One of my favorite pastimes in Taipei is to drop into the subway system, pick a station I’ve never been to and go there to explore. Since most of the stations are subterranean it’s impossible to have a feel for where you are.
Each station has a map showing what’s around it. Maddeningly, they’re oriented in a random fashion. North is almost never up, which makes it more difficult to visualize.
I chose Yongning station because of three reasons: (1) I had no idea where Yongning was (2) It’s the terminal station on the subway’s blue line, and (3) It’s a new station, completed since the last time I was here.
When I arrived, the map provided with with little hope, the major landmarks in the area were a cemetery, a waste water treatment plant and a cement factory. No parks, museums nor shopping complexes.
When I popped my head out of the station, I noticed that I was near one of the perimeter mountains around Taipei, that it appears to be an industrial area and that it was beginning to pour rain again. With my trusty umbrella in one hand, GPS in the other, I headed out in a direction that turned out to be South-West. The most distinct landmarks were the cow statues in the middle of a street. No clue what that was about.
What a bleak area. Double-stacked freight trucks plied up and down the streets, honking at each other constantly. Packs of wild dogs roamed the streets, following people menacingly and the inhabitants just stared at me like they’d never seen a foreigner. This area certainly seemed off the beaten path for tourists.
About 1.5 to 2 Km out from the station, I decided I’d had enough. The storm had turned into a proximate lightening storm, and I’m not comfortable walking in the lightening with an umbrella/lightening rod. I needn’t worry about that for long, for the wind started picking up, blowing at almost gale force. At one point, while crossing a street, the wind caught my umbrella and shredded it. The metal stays tore through the fabric like a big metal spider. One of them latched into the back of my shirt and tore a hole in it, effectively locking the remains of the umbrella around my head. I had a hairy, blind moment or two as I fought the monster off.
I was glad I visited, but I was equally glad I’ve “checked off†Yongning station and aren’t likely to need to return.