Day 57: Keziliiao to Mituo Township

Who's that ravishing rural beauty, resplendent in her nightmarket fashions? Why, it's my wife! Since we were in her home town of Cishan for the Chinese New Year (2011), I dragged her kicking and screaming for a day of walking, walking and more walking. It was a nice change from the usual solo thing.



We started off from Keziliao fishing port on yet another perfect day, sunny but not too hot. We were able to follow the coast for a while, but later some steep of not very high cliffs and some bouldery beaches forced us to cut through farmland for a while. I don't feel too guilty about this anymore, as it seems more interesting to go through some human settlements than follow a really nasty patch of shoreline.

Merchants, customers and of course, fish!


And the boats that catch them.



And the usual silly shoreline artwork, if you want to call it that.


The above shots are mainly not very good, the reason being that after the one immediately above, I dropped and broke my camera, and had only those ones to choose from.

In any case, we wandered the Kaohsiung countryside for several hours, passing through mixed farming, industrial and residential zones, although mainly rural.

Eventually we found our way back to the sea, and stomped along for a while longer before the good wife's feet got sore. Another 30 minutes of hiking brought us into the town center for Mituo, where we got a bus back to Zuoying.

Day 56: From Zuoying to Keziliao

Produce vendors near Lotus Lake in Zuoying District, Kaohsiung.

Due to the sprawling Zuoying Naval Yard, which stretches all the way from Caishan to Chaotou District, I had to break the continuity of walk. But the Lotus Lake area was pleasant enough, and once again it was a lovely warm sunny day.

Lotus Lake

Confucius temple

Cane? Able!

An interesting area near the naval base, with an almost North American suburban feel to it, very rare in Taiwan.


Kaohsiung's 2009 World Games Stadium


A bustling neighborhood in Zuoying

Following the wall around the military base and airfield, through a simple neighborhood, trying to find a safe and legal route to the coast.


Pillbox at the edge of the military land

More of a canal than a river; nevertheless a good place for fishing.

The military land continued on the other side. #@&*!

The lands are wet.


I finally made it to Keziliao Harbour.




Mullet roe a'dryin'!

Fish balls a'boilin'!

Lovely, fresh seafood everywhere



After a day of following the boundary of the military base, which was kind of frustrating, it was nice to end up in a bright and lively market by the harbour.

Day 55: Gushan, Sizhiwan and Caishan

Everyone's out for a nice day in the sun.

I started out at Gushan Ferry terminal in the Sanzhiwan district of Kaohsiung. It was a great day-warm but not hot, and nice and sunny. There were merry views of ferries docking, and others boats and ships chug-chugging across the busy harbour.

Across the narrow harbour mouth was the lighthouse hill on Cijin Island.

Old area from Qing Dynasty times in Gushan, near Sizhiwan.

This ship just rocketed out of the harbour mouth.

The old British Consulate at Dagou. Worth the walk up the steps.


Talking business over tea: something civilized men of whatever background can agree on.

Not sure what the relevance of a nude statue at an old consulate is, but nice bum!

Kaohsiung harbour as seen from the consulate.

The breakwater near Siziwan and the beach, and Sun Yat-sen University.


View from the road to Caishan.

From that road, paths led down to more secluded beaches.


The ridge of Caishan.

One of the locals checking me out.

Chiang Kai-shek's old car, on display near Siziwan.

Overall, it was a pleasant and uneventful ramble around a pretty area. The only problem was that, due to a massive Navy and Marine base in adjacent Zuoying, there was no way through, so I'd have to do a run around.