*huanying is Chinese for “welcome”

So we set off nice and early in the morning from the lovely Banana Hostel in Taipei to go to Hualien by train. Train ride was smooth, timely and easy, although we were disappointed to see that our reserved seats were not on the same side as the sea/most spectacular views. We also couldn’t even just look at them over the people who were lucky enough to get them, as they all decided to have the curtains closed on the train. Still we got to see the mountains so it was better than being inside a tube without any windows at all.

We made it to Hualien… And were taken aback by how provincial it is. Compared to everywhere else I’ve been in Taiwan, the train station itself was surprisingly small and unimpressive, and with a lot of engineering works taking place directly in front of the station, made it harder to get our bearings.

The hostel was about 20 mins walk away so we went there to drop off our bags and then went to find a coffee somewhere. The only place we could find on the map was a Starbucks which was a good 45 min walk from the hostel – we were very dedicated to finding it! We sat there sheltering from the blazing sun in a familiar environment in a wholly unfamiliar location, before going to an 85C store so I could buy a cake. We then went to find some local foods, such as guabao (Taiwanese steamed bun sandwich with pork belly as a filling) which Jo enjoyed, and some mochi which were so good!

Appetite satiated, we decided to wander down to the harbour front.Walking down the road, it felt very much like south east Asia: a bit undeveloped, a bit dilapidated, and the constant worry about being bitten by bugs! On the harbour side, a friendly woman cycled over and told me there were some rare Pokemon appearing on Pokemon GO (which had only been released the day before) and kindly let me piggyback off her wifi so I could catch some too! After that, we just sat by the shore and watched the sea.

The heavens opened so we trudged our way back, optimistically waiting by a bus stop for a while before giving up and heading back towards town. We found the Dongdamen night market and wandered around for a bit, lots of squid on sale – I went for an aboriginal zongzi, which is sticky rice with a filling wrapped in a leaf; this one had three fillings, pork, mushroom, and something grey and grainy… Two out of three isn’t too bad! I wanted to try a bamboo filled out but unfortunately the stall we tried had run out 😟 As it was still raining we didn’t want to wander too far afield!

At the night market we did find this horrific advert though..!

We then went into a bar called Salt Lick for a quick drink and then another bar called All Star for a few more, before staggering home, ready for bed.