[TW; 2015] Solo Backpack Series | Part 11 - National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Tainan Confucian Temple, Baihe Township

DAY9

Route Info: Leo Ho Hostel > National Museum of Taiwan Literature > Tainan Confucian Temple >Tainan Train Station > Xinying Train Station > Baihe Lin Chu Pi (Street of Red Cotton Trees) > Baihe Traditional Market > Houbi Train Station
(Leo Ho Hostel > 國立臺灣文學館 > 台南孔廟 > 台南車站 > 新營車站 > 白河林初埤 > 白河市場 > 後壁車站)

1. Leo Ho Hostel > National Museum of Taiwan Literature > Tainan Confucian Temple
Woke up slightly earlier than usual... so that I can complete those historical places I want to go in Tainan City before heading to Chiayi.

And the National Museum of Taiwan Literature is just 5-10 walk away from the hostel.

But too bad the Museum was under some renovation, so I did not enter the premises. But I enjoyed walking around the exterior of the museum, looking at the details of the building.

Got slightly lost and after some struggle with directions, I reached the Tainan Confucian Temple.

^^According to Confucian's disciple Mencius, only people with noble character can take such a route (義路 "Route of Righteousness") to pass through such a gate (禮門 "Gate of Rite").

Yes, I passed through the gate. (thick-skinned)

So to enter the mini exhibitions within the temple, an entrance fee is needed. I wouldn't say it is an entrance fee, instead a small fee for them to preserve the temple structures and Confucian culture. It only costed a cup of bubble tea - NT$25.

^^On the ticket it printed Confucian's famous philosophy: "學而不思则罔 思而不學則殆" (Which literally means; learning without contemplate the accquired knowledge is a waste, contemplate but not learning anything from what you're studying is perilous.

I did a few presentations on Confucian and his disciples' philosophy during university, so... it was really a good place for my graduate trip. Reminiscing all the tough times digesting their reasoning.

They had this exhibition on Confucian's Music Philosophy. I was really excited as I wrote a few thousand words report on it on my last semester! It will be so useful if I came here before my graduation, so many useful information that can't be found in books!

^^Kids can draw on this "yellow talisman paper" look alike and hang it over this board

If you're a Singaporean, there is a DBS branch a stone away from the temple. Like within 1-2mins walk.

2. Tainan Confucian Temple > Leoho Hostel > Xinying Train Station > Baihe Lin Chu Pi (Street of Red Cotton Trees)
Collected my backpack from the hostel, did a simple check-out, and asked for directions back to the train station. It was rather simple route, and I don't understand why can I get lost 2 days ago..

After 15mins walk, I reached Tainan Train Station, and all ready to head to Xinying Train Station to meet Ms C! (If you're wondering who's Ms C, she was a Taiwanese I met at Chishang; [Backpack TW] Part 2 - Chishang)

^^The train station sounds like my name... HAHAHA

Ms C and her boyfriend was waiting for me at the train station! And while waiting for me at the xinying train station, Ms C collected one mountain of Taiwan traveling brochures for me browse through

Disclaimer: I do not promote randomly taking free car rides/offers. Please do a self gauge before accepting, especially females traveling alone!

So I hopped onto their car, and they drove me to this famous site aka the street of Red Cotton Tree, which was ranked 15th for the prettiest flower street worldwide! Actually Ms C wanted to walk along the street with her bf but she remembered I was in Tainan that few days, thus she LINE me the previous night to ask me tag along, so I was just the "電燈泡 third wheel".

Due to different phone brands' camera (Ms C, Ms C's bf and mine), the colors of the red cotton flowers may have notable differences.

^^you can pile up all the flowers to make all kinds of pretty designs!

And... The award-winning Red Cotton Tree street!

I went there around mid March... and the flowers weren't as impressive as what I seen in google. I heard late March will be the best time to visit, as most of the flowers will fully blossom.

There were a few aunties selling this Lotus Root Tea 蓮藕茶, I never seen them in Singapore, and Ms C and her bf were like telling me it is one of the local products in this township, and they said "我們買一瓶給你試 We shall buy a bottle for you to try".

Verdict: diluted. But there was a tiny pinch of lotus root taste in the tea. Not that bad?

3. Baihe Lin Chu Pi (Street of Red Cotton Trees) > Baihe Traditional Market

Ms C and her bf were rather natural and cute couple, they bantered on the streets and in the car despite my presence. Rather hilarious.

So Ms C was using the navigator on the car to search for the traditional market, but she selected the wrong location, thus wasted some time by turning the car back. When the car was about to reach the traditional market, we got stopped by the police due to some military exercise. Like nobody or anything is allowed to move outdoors during that 30mins military exercise, even shops had to close their doors or shutters and switch off their TVs. So three of us got trapped in the car, and her bf started his long rant in the car over the time wasted on turning back and etc, insisting he could be in the traditional market enjoying many plates of food.

After 30mins, we were allowed to continue on our journey to the traditional market. And Ms C did some research which indicates that there was a famous Duck Stall over there that was worth the try.

The stall was rather generous with the meat, the duck meat was sliced at least 1cm thick! And the meat goes well with the sauce. If I am not wrong, this plate of meat worth NT$100! Cheap and good! We ordered a bowl of noodles and it came with a few slices of meat and lots of vegetables, NT$50 for a bowl I think. Definitely worth the try!

Definitely back for the duck meat if I could drive, this Baihe Township is way too challenging for public transport.

4. Baihe Traditional Market > Houpi Train Station
So after lunch we had a walk around the traditional market. As Ms C and her bf had plans in the evening, I decided not to take up too much of their time and requested them to drop me off at the nearest train station.

I was so lucky to see Sakura at this old traditional train station!

Many thanks to Ms C and her bf for bringing me out in the afternoon! If I did not meet her in Chishang that day, my trip would not be so exciting! It was rather touching that Ms C was LINE-ing me everyday after I met her at Chishang during my Day2, asking me how I spent my day and clearing my doubts. She even LINE-ed me when the plane touched down, to ensure I reached Singapore safety. PS: I did wrote a postcard to her after my backpack trip. It was a great pleasure knowing her, and I hope could maintain this friendship and stay in contact always~

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