The little-known Penghu Islands are located in the strait between Taiwan and China. They form an archipelago of 90 islands. The main island is Magong (meaning “Matsu Palace”) has a population of approximately 63,745 people and is connected through bridges to 3 other islands. The port area of Magong is overflowing with activity from open-air fish markets to souvenir vendors pushing their wares. Having lived under ancient and modern Chinese and Japanese rule, the populous area contains a mixture of temples and spiritual sites that celebrate a variety of beliefs and cultures.
Today (Easter Sunday) Joe slept in again after banging away on his computer until the small hours. I snuck outside to snap a couple of pictures on our way into port. Not having signed up for an excursion, we decided to walk through the streets of Magong. The city was bustling and we enjoyed walking through town end to end. There was an overall smell of fish throughout the town…definitely a seaside village that had fresh shellfish offerings in abundance. We did try to investigate a lunch in town with Google translate but, honestly, the descriptions of the meals were very unappetizing so we decided a ship lunch was much more appealing.
Easter means nothing here in Taiwan as most of the populous is not Christian. The only reminders came from our onboard crew that had decorated the ship’s main areas with lots of chocolate bunnies nestled into the fake green grass used to line our Easter baskets as children. There was an onboard scavenger hunt for any passengers wanting to participate. There is also a Solemn Mass of Easter from Rome that will air in the Grand Salon later this afternoon.
Today’s fun fact: There is a couple onboard (from the beginning) that I don’t think I’ve mentioned before. These two are OFTEN seen speed-walking through every hallway, staircase and public area getting their steps in. The woman in particular, has wired headphones in and a look of complete concentration as she marches along seemingly oblivious to everything else going on around her. She powers around people, cleaning carts and employees like it’s her job. We’ve been calling them the “Marauders”. Joe jokingly said to them yesterday that he was sure Seabourn was going to charge them for “carpet wear”. Thankfully, they did chuckle. Today, for the first time we saw them outdoors getting steps in rather than manically moving through the ship. Perhaps they actually took Joe’s comments to heart? We bought a few little treats in town to give our suite attendants for Easter but found nothing more compelling than that in our adventure today. Overnight, we will make our way to Keelung, Taipei.
Happy Easter to all of you following our adventure!
