[TW; 2015] Solo Backpack Series | Part 10 - Chikanlou Nankunshen Beimen Tainan

DAY8
Route Info: Leo Ho Hostel > Chikanlou > Jiali Bus Interchange > Keliao > Nankunshen Daitian Temple > Beimen > Tainan City
(Leo Ho Hostel > 赤崁樓 > 佳里轉運站 >
蚵寮 > 南鯤鯓代天府 > 北門 > 台南市)
1. Leo Ho Hostel > Chikanlou
Woke up early and bid goodbye to my China roommate. I decided to explore abit of the historical side of Tainan! I wanted to rent a bicycle with Leo Ho Hostel at NT$150 for the whole day, but after some thoughts... I decided to roam around the city by foot.

Headed to Chikanlou using googlemap, as the city map was so confusing, nevertheless the city tourism board was so nice to place direction signs at almost every t-junction. No worries of getting badly lost.
赤崁樓 ChiKanLou (also known as Chikan Tower or Fort Provintia or Providentia), http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002119&id=471, No.212, Sec. 2, Minzu Rd., West Central District, Tainan City
It was built way back in 1653 during the Dutch colonization in Taiwan. But I have to say the tower was well maintained.

It has a long history... if you're interested you can wiki more information about it before visiting.

Anyway, visitors could climb this flight of stairs to the second level to have a breath-taking view of the city and also for more interesting exhibition.


According to my China roommate, Chikanlou had some band performance at night. She shown me the video and it looks great, so alternatively you could visit it in the night to experience a different atmosphere.

2. Chikanlou > State Temple of the Martial God > Yi Feng Winter Melon Tea > Old Knight Curry Rice
It was raining, so I stopped by a temple near Chikanlou - State Temple of the Martial God 祀典武廟 to hide for shelter. No photos of the god statues as I feel it is abit disrespectful to do so.
祀典武廟, No. 229, Section 2, Yongfu Rd, 中西區台南市 Taiwan 700
While writing this post, I found out that this temple is one of the popular places in Tainan to pray respects to 月老 (Yue Lao), which is the God of Marriage. But I did not saw the small room they specially had for Yue Lao when I visited. I guess I am not fated with the Yue Lao over at the temple.

Did some google-ing after that, and it seems that there is this famous winter melon tea nearby the temple... and it was just 30 steps away!
義豐阿川冬瓜茶, www.yi-feng.com.tw/, No. 216, Section 2, Yongfu Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700
They have all kinds of combination with winter melon tea, which was quite creative! Enjoyed having a cold winter melon tea despite the cool weather. Rather refreshing, and cheap!

Googled for places to have lunch and this curry rice caught my attention - it provides free flow of rice and side dishes! And it was just 1-2 minutes away from the winter melon tea shop!
老騎士咖哩飯 Old Knight Curry Rice, 台南市中西區永福路二段180號 Tainan, Taiwan 700
They served curry with japanese rice, and they side dishes were so delicious that I had a few rounds. (thick-skinned)

3. Old Knight Curry Rice > Tainan Train Station > Jiali Bus Interchange
Feeling abit adventurous, super impromptu, I decided to take a bus to Jiali, and change another bus to Beimen! So I walked to the road opposite of the train station, and waited for Blue line bus (藍幹線) on the right hand side bus stop (back facing the train station).
(click to enlarge the photo to view the different bus lines)

The best thing of the bus ride was, there were USB plugs at every seat! Which means I could charge my phone/portable battery! Do remember to bring along your USB cable!

It was slightly more than an hour ride, but the seats were comfortable, so I enjoyed the ride very much. Reached the Jiali Bus Interchange 佳里轉運站, which was the last stop of the ride, to my horror, I missed the bus to Beimen by 5-10mins! Which means I had to wait for an hour or more for the next bus. (lesson learnt for being so impromptu)

But one of the best thing of the trip occurred at this small bus interchange. It all started from this friendly bus interchange attendant. Maybe I looked really worried that I had to wait for an hour, so I started asking him will he shout out when the next bus arrives and etc. So he started suspecting me that I am not from this town, and hesitated quite long before approaching me to ask where am I from. When I told him I was from Singapore, he gave me the unbelievable face, cause he was expecting an answer from some other areas of Taiwan.

So within minutes, everyone at the interchange got the news I am from Singapore. (The interchange is super small, maybe 8x4foot big) And I was like some tourism representative of Singapore, explaining and introducing Singapore in this small town. And a bus driver specially dug out a set of "limited edition" Tainan bus routes brochures for me. (':

Because of this set of "limited edition" brochures, an auntie approached me to discuss whether I can share the brochures with her. The attendant looked abit worried of the auntie intentions approaching me, probably he never see her in this town before, so he stayed close to us. (I hope I am not imagining things again, otherwise he is such a gentleman) In the end, I shared a couple of the brochures to the auntie, and in return she offered to bring me around Beimen as she lived in that area.

