Day 148 - Keelung, Taiwan

Keelung was a surprise - the gateway port for Taipei is surrounded by hills. On our way into port we could see temples and a big Buddha on top of the hill so visiting these became our goal.  We headed straight inland toward the hill and what appeared to be an elevator to the top - alas the elevator wasn't working so we went in search of stairs instead. We quite easily found the steps to the Hill of Hope - only one wrong turn and a few extra flights of stairs. We got to see an additional temple during our misadventure too!
Today is a very warm and super humid day - the stairs were a bit damp and moss covered so we needed to climb with some care. Beautiful views and lots to see. We could even climb up in the lady Buddha and get some great views of the city through her windows. From the top of the hill we took the road, the long way, back to town. Although once the road ended we ended up taking more stairs down. After our very long and hot walked we ended our day in the night market. The night market is a pedestrian only series of street full of food and other vendors. We sampled candied sweet potato - fabulous, broccoli on a stick and a less than stellar sausage dish. We also snagged a few treats and a couple beer to take back to the stateroom. As always many more photos in the album.