We took the commuter train out to a suburb which was very KL like, at least like the parts of KL that are dominated by sterile condos and no pedestrians. It was very, very hot. We’d found a rather nice dim sum place, and then went on to the Kaohsiung art museum which proved rather hard to get into as every way seemed barricaded. At last we found the way in and had our temperatures checked, our phone numbers taken, hands sanitised, and were then told that the museum was shut but we were welcome to stick around to cool down a little. This was actually quite welcome, for the next phase of the walk was again very hot and part of it on dusty roads. We came to the lake with the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas: one enters through the mouth of the dragon, through a belly filled with statues of heaven and hell including the usual creative tortures, and up a pagoda set in the lake and surrounded by water lilies, and back out through the mouth of the dragon. This eradicated any bad luck we might have been suffering from and replaced it with good luck.
The entire lake is ringed with similar shrines and pagodas, all very kitsch, so it was a pleasant walk from here on, though I would have liked if there was a wider green space around it. Again, we saw a couple of statues which had appeared in the art exhibition some days ago, and at the top of the lake ended with a pretty bridge with a very fine flaming orange tree set by the Confucius temple. By now we were tired and hot and hungry, so called a cab and went off for dinner.
Despite the heat and being thwarted at the museum it was a fine excursion, and some good conversation along the way. It is very nice to be on our own again.