Retired Nomads Part 4: Taipei (Keelung) Taiwan – Tian-Yuan temple, Tamsui River, Yehliu Geopark, & Keelung MiaoKou Night Market

March 8 & Overnight

Today we were joined by Jaye & Kevin and Cathi & Michael (fun group) and we had Yi Fen again as our guide.

We had to be up early to get tickets for immigration and this group knew the drill and were all in line before the time we agreed to meet. Phew! Our tour didn’t start until 9:00 but if we didn’t get the first or second group, we would be late. The cruise line listened to all those that complained that the rule was only 2 per cabin/person would be handed out at a time, but last time the first person in line got 30. So, second in line got group 2 instead of group 1. This time they made an announcement that only 2 per person would be given out.

Today, Yi Fen had some surprises for us. We started at Tian-Yuan temple, an unscheduled stop since it had some cherry blossoms, and it also was an amazing temple to visit. It is a famous place to see Sakura, though not at their peak when we were there.

driving to the temple

Swinhoe's White-eye

Our next stop was Tamsui which is a river mouth town in the Tamsui District of New Taipei. We walked along the river until we got to Old Street (aka Danshui Old Street or Tamshui Old Street) which is full of shops restaurants. We stopped for a light lunch.

outside of restaurant

steamed pork bun, minced pork sauce with rice, wonton soup

cutting these huge cakes just out of the oven - people were in a long line

Greg ordering ice cream

matcha with gold leaf soft serve

strawberry soft serve

strawberry on mung bean base

Our tour was short today and Yi Fen said we could extend our day, but one of the 2 couples didn’t want to, so we kept to our schedule. We split up here and agreed to meet back at the set time.

Yi Fen told us that the driver mentioned that there was a cherry blossom festival going on and asked if wanted to go. Of course, the group was up for anything. The blossoms weren’t really going yet but it was a fun stop. Lighted bridges and tents (just like any small-town festival) We were delighted that no ship tour would have gone there. Yi is such a great guide and adjusts to what she notices her client’s interests are. It was Chinese radish harvesting time and they had cooked some and she bought some so we all could taste it. Didn’t taste like radish at all and was very good.

the cherry trees will be beautiful in a few days

Daikon (Chinese) radish fields

Daikon (Chinese) radish

small shrine

ladies frying radishes

they were really tasty

Our last stop was Yeh-liu, an amazing rock formation site. By now the rain had come but we still enjoyed the rock formations such as Queen's head, Cute Princess, mushroom, ginger rock etc. Yehliu is a cape of about 1,700 meters long formed by Datun Mountain reaching into the sea. Because the rock layer of seashore contains sandstone of limestone texture and it is subject to sea erosion, weathering and earth movements, it creates sea trenches/holes, candle shaped rocks, and pot shaped rocks.

Queen's Head

long line to get a photo of the Queen's Head

Heroic deeds of Lin Tian Zhen

looks like a sandal

really long line for a photo

yep, that's a cute pose

cute small book store

They created fake ones for those who don't wait in line for a photo next to the real one

market next to the park

We went back to the ship and dropped our things before heading out to the night market. We started with Dianji Temple which is a Taoist temple with origins going back to 1875 in the Qing Dynasty. At the time, when Tainan was still the capital of Taiwan, Keelung was a part of Taipeh Prefecture and was rapidly developed. The authorities had recently opened Keelung up as a trading port. The temple was constructed on what was originally a rice paddy.

Dianji Temple

We ate our way through the various food stalls. We started at #49 Guabao (刈包、四神湯-基隆廟口49號) Guabao, also known as the “Taiwanese Hamburger”, is one of the country’s most iconic street foods. Anthony Bourdain ate one when he visited. It’s a steamed bun filled with braised pork belly, pickled mustard greens, peanut powder, and cilantro.

lady preparing our "Japanese Hamburger" (pork, cilantro and spices)

“Taiwanese Hamburger”

no, we didn't try this

We stopped for Chicken rolls next. They are made of pork. It was quite a process watching her make them. There were many of them on display, but they aren’t ready to eat. They are only partially fried so she takes them and fries them again, so they are crispy and hot. Then she cuts them small so they are easier to eat.

lady preparing our chicken rolls

our chicken rolls

We went by lots of stalls and came to one that sold Dessert Roti’s, so we stopped to get a couple. We both got the banana with Nutella. Yum!

Next, we came across the crispy potatoes on a stick which were like potato chips and quite good.

one is done and she starts the next one

drizzled with Nutella

YUM!

crispy potatoes

There was quite a few things we could have tried but we were full. We still had room for Pao Pao Bing (泡泡冰) at Stall 37. Invented in Yilan, Pao Pao Bing is essentially Taiwanese shaved iced, but instead of putting the ingredients on top of the shaved ice, they are mixed in for you. The Shen Family stall serves theirs in a large Styrofoam cup with a long list of flavors, including peanut, pineapple, chocolate, smoked plum (烏梅), mango, passion fruit, coffee, corn, and kiwi and more!

I had the peanut and managed to get him to do 2 flavors and added chocolate. They were great together.