Back on Mainland Taiwan

31 March 2019

I had been worried about fog closing Kinmen airport as it is the fog season.  But I woke to strong and gusty winds.  Worried that the propeller aircraft may not make it in, I checked the forecast and noted that the wind was coming from the north-east.  That’s the same direction as the runway orientation, so if they land straight into the wind, it should be OK.

I rushed my  breakfast, which was served at 0730 and headed out fifteen minutes thereafter to catch the bus to town.  While distances in Kinmen aren’t large, buses are either half-hourly or hourly on some routes.  And if you miss the connection, a simple journey can take two hours!

But fortunately for me today, I managed to connect straight to the bus for the airport.  It took a roundabout route to serve as much of the island as possible before dropping me off at the airport at 0820.

I had made good time for my 1100 flight for Tainan on the west coast of Mainland Taiwan (which seems a little contradictory).  OK, the main island of Taiwan, perhaps.  I killed time by organising a family dinner with my two nieces in the USA who will be in Kuching as well, while I’m there.

My flight to Tainan was short and sweet.  The English announcements on UNI Air seem to be written in the Malaysian British English and the voice talent they had hired had a Malaysian British accent!  Thanks for making me feel right at home.

Descending in Tainan, I noticed lots of aquaculture ponds.  No wonder seafood is so plentiful in Taiwan.

We landed into Taiwan’s mainly military airport where photography was prohibited.  It was a strange airport in that we couldn’t see the terminal.  The plane was parked amongst military hangars and we were taken by bus between different buildings ending up at a civil hall-like building which opened up on to a busy road.

It was only about 1220 and I had plenty of time to kill before my appointment with the B&B at 1500.  There was a wait for the next bus.  Needing to feed myself badly, I had to buy an overpriced meal at the airport.  Fortunately the pork rib noodle soup wasn’t a bad meal.

In downtown Tainan, I killed some more time with a coffee at a Family Mart cafe before walking to my B&B (which didn’t include breakfast, making it a B).  The town’s layout included some diagonals and with one mistake taking a diagonal road and realising it a little late, the walk took rather long and I was rather disoriented.

My simple B&B was cheap for Taiwan but very clean and well-furnished.  I had been feeling unwell today in my neck and trapezius.  I think my body isn’t use to the position that one has to assume when riding and controlling a bicycle.

After a much-needed rest, I went out for a random evening walk, finding some of the city’s sights by accident.  There was a nice salad bar across the main road and they made very good salads.  I ended up eating there for three consecutive days!

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