Part 92. Jiufen...
The hostel Lounge, or common room was really comfortable with its huge sofas, and in Jean the proprietor, we had the perfect host. She was a softly spoken eccentric character with a wicked sense of humour - I liked her straight away. There were a few house rules which we didn't mind, like no shoes and a curfew at night, but this was a great place to just hang out. She would play the cello or piano, and oil paint whilst the guests came and went.
On this particular day it was heavily raining so we decided to spend the day at the hostel, then once again wandered the nearby street food alleys to sample more local delicacies.
This wasn't a place swamped with western tourists or backpackers by any means, compared to its neighbouring Asian cities, and the reaction from the people here was endearing with lots of friendly smiles and waves exchanged. It was just a really pleasant city to explore and walk around.
The following day we decided to get the bus to Jiufen in the northeast of Taiwan - this was an area that came up many times and was used as inspiration for one of my favourite anime films 'Spirited away' which for anyone who doesn't know, was Japan's highest grossing film of all time. The journey there gave us opportunity to take in more of the city, passing through some of the suburban areas and since it was a Saturday morning the traffic wasn't as bad.
Like all of the public transport here it was immaculately clean and cheap if not a little difficult to navigate as most of the signs were in Chinese. But there is always someone nearby to assist soon as anyone notices you are lost, they come straight over to help with directions.
Jiufen translated actually means 'nine portions' something to do with rationing the food portions between 9 families who used to live there in years gone by.
It used to be a rich gold mining town and was colonised by Japan in 1895 but now it's one of Taiwan's most famous tourist spots and a place I was very much looking forward to seeing, although we were warned that it was going to be extremely crowded mainly with Asian, and not western tourists.
The bus trip was around 2 hours and dropped us of half way up the picturesque mountains at the foot of the town facing the sea, and yes the hundreds of tourists were clearly visible almost immediately - although taking nothing away from the scenery. It was full of winding narrow cobble stoned roads, steep stairways, hundreds of noticeable bright red lanterns and Japanese influenced buildings so close together that barely any light made it to the streets. Dozens of food stalls lined the sidewalks selling everything and anything from food to souvenirs, masks, cakes, square melons and red apple bananas - this place was absolutely bustling! The pungent aroma of one the regions more famous foods filled the air too - stinky tofu!
It was an enchanting picture perfect town set amongst misty mountains full of all the inspirations behind the famous film. Taking our time weaving in and out of the tourists, stopping occasionally to try the food, I sampled a zesty fresh ginger tea, as well as a sweet glutenous sticky rice - both delicious. This place was a snack lovers Mecca and we spent a few hours meandering the streets.
The steps and paths where steep and energy sapping so we found a perfect little cafe nestled between huge rocks over looking the coast and town to take a break from the searing heat. There were small forrest clad Islands, sandy coastlines and rolling mountains as far as the eye could see in the distance. I was in no rush to move and neither were the guys as we sat here for the best part of the early afternoon, sipping tea, enjoying the view hoping that the crowds outside died down a little bit - no such luck, it was still packed outside so we headed back down the steps to escape the crowds, then got a bus higher up the mountains to the historic Jinguashi which was the next town on a really quite nauseating road, around 30 mins away.
Now here you could clearly see the Japanese colonial influence all over. We walked amongst some peaceful gardens and a park that led to a whole area made famous for its gold and copper mines. Walking around here was so much easier and quiet compared to the hectic Juifen. Don't get me wrong it was an amazing place to visit but it was just a bit to crowded.
Jinguashi had a bit of a mixed past, apart from the gold rush days it was used to house prisoners of war and there was a monument to commemorate those who suffered at the camp. Since the gold rush dried up in the early 70s Jinguashi became a ghost town until the tourism revived it.
Mostly, the site has been turned into a kind of gold ecological park, which offers a number of ways to see how the area's history has been influenced by gold mining, and to get a peek into what life was like in the past.
We continued to walk on a neat path on the edge of the valley overlooking an impressive giant gold statue of Guan Gong (God of war) at the Cyunaji temple. It was a beautiful site seeing this majestic golden statue that as I understand, personifies honour, loyalty, integrity, justice, courage, and strength, amongst the bright green trees facing the sea.
The path then led us around the edge of the mountains through a small community, passing shrines, museums, ancient ruins, waterfalls and other places of interest along the way, stopping briefly to take a closer look then we walked back to the road where the bus dropped us off. Luckily there was an empty bus there already waiting which not before too long took us back to Taipei.
It had been another great day spent exploring the history and learning more about the heritage of a country that previously I knew very little about, and is somewhere I would thoroughly recommend anybody to visit.
This understated island has blown me away so far, challenging any untrue stereotypes I might have had. There is definitely more to this place than bustling cities and factories.
When we arrived back at the hostel it was only for a quick shower and change of clothes. My stomach was growling and eager to sample some more of the foods Jean had recommended, so without wasting anymore time we hopped onto another bus that took us direct to the Shihlin night food market - the most famous in Taipei. It was already busy and alive with an overwhelming amount of shops, food vendors, and stalls everywhere.
We strolled around absorbing the atmosphere and began tasting anything that took our fancy. From more spicy steamed dumplings to stewed pigs intestine cooked in blood sauce (although I didn't know this at the time) sticky sweet beans, baby octopus, spring onion pancakes and a deep fried whole chicken on a stick. Honestly this place was incredible, the aromas and sound of sizzling meats on barbecues, drawing on inspiration from all over Asia with such a vast array of freshly cooked deliciousness, to the completely bizarre, like duck tongue, or assorted boiled animal parts, to chicken hearts and feet on a stick had to be seen to be believed - this was not your everyday run of the mill Asian food market whatsoever and definitely lived up to the hype, no question!
If anyone has any serious aspirations of being a 'foody' or street food lover then you simply have to see this place to believe it, yet this is only one of the many night food markets in Taipei.
If you are in any way adventurous there are so many weird and wonderful foods to try that I simply didn't have a clue what most of it actually was. Especially since no one speaks English. On top of all of that the menus are all written in Chinese too so you have to rely on a combination of your senses mixed with curiosity, and a hint of bravery to get by, but to me to me that's part of the fun. My advice is to just get stuck in.
Shihlin also has Karaoke bars, cinemas and hundreds of other shops if you want to extend your night but after eating ourselves into a frenzy we decided to head back.
Today had been an overwhelming experience for all five of my senses in the best way possible. I was falling more in love with Taiwan by the day.