zm. the poor bloke.: taipei december 2008

warning: extra long post with over 40 pictures

places: North Eastern Taipei - Ping Si (Shifen Waterfalls) and Keelung City

the signages are really hard to read! Wanted to go to Shifen, which required us to take the metro to TMS and transfer to TRA's Yilan Line. There, there would be a spur line to Ping Si, which has many good old attractions such as Shifen Waterfall, bridges, etc.

Mac breakfast

Our launching pad - Ximending

We realised these machines could dispense EasyCards

got a mild shock on TRA - some of their rolling stock are still non electrified, much like our neighbouring KTM's trains. But the airconditioning worked well, IMO much better than KTM. We got the 2nd class (莒光) tickets, which skipped certain stations along the line.

Pricelist - !?

Yet another one!?

Ticket #1 - TMS to Ruifang

Looking for car 6...

Locomotive train to Ruifang

KO, TW

when we reached Ruifang station, there was only about 5-10 minutes to make an immediate transfer to Ping Si Line. We had to ask the platform staff, get past a security staff who manually collected our previous tickets, then go to the ticketing station many meters away. By the time we reached the opposite platform, the train went off.

Platform 1, i remember. Had to go down and up to opposite platform

Walking to this counter took 5 minutes.
Another 5 minutes to interpret the massive pricelist

so we stopped at RF for lunch. Had a hearty encounter with a kind old man, who was working with the railway station.

Ruifang town centre

The train station

Yummy 'kopitiam' with local foodfare (and atmosphere)

One of the stalls

Ticket #2 - one day pass on Ping Si Line (NTD54)

On the diesel powered train - sounds like a truck because it 'accelerates'

The trainset

Can stop here and walk down railway...

we thought walking along the railway was dangerous, so we took the slope next to it. It practically got nowhere, even with the farmers' help. We could have shortened this walk by just walking along the tracks.

Back to the track...

Yup. Becareful

Had to exercise 100% caution - passing train can kill

Shifen Waterfalls

CLOSED!

mini drama here - the government has forced the operator to close! Apparently, the operator has bought up the surrounding land of Shifen Waterfalls, sealed up the place with concertina wires and charged for entry (NTD180). So it had to be shut down.

we eventually broke in through the concertina wires, then took some pictures of the good view. Some older folks also wanted to come in, so we helped them. The owner suddenly came back and roared at us. So... got chased out.

Still we barged in...

The bridge from Shifen Waterfall to Spectacle Cave

Spectacle Cave

Potholes from erosion

More waterways and scenic bridges - Siguang Suspension Bridge

We found this notice on the way... but we came from the other direction.

Shifen Old Streets

Ticket #3 - Ruifang to Keelung (transfer at Badu)

Train car number, trip number and class

Slightly different train

Transferring at Badu to Keelung

stopped at Keelung, who involved another transfer from Ruifang, at Badu. Then took the line upwards to Keelung. The transfer was boring but worth it - Miaokou's food selection is great.