For at least the last three trips, I’ve wanted to go to Keelung. It’s the last “major” metropolitan area in Taiwan that I haven’t been to and that, predominantly, is why I wanted to go there. Combine that with the fact that it really isn’t very far from Taipei and it is just been a bit frustrating that I’ve never been there.
Keelung is a small container and fishing port on the northern coast. I have no idea how busy it is as a container port, but it certainly is nothing in comparison to the massive, world-class port in Kaoshiung where the bulk of Taiwan’s shipping occurs.
On previous trips here, Irene has gone to Keelung without me, usually without my knowledge. She goes for seafood with her friends. When I’ve asked about going, she’s always replied, “There’s no reason to go to Keelung if you’re not going to eat seafood.” I disagree. One goes to a fish & chips shop for seafood where the fish has been properly processed and the fish flavor appropriately disguised.
When we arrived in Keelung, we spent an inordinate amount of time circling round and round the busy, narrow streets. I know we were just going round in circles because the GPS told me so. I couldn’t tell one street from the next and so only had the vague notion that it seemed like we were traveling in circles.
We passed Keelung’s famous night market, several times, and I thought perhaps we were going to stop if only we could find parking. By this time, after 5:00PM, I was hungry, and despite the obsession with seafood in the area, I felt sure I could grab something to eat in the night market. Grilled corn on the cob, a Chinese sausage or something like that would have been very good, and Irene and her dad could get some fresh seafood. That’s the kind of native eating I like, where they eat their thing and I eat mine. I hadn’t had breakfast when I went out in the morning, but I grabbed a couple pieces of chicken when I was waiting at the subway station to be picked up. Otherwise, I was running on empty.
However, we were not going to the night market, and finally Mr. Huang found what he was looking for, a road that lead up to a small park with (are you ready for this surprise?) stairs leading up from it. They parked and sent me on my way.
My guess was that it lead to a vantage point where I could see the city and perhaps the port, but sunset is just after 5:00 these days and the sun was already gone.
After several false “tops” of the hill, I finally reached the real top, which had giant statues and a commanding view of the area. I snapped a few pictures in the fading light and headed back to the car. After I got back, we drove to the other side where a parking lot was only 10 steps from the statues, rather than 100.
Now only a couple pictures away from a full memory card, we returned to Taipei along the freeway.
And you’d think that would have been the end of my day, with one exception…
(to be continued)