Day 20

Apr 20th, 2008 by Alice in Daily Marathon

Kaoshiung to Tainan.

Far too enamored with the Pig and Whistle not to squeeze in another visit, we return for a long, lazy Sunday brunch where Sky Sports shined heavenly from the TV and fried eggs shined sunnily from our plates. A crossword race between Mattus and I did not end bitterly and Neil reveled in the delights of doing nothing. We take Neil to the start line and are glad to have Matt’s company for most of the day. His clever witticisms are welcome to Neil and me who have tired, disintegrated brains now and find hysterical humour in things as ridiculous as a football commentator saying “…and it’s Smolov of Frolov…” or something.

We are soon leaving Kaoshiung behind and, after a small road-confusion fatigue episode, are on Route 17 and heading north again. Surrounded by corrugated iron and industrial towers, the roads are busy, polluted and unappealing. Matt heads back to Taipei to continue with real life on Monday morning. We are sorry he is leaving us so soon. The 17 leads us through village after village of neon-lit betel-nut stands, where girls in tiny clothes manicure their nails and apply lipstick but seem not to sell many betel nuts, and petrol stations but little else. The straight, flat road begins to bore me a little but Neil is thankful that this is the home stretch and not the mountainous east coast. We think about trying a betel nut soon.

The finish line is close to Tainan and we drive there and stay in a hotel which must be the epitome of budget accommodation so far. Hotel Asia. The name says it all, but with brilliantly friendly staff, a laundry service and free internet you can’t complain.