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Home > Trips, photos > South Cross-Island > 4th and 5th days: Around Taidong The next day, we made a fairly early start and kept to a brisk pace heading north up the coast. We stopped at a famous little meat bun shop. The meat buns were so famous that my friend had to queue for an hour to get some. In the meantime I went for a short ride inland, a little way along the same road Don and I had taken a year and a half before. The buns were good but my friend and I managed to save one for Don who had been even brisker than us and had already reached Baxiandong (Eight Gods/Immortals Caves), our first major sightseeing stop of the day. The caves were pretty and there was a pleasant stroll along wooden walkways between them. Each cave had its own shrine. Some seemed more Buddhist in orientation, others more Daoist. In the field of popular religion the two are not always clearly demarked. The next stop was Sanxiantai (Three Gods Platform). This is a little isthmus connected to the "mainland" by a bridge with eight arches. It's a very popular tourist spot and a lot of people were walking up and down the arches.
When we returned to Taidong, we met up with my old friend Vincent, who took us to an excellent little restaurant close to Zhiben. It seems that the best food in Taiwan is often to be had in a few unpretentious, fairly inexpensive little restaurants which look just like all the other small restaurants around and which would be impossible to discover were it not for the recommendation of those in the know. After that we all met up with Kim, her husband Zhoutan and their baby girl Mary at a picturesque tea house on the hills west of Taidong City. The next day Don and I took the motorbikes to the trucking company and then we all met Vincent again, who very kindly took us sightseeing. We went to the Zhiben Forest Recreation Area which was lovely. We saw quite a few monkeys and some other interesting wildlife including a small mammal, about the size of a cat, which we couldn't identify.
The rest of the day was spent on further sightseeing, and after another delicious dinner at another "secret" restaurant Vincent took us to the train station. While in the toilet cubicle at the station I noticed this interesting button. What happens if you press it? What stops? I didn't find out.
The journey back was fine; the transfer from train to bus smooth. From Taidong all the way to Taichung was 6 hours -- the same time it had taken us just to ride to Tainan on the first day! Food for thought. Return to the Trips, photos page | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
