This past weekend Mel and I decided to get out of the big city for a change and visit our friends in the southern part of the country, Kaohsiung. So we took a bus Friday night from Taipei to Kaohsiung following the yellow trail pictured below. It was about a 5 hour bus ride and we didn't arrive until about 2:30 am Saturday morning.
We stayed with our friend Bara (from Czech Republic) and her two roommates Rhonia (from Germany) and Fjorn (from Australia). They have a fantastic great big apartment outside the city which felt like a palace in comparison to our little concrete asylum back in Taipei. It was nice and hot down there, as it typically is in the south, so we were enjoying it immensely after the endless rain in Taipei. However, my pale city skin hasn't seen sunlight in so long I immediately burned. I was just glad to be some other color than fish belly white. Kaohsiung is much less crowded and laid back than Taipei, even in the main part of the city. So it was a nice change. And people seem to be more relaxed and friendly. The only downside would be the lack of public transportation options. At one point we piled onto the "city bus" (which was about the size of a large VW vanagon) with about 20 people inside. It was like a human jenga puzzle, my face was smashed between some old Taiwanese man's armpit and some pimpley kid's shoulder for the whole ride. And when it's 85 degrees and about 95% humidity, it makes for a rather unpleasant journey.
The first place Bara took us to was a famous lake called 'Lotus Pond' where there are giant colorful Hindu/Buddhist statues and pagodas of Disneylandish proportions surrounding, and in, the lake. Along with thousands of turtles and lily pads with giant colorful lotus flowers.
Here are some pictures. (click to enlarge)
Some of the statues in the distance are as big as the skyscrapers.
 |
| Turtles holding hands |
Later in the evening we met up with a group from the congregation and did some witnessing at the ports. The English Congregation in Kaohsiung has had enormous success preaching here. This port harbors more big fishing boats than the one we preach at in Taipei area. So, they usually are docked for a month or so and then out to sea for upwards of 9 months, sometimes never to return. So they preach here every week to make sure they can pack in as much spiritual food for these sailors while they are in. The past few weeks a large group of men from Eritrea, Africa were docked and took full advantage of their time here to get a spiritual feast. They've been able to study with about 9 or 10 of them several times, and most of them took the opportunity to come to a meeting as well. But they will have to go back out to sea soon, and likely will never be back. So we're all hoping the seeds the brothers and sisters have planted will continue to grow back in their home lands.
 |
| Witnessing to Indonesian sailors by street light |
 |
| L to R: John Gedge (from Hawaii), Tabetha (from Australia), and Mel. Port witnessing. |
After our nice evening of witnessing, we all decided to go out for dinner. And I got to go on my first scooter ride in Taiwan. (not pictured)
Sunday morning we attended the meeting and then had lunch with some of the sisters and one of Bara's bible studies at a really good Thai restaurant. Afterward the girls dropped Mel and I off at Monkey Mountain. (There are many small mountains in the Kaohsiung area, this one happens to be teeming with wild monkeys... thus the name) We were warned ahead of time that the monkeys were not shy and that we shouldn't bring food with us, or even plastic bags because they have a reputation of jumping on hikers and tearing through their things. One of their most successful methods being to drop out of a tree unannounced in front of a hiker in order to scare them into dropping their food. So naturally, I brought a banana with me in hopes of increasing my chances of such an encounter.
The mountain is quite jungley, lots of amazing trees and big broad leafy plants. And every so often if you walk off the main path you find stone ruins and underground man made tunnels that go through the mountain side. It's very reminiscent of being in the Jungle Book. And sure enough, there are lots of monkeys.
 |
| lost in the jungle |
After our hike through the mountain we packed Bara, Mel and I all onto her tiny 50 CC scooter and barreled down the mountain. All three of us cracking up the whole way. We even got a thumbs up from some of the locals driving by.
Mel and I got back on a bus and spent another five hours getting home.
We're hoping to be able to spend at least another week down there sometime soon. We didn't have time to make it to the beach or catch any surf, so maybe next time.
I heart Kaohsiung.
No comments:
Post a Comment