Shifen

After leaving Houtong, our next stop was Shifen, which is known for it's spectacular waterfall. Along the way, we had some wonderful scenery, as the train barreled along a cliff overlooking a river.

View from the train

Unfortunately, it's an hour walk from the town to the waterfall. In the intense heat we had and the curfew we had to follow, it didn't make sense for us to make the hike. When I return to Taiwan, that will be one of the very first things I would do. Instead, we wandered the town, which was enjoyable in its own right. The train station was quaint.

The shops were interesting.

95 degrees and they have beef just hanging from hooks. It was there when we left an hour and a half later, too...

Much more appropriately, taro root drying in the sun

It was so hot, this shop owner could barely move

The train tracks were lined with small versions of the large sky lanterns that we were going to light in PingXi, ran through the center of town. Literally.

and apparently, some Houtong residents were hiding from their celebrity.

We decided to stop for lunch just as much to get out of the heat as to eat. We waited at a restaurant just off the main street for about 15 minutes (unusual in Taiwan), and finally got to sit in air conditioning! The food wasn't bad, either...

The chef taking a break...

The train tracks were apparently also used as a launching pad for sky lanterns, which seemed rather dangerous to me, but everyone did it.

An Audi? A Mini Cooper? Whatever happened to wishing for world peace?

In the center of town, spanning the river, is a rather majestic suspension bridge, built during the Japanese occupation.

What a view

Andrew using blond hair, blue eyes and shameless flirtation to his advantage. A bunch of giggling girls get their picture taken by the exotic foreigner. We ran into them at the next two stops, as well.

With that, we boarded the train again, and headed out for Jingtong.