Daringly, I accepted her offer. So my journey with this auntie and her friend, shall name the auntie Ms H, starts here!
 
^^The bus attendant and the auntie aka Ms H

Disclaimer: I do not promote randomly accepting offers from strangers. Please do a self gauge before accepting, especially females traveling alone!

4. Jiali Bus Interchange > Keliao > Nankunshen Daitian Temple
 藍2 Blue Line Bus 2, http://2384.tncg.gov.tw/TNWeb/RouteStopInfo.jsp?routeId=1202
It is HIGHLY not recommended to travel to Beimen Township on weekends, because the crowd will be massive and they uses mini-bus to run this service.

Anyway, we stopped at Keliao 蚵寮 as Ms H stayed at this area and her friend that came from Taipei had to place her personal belongings for the stayover. So I got the chance to visit Ms H house, where she had a backyard to grow her favorite fruits!
^^Mango Tree

So I had the chance to try these unripe preserved mango made by Ms H! It was so delicious, as I love sour stuffs, and so refreshing as she chilled them.

After a short break, Ms H lent me her hat, and we walked over to some famous temple - Nankunshen Daitian Temple (南鯤鯓代天府). As Ms H was an enthusiastic photographer, she insisted of taking photos for me at every corner of the temple, so you will be able to see me in most of the photos, please pretend I am not in the photos. So here goes the photo journey of the "village girl":
南鯤鯓代天府 Nankunshen Daitian Temple, www.nkstemple.org.tw/, 台南市北門區鯤江里976號
Ms H claimed that hardly any tourist will visit this temple, hence she was telling me I could show off to my friends that I came to this massive famous temple in Beimen. This temple was rated 3 stars by Michelin Guide!
^^The temple is famous for this pure gold statue (I din want to take a photo but Ms H insisted)


And there were a few gardens within the temple boundary. With Ms H hat, I looked like someone who came from a village.

Then headed off to somewhere to see more pretty structures and scenery.

5. Nankunshen Daitian Temple > Beimen Visitor Center
Took Blue Line Bus 2 right infront of the temple to the famous Beimen Visitor Center!

北門遊客中心 Beimen visitor center, Tainan City Beimen District 北門里200號
The famous convenience store 錢來也 from 《王子变青蛙 The Prince Who Turns into a Frog》, if you're a Cpop/Cdrama fan, you definitely watched the drama before. Just that I came too late and the convenience store was closed for the day. ):

The famous Crystal Church 水晶教堂 is just a stone away from the visitor center!
Not trying to lie, but it just looks like this. It will be pretty if I photoshop-ed the photo. And visitors can't get into the church due to safety reason. Disappointing.

I wanted to go 井仔腳瓦盤鹽田 Jing Zai Jiao Tile Paved Salt Fields to watch sunset! But Ms H told me, watching the sunset in Beimen Visitor Center is similar to the Salt Fields.
Yes, the sunset was pretty in Beimen, but I will be back for the Salt Field sunset one day!

6. Beimen Visitor Center > Jiali Bus Interchange > Tainan City > Leo Ho Hostel
So Ms H and her friend accompanied me to wait for the bus back to Jiali Bus Interchange as it was pretty dark in the night. So thankful of them bringing me around, and making sure I enjoyed myself! (': PS: I did sent a postcard over to Ms H after my Taiwan trip!

Upon reaching the bus interchange, the bus attendant was still there and he quickly informed me that the bus back to Tainan was about to departure! But he still managed to ask me how was my trip with Ms H somehow, he was still cautious about her, hahaha.
(Click to enlarge the bus schedule timings from Jiali Bus Interchange to Tainan City)

Earlier in the morning while I was walking to Chikanlou, I paid attention to the bus stop along the way, and I realised Blue Line bus do stop somewhere near Leo Ho Hostel. So upon boarding, I told the bus driver I want to alight at 中山、民權路口 Zhongshan Minquan Intersection.

After an hour ride, I roamed around that area and decided to have 小龍包 Xiao Long Pau for dinner!
上海華都小吃城, No. 28, Section 2, Minquan Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700
 
The lady boss was rather nice, when I asked her am I ordering too much for one person, she told me she could help me to takeaway if I can't finish them. Food wise, they were recommended by Michelin Guide too, so more or less the standard was there! The seafood rice was surprisingly good despite the poor appearance. The Xiao Long Paus were average.

And yes, I proudly finished everything myself, and happily walked back to the hostel within minutes. It would be great if my day ended finding myself a new room mate. So me with an empty room again for the night.

>> Next Post: [Backpack TW] Part 11 - National Museum of Taiwan Literature | Tainan Confucian Temple | Baihe Township

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