At Keelung, our port was within easy walking distance to the city, so we took off to explore on our own. When we stopped on a busy street corner to pull out our map and get our bearings, a very friendly man asked if he could help.

This was Jeremy, originally from Keelung, but living in Toronto for the past 35 years. He is a teaching artist, back home to see his 96-year-old mother and siblings for an extended visit. He kindly walked with us and took us to one of the prominent hilltop landmarks I had admired from the ship, chatting all the while, very interested in our lives, where we were from, and our extended cruise. He had no immediately pressing business and was happy to escort us around his home city and have the chance to speak to Americans. After a delightful hour or more, we exchanged names and addresses, then bid each other a heartwarming farewell.

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By the time we reached our next port of Kaohsiung we were on tourist overload, so instead of going into the city, we opted to just walk a mile or so down the wharf to the Banana Pier, once a warehouse for storing bananas, which was a huge export industry for Kaohsiung in the 1960s. Now, it is filled with the ubiquitous souvenir shops, banana food products, some memorabilia from the banana days, and banquet halls upstairs for what looks like a booming local event business. Well…we got some exercise.

Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan

Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan

Banana Pier, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan

Kaohsiung Port, Taiwan