Today we headed up to the northeast coast to Jiufen, and a nearby mining town.
After a 90-minute bus ride we arrived. We snaked our way down towards the “old street”.
There were so many cool pottery shops along the way.
The old street is a snaking, narrow alleyway with shops and restaurants crammed along the entire length. I thought it had some of the best food we’ve found so far. The kids also enjoyed a traditional ice cream wrapped in a doughy tortilla (ba pu 叭噗), and I had a fantastic custard-filled cream puff.
After lunch we took a bus to a nearby gold mining museum.
They made us wear hard hats down in the mine. I had to duck most of the way through the tunnel. Along the way there were exhibits explaining the mining process.
This was actually supporting the ceiling. Random twisted wires, and shims between the metal poles and the rotting wood beams. Glad I wasn’t down there when the earthquake hit 🙂
At the end of the tunnel is a museum all about gold ore and the various types of rock found near gold.
They even had a 485lb solid gold block encased in thick plexiglass but you could still reach in and touch it. It’s worth at least $17 million dollars. There was one elderly volunteer keeping an eye on it. Dez and Donovan were getting ideas as I whisked them out of the museum 🙂
Only two days left! Time is flying by. Tomorrow all the groups are headed 90 minutes northeast by train, to Ruifang.