Tour de Taiwan Day 4 Chiayi to Tainan

Tour de Taiwan
Day 4
Chiayi to Tainan
Distance: 74km
Time on board: 4 hours 49mins

Mastered my hammock skills, sleep perfectly fine in Topic of cancer park, except that it was a bit cold.

I can actually skate to Kaohsiung, another 115 km at my current pace but the purpose of touring is to explore new places. By skipping tainan and rushing to Kaohsiung defeats that spirit of touring. Touring is not about speed or competing who travel further but explore new places and experience new cultures.

Today terrain is another flat road, hence my fast pace. Since today is Saturday, many Taiwanese cyclists were out on the roads, giving me encouragement along the way. Met another touring cyclist who did whole round in 9 days.

Followed route 1 into xin Cheng, a newly built city specially for science development industry. I must say technology is the key to taiwan's success. Brands like Asus and lenovo and many other technology firms, no wonder they prosper even when they are not really recognized as a nation.

Impressed by science park, bumped into national history of Taiwan museum. Since i got time to spare, i visited and the Security guard gave me a personalised tour.

Continued route 1 into Anping district of Tainan. One of the most popular destinations in the Tainan area is the Anping District (安平區； Ānpíng qū). The Anping District is the historical heart of Tainan, the original capital of Taiwan. Anping is home to the Anping Old Fort (安平古堡； Ānpíng gu bǎo), the Anping Tree House (安平樹屋 Ānpíng shù wū） (a warehouse with massive banyan trees growing out of it), and numerous restaurants and food stalls.

It is the place where the Dutch colonialist East India Company (VOC) located its Taiwan base. Fort Zeelandia (at today's Anping) and Fort Provintia (at today's Chickan Tower) had been built to secure the entrance to a natural harbour, otherwise blocked by sandbars. The area has become silted over the centuries and today the coastline is way outside the range of both forts location. Also, a lot of land area is being claimed from the sea these days as you can easily see when venturing outside Anping.

The Dutch have been overcome by Chinese general Zheng Chenggong (known in the West as Koxinga), who proceeded to set up organized government on the island. He is thus regarded as the founding personality of Taiwan and the city has great historic significance for the country as a whole. Quoted from Wikitravel

Walked around and saw a polish couple selling postcards of their travel photos to cover some expense. Like me, they are travelling around the world by sailing and hitchhiking. Maybe, I should do that too. Had dinner and walked into Getai, performed by singers meant for the temple celebration.

found camp at a pavilion with toilet, which is a crucial factor.