted.