Sunday 17, November 2024
A train ride today. Although we did cycle 14.77 kms to our warmshowers host.
We got to the train station way too early. Then worried where to stand on the platform to get the bikes on the train. We had to be in the last carriage, but didn’t know how many carriages there would be. We watched the high-speed train arrive and the car # and the platform # lined-up perfectly.
Eventually when the train arrived, we had lots of time to get the bikes on the train. We just rolled them on, there were no tie-downs, nor did the seats lift up, we just had them leaning against a couple of seats. We were the only two in the carriage. Because we had booked our bikes without bags, we had to take the slow train to Luondong.
From the train we saw a lot of landslides and damage from the April earthquake and the typhoon Kong Rey. The train had to slow down in certain areas.
By the time we got to Luondong it was raining. We cycled out of the downtown area and then stopped for lunch. We arrived at our warmshowers house at 2:30. Wan-Wei is a prison officer and is also a published author. He has written many stories about his life as a prison officer and surprisingly they haven’t fired him. Although I am sure they will be glad when he retires in 4 years time.
We stayed in Prison married quarters and the prison wall was almost next to the house. It was a very interesting afternoon and evening talking to Wan Wei and Joyee. Joyee has travelled extensively as a tour guide both abroad and in Taiwan. Now she teaches the tour guide course, she also is a cultural ambassador for Taiwan and she has been to many places including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival showcasing Taiwanese Art Forms like puppetry.
Wan Wei and Joy had a little rescue dog. They got him when he was 2 years old from a puppy mill. He is now 14. they were both surprised when he went up to Ralf and wanted to sit on his lap. My hubby the Dog Whisperer.
Joyee cooked a really nice meal. Taro soup, which Ralf really likes Taro, a fish and tomato sauce dish, which I really enjoyed, rice and 100-year old egg and tofu (top right in photo). Our first taste of 100-year old egg. These 100-year old eggs are very popular in Taiwan. They are not actually 100-years old, but the way they are made makes them smell like it ha ha. Not really, Joyee told us that they are duck eggs and in the past they were either wrapped in mud and left in the ground to mature or soaked in horse pee. Now they are ‘cooked’ in a lime mix. The eggs when opened are black. They had an odd consistency, almost rubbery, they tasted o.k. but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat them again.
We had an early night. Forecast for tomorrow is for more rain.
