If you ever find yourself in Taiwan, make your way to the Neiwei Flea Market. That place is a trip. It's filled with, well, everything.
We especially enjoyed the antiques, like old typewriters and rotary phones. There were also clothes and jewelry and state spoons and stalls giving massages. Like I said...everything.
We followed a dirt path to find a gurgling geyser of mud. The bubbling mess wasn't hot, but it is part of active earth activity on the island. Very cool.
I cleaned myself up for the Buddha Museum. Our guide dropped us off because the closest parking lots are only for people over 70. Following a pit stop at the pee pee bus, we headed in.
It's grand and ornate and has a Starbucks in the main hall. We enjoyed the vegetarian buffet lunch (yea Buddhists!) before exploring the galleries and shrines. We learned a ton, and even snuck a peek at an actual relic--a tooth fragment of Buddha himself.
After a stroll through Shennong Street, a 300-year old street that is now a pedestrian mall, we checked into "the place," the most modern hotel yet. Stephen, our local guide, met up with us to take us on a walking tour of Tainan.
The first capital of Taiwan, Tainan is a mix of new and old. It has been reclaiming its past, including architecture from the Japanese occupation.
Stephen guided us through a few local temples, and explained so, so much about what we were seeing. His expertise was invaluable. And he didn't seem to mind when we grilled him over yummy western dinner about everything Taiwan.
An addendum to my post about bathrooms: the fancy bidet controls also have a button for heated seats, which I learned early this morning after someone (not me) left it on all night. Nearly burned my bum!
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