Day 81: Hukou to Yongan Fishery Harbor (May 18)

Starting off at the train station

 Getting close, now really getting close!

Another pleasant spring day. Time to get back to the ocean. The diversions inland were convenient and interesting, but this was primarily meant to be a coastal walk, and I would end it that way. Fortunately there was an easy route back to the coast and some nice bits of trail along it.

Old boys' club under the overpass

Shabby old house

 The town of Hukou was not bad. It was a friendly and laid back kind of place. It was an old town that grew up as Taiwan did, and had a mix of older buildings - both urban and rural - with farm land, streams and factories.

NOTE: When I stood taking the photo of the "shabby old house" above, a very old guy on a moped stopped and asked me if I wanted to buy it!

Comfy bus stop!

Why not?

Odd choice of names for a place in Taoyuan

 It was interesting to guess at the history of the area from the older bits that were preserved, like this veterans' farm, which was in Taoyuan, but named for Changhua.

Old resettlement

Funky houses

Roadside drying

Temples and gardens

Really getting close now

Old land, new highway

Back to the ocean

Finally back to the ocean, there were some great sand dunes. The beach was nice to look at, but I wouldn't swim there with all the foul industrial and agricultural water oozing down the streams.

Yongan Fishery Harbor in the distance

Guanyin in Guanyin township. She be a homie!

Abandoned park with animal sculptures

From this bus stop (located rather conveniently across the street from a 711) I got a bus to Chongli train station. It was late Sunday afternoon, and the cars had plenty of Southeast Asian laborers chattering away, enjoying their time off. One group of guys though seemed drugged up and aggressive, with loud voices and staring eyes. Not pleasant, but I can only imagine how tough their day to day existence is. In any case, they didn't mind me sitting quietly and guzzling beer!