That’s right, another cat post! I am an animal person. Period. However, I do have a special spot in my heart for cats. So, when I found out from my godfather that there is an entire cat village in Taiwan, well, you know where we were all headed the next day.
Houtong Cat Village in Chinese literally translates to ‘Monkey Cave Cat Village.’ Whaaa??? Monkeys and cats in the same village?!? I think my head is going to explode. Alas, it turns out that this old mining town has a cave that used to be occupied by monkeys. It looks like the monkeys may have packed up, along with the coal miners, in the early 90’s, but the name of the village stuck.
After alighting from a pleasant hour long ride on a local train from Taipei (the first local Taiwanese train any of us has taken), we found ourselves in the land of cute. Apart from Japan, I don’t think any other country does cute as well as Taiwan. Cat stickers, cat posters, cat stamps, cat statues, cat-shaped sponge cakes, cat songs composed of one syllable, ‘meow’…
The rainy weather kept most of the feline furries inside, but a choice handful were willing to have their photos taken and heads stroked by the cat-obsessed tourists. We even found a super cozy, low key spot called ‘Hide and Seek Cafe’ to nosh on some cat cream puffs. I know, ridiculous and ridiculously cute, right?
Next, we embarked on one of the sweetest little trains ever, taking us from the old mining town/cat village of Houtong to one of the most scenic train stops in Northeastern Taiwan, Badouzi (八斗子). In the span of an hour and a half, you can travel by train from the cosmopolitan city life of Taipei to the lush, former coal mining town of Houtong to the aqua-tinged waves of the Pacific in Badouzi.
I’ll wait while you book your next flight to Taipei.
Being a Scorpio and having grown up around oceans most of my life, I was sooo happy to be near the ocean. This is truly one of the most picturesque train stops ever. The train is only four carriages long, and the design inside, more traditional versus modern, is beautiful. The line was reopened less than a year ago after a 27 year hiatus, and we luxuriated in having a carriage all to ourselves, if only for one stop. Even though it was raining, we still enjoyed the atmosphere and even splurged on an afternoon snack and tea at the ‘Aegean Sea.’ The decor reminded us of Greece so much that I actually had a craving for French fries. So, Philip and I happily munched on fries for our first time in Taiwan, reminiscing about the awesome trip we took to Greece PJ (pre-Jules), Opa!
It would be so wrong of me to deprive you of additional kitty photos…
