This morning one of the veteran teachers, Jen, took me and Lee plus three other newbies on a bike ride along the Love River and down to the city harbor. It was quite an adventure! We took the bike path all the way to end where the Pier 2 art center is (see the post from August 2 about the sculpture park) and along the pier to Jen's favorite spot for mango ice. Mango ice is a big thing around here, especially now when mangoes are in season.

Here we are at the snack shop, waiting for our mango ice.

After our refreshing snack we made our way to the ferry to Qijin Island. The ferry costs NT$15 (about 50 cents US) for a passenger with a bike and takes about 5 minutes to get to the island.

The bottom of the ferry filled up with scooters. The top is for walk-on passengers.

The buildings in the center of the photo are on Qijin Island.

Kaohsiung City skyline, including 85 Tower, the tallest building in the city.

 The island itself is a lot like Virginia Beach or Coney Island. Shops with trinkets and beach paraphernalia plus food stalls and the streets full of tourists.

In addition to honky tonk there are also temples, which you can find all over the city.

We biked through the town and quickly got past the crowds and onto the bike path along the beach. It was pretty incredible. The sand was black and the beach deserted. Apparently the Taiwanese are not much into swimming. It was also hot (I know, I mention that a lot...) and the ocean temperature was the warmest I've ever felt. Not exactly refreshing. Anyway it was beautiful. On the horizon there were more huge container ships than I could count.