I now had a whole afternoon to spend in Kaohsiung Taiwan's second largest city having arrived a day ahead of schedule. My plan was to spend the afternoon at Cijin Island where there are some historic Colonial outposts similar to Anping in Tainan

The tourist info office told me to take a bus back from the train station but I waited and saw no signs of the buses arriving either at the station or on the departure boards. Since I was right at the subway I decided to take the train instead

Subway fare was only $20 TWD (.65 cents) and the Island was at the terminal station of the line about four stops away. However, I had to change lines after the first stop from Kaohsiung Main Station.

From the station it was a short 10 min walk to the ferry area to the island. Outside the station they were renting bicycles and scooters. I decided not to as I wanted to visit the British Consulate which was a steep climb up a cliff

Passing by the harbour area it was a long steep climb up a winding path to get to the former British Consulate. If I had a bike I'd have to leave it and retrace my steps back to where I'd left it so I wanted the flexibility to explore more on foot.

The consulate was the same brick design as the one I had visited in Danshui last year on the
northern tip of the Taiwan Island

(see last years visit http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-e ntries/londone7/20/1331037142/tpod.html )

This time it was a simple one storey building with some exhibits inside. The building I had visited in Danshui last year was a lot more interesting with more historic buildings around.

In the distance you could also see the Cihou Lighthouse on Cijin Island across the waters as well as the outer harbour.

It was then a long staircase climb back down to ground level

Walking back to the ferry terminal there was light drizzle, my first rain in Taiwan. The forecast was supposed to be clear when I checked so hopefully it wasnt any harder.

The ferry fare was $15 TWD (.50 cents) and was in a colourful two deck ferry. Mopeds and cycles were on the lower deck with passengers on the upper deck

It was a short 10 min ride but now the drizzle was heavy and it was very overcast to see much of the city skyline. It was interesting watching all the scooters buzz off as the ferry arrived at the island

Immediately it had a more relaxed fairground type feel as bicycle rickshaws passed by with many outdoor street vendors.

After stopping at the Tianhou Temple I continued down the Seafood Street. There were many types of tempura items as well as seafood pancake and fresh fish. The fresh fish was more expensive as the restaurant inside will cook it on the spot

Heading to the end of the seafood street brought me to the beach and coastline. Although it was breezy it was still quite busy and the drizzle had stopped

I wanted to visit the Fort and think I missed the turning off the seafood street. I could still see it and signs were pointing towards it. However it was on top of a cliff while I was at sea level so not sure how I was to climb up.

There was a tunnel that went thru the base of the cliff and I was hoping there would be stairs to go up on the other side

The other side was leading me in a circle back to the ferry terminal but then I did find a staircase. I was tired and didnt want to do lots of climbing. It was leading me to the lighthouse which I didnt want to climb all the way up to but hopefully I would be able to get to the fort which was beside

I then couldnt see how to get across to the fort and didnt want to climb back down and back up again on the other side. Eventually there was a shrubby pathway that fortunately led me into it

It was a simple brick shell of a building but did give for some amazing views all around being perched on a clifftop.

Turns out I had come in from the back way as usual and then found the path and markings to enter both the fort and lighthouse

Back on ground level I wandered back to the seafront looking for some food. I had seen a giant temple from the top of the fort so was trying to find it.

The temple was impressive but locked and closed for some reason. Beside was another smaller temple

Beside was an indoor covered tourist market. It was mostly dried seafoods and not snacks or souvenir items.

I then decided to just take the ferry back, check into the hotel, and find some food back in the city

Cijin is a nice place to spend a sunny afternoon with friends, perhaps have a picnic, or go swimming in nice weather.