I have been working very hard these last few weeksβa little too hard, at times. To break the monotony of laying code every day I elected to go for a proper ride yesterday. One ever-present feature of riding through Taiwan are roadside attractions like this bizarre European-style building with winged white horses outside. In the midst of the industrial wasteland I noticed a Starbucks at a major intersection.
Nothing says civilization like Starbucks, right? It is known for being home to a large migrant worker populationβmany of whom work at the factories that line the main highway running through the district. This much is obvious from the preponderance of Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Filipino shops to be seen everywhere. I had to stop and turn around after seeing these shipping container homes for sale. No doubt they are designed with migrant workers in mind. Who else would want to live in such a place?
It would be like living in an oven in this tropical heat. Maybe I should go looking? The factories in Yongkang are not high-tech. Most places make textiles orβin this caseβlovable steel cans. This is one of several pigeon auction houses I saw along the main highway. It seems cruel to me to lock up pigeons right next to the highway with massive trucks trundling by all day. I am always amused by casual copyright infringement in Taiwan. This golf club stole its logo from my hometown baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays.
Thankfully they used the original version of the logo dating back to the late sβjust about every other logo has been a bit of a design nightmare, but I digress. Here we have another fine example of this practice. Prostitution is rampant in rural Taiwan. I am always amazed with the sheer number of betel nut booths, KTVs, massage parlours, and brothels along major roads in the countrysideβbut today was extra jarring since I was travelling through industrial lands.
Eventually I left the main highway to ride along a country road that I had previously taken on the way to Guanziling. This time I meant to go exploring a little bitβand I am glad I did. Since the main railway line passes further to the west I suspect many of the towns I saw during this part of the ride were a little less developed and more traditional than their more connected counterparts. Out here in rural Tainan the effects of the sun began to take their toll. I could feel a heatstroke headache coming on despite having guzzled several bottles of water and various electrolyte drinks along the way.
