Sometimes you just get lucky!

At the summit of the hill leading to Jiufen I stopped (I really needed a rest) and used the phone to search for a room.  After selecting from a long list of available options I cycled down to Jiufen stopping just outside the town centre when I realised it was wall to wall tourists.

I wanted to stop at the 7-Eleven because there is usually space outside for the bike and they have seats inside.  I pushed the bike to the 7-Eleven only to find there was nowhere outside to place the bike and nor were there seats inside.  Where was I going to safely leave the bike?

You can see the crowd in the photo below.  There were far more people when I arrived.  They are congregating around the entrance to the main attraction in jiufen,  Old Jiufen Street.

I didn't know the precise location of my room and didn't want to cycle further downhill only to be forced to cycle back up.

Then I noticed the FamilyMart (a competitor to 7-Eleven) slightly further down the hill.  It appeared to have a veranda at the front which was mostly unoccupied.

There was room on the veranda and I was able to park the bike in front of a closed door in the corner of the veranda.

This door

Sitting on the ledge beside the bike I started searching for the exact location of my Homestay.  You can imagine my surprise when I realised from one of the Homestay photos that the bike was parked outside the entrance door!

Behind the door was a long narrow corridor and then steps down to the floor below where my room was located.  The bike had to be left in the corridor, but it's relatively secure there.

A shower and then time to go looking for something to eat as it was starting to get dark.

I realised the best place to look would be where all the tourists were and wandered down Old Jiufen Street

Dinner was a small bowl of fish balls soup and an accompanying bowl of boiled rice

Afterwards I stopped at a fruit stall and bought a pineapple and kiwifruit drink before wandering to the end of the narrow alleyway to look at the night view.

then I retraced my steps to return to my room.

I'll have another look around Juifen tomorrow.