I am feeling less apartment bound this week. That is partly because Greg showed me how to get to the Keelung River. There are stone paved walking paths, with a little bit of maneuvering on narrow roads, that can be used to reach this park within ten minutes of walking.
(This photo is was taken on the way back to the apartment.)
Once at the river, there are bike paths on both sides of its banks, with an occasional bridge to cross over to the other side. The asphalt paths are interspersed with circular garden spots. That is, there is usually a small flower bed in the middle, a circular stone area around that, and an abundance of landscaped plants on the perimeter.
I must specify landscaping because there are plants everywhere, even growing under the large underpasses that the path also goes under.
Some times the main path is 4-5 feet wide with a nice line down the middle and open grassy areas next to it. There were even some sections wide enough for a set of soccer fields.
There are frequently inlets of water coming from under the roads. There is apparently a lot of water flowing from the Yangmingshan Mountains to drain away, as well as just water from the regular downpours. There is no translation needed for the signs posted at these places:
At times the path narrows to what feels like just under 3 feet with strange borders and barriers on each side. When Greg took me bike riding there last Sunday, I was surprised at how everyone just keeps riding, walking, etc., through all of those tight spots. I think in America we would tend to get off and walk or take turns. There was a very steady stream of people of all abilities on the bikes. One lady was wobbling around a turn and ran into me, but we were both going fairly slowly so no one was hurt and no bike repair required. My favorite border was the 4 foot tall, 5 inch cylindrical cement pillars linked with what looked like giant bungee cords. I’m not sure if there was a plan for this, but I pictured myself either breaking in two if I hit the posts, or bouncing cartoonishly into the next county. I didn’t get any pictures of that because I wasn’t taking pictures while riding my bike (smart girl) and we didn’t get to those section when we went on foot.
Here are some stairs leading back up to one of the small, but well trafficked roads.
flood walls
I will end this with a couple of pictures of plants. The first is just some green of the border along the walking path. The second is a mass of flowers on an arbor.
There were not as many people there on the morning the kids and I went on foot, but there were more than the pictures show. A fair number of dogs being walked, too. A number of people just pick a nice spot to do yoga like exercises or have swing dance lessons! The skies are very clear because of some typhoons that have been in the area, but not hitting the island. If you come visit us, maybe we can go for a walk here….
