Taiwan Cycle, Day 7

Nan'Ao to Fulong

I think the weather in this trip can be classed into days. The first three days were pretty hot and sunny. The next three days were cloudy and windy but generally dry. And then from day seven onwards the weather turned ugly. Along with the ever present wind, it was now rainy, cold and damp. And as you can see by the few photos I took, none of us really felt like stopping to take pictures.

Still, there were some interesting things in this leg of the trip.

After eating a measly breakfast consisting of a banana wrapped in toast, we left Nan'ao in the dark. We stopped off in Su'Ao to get a bigger breakfast. We didn't hang around as the town was ugly. The only thing that is memorable about this place was a dog that kept falling asleep standing up.
Cycling further north we passed a huge nuclear reactor that had a small town near it which probably served the people who worked in the plant. We stopped off here to get some lunch, big mistake! The food was mediocre and the restaurant was empty save us and three other people; a drunk girl, a guy making cat noises and a very old lady who looked like she wanted to die because she was stuck with those two. I am sure that living near a huge reactor is bad for the health.

As we were reaching the north eastern point, we stopped off to ask for directions to Fulong. A lady told us that there was an old railway tunnel somewhere behind us. So we could either cycle 5km around the cape, or take the 1km tunnel that cuts through the mountains straight to Fulong. The tunnel closed at 5pm and we only had 10min to find it. The tunnel couldn't be seen from the roadside, so we frantically rushed up and down small roads to find it. Thankfully we did.

By the time we reached Fulong it was getting late. yet we were still able to find a hotel. Two things about this hotel stick out, firstly, the shower door was frosted glass, so if you stepped too close to the door while showering, shapes could be made out!! And secondly, the room was so damp that water droplets were forming on the ceiling. Still, it was relatively cheap and the lady who ran it was very nice.

After eating dinner, Adrian and Andrea went back to the hotel room and I took a walk around the town to take some pictures. There was a small lantern exhibit in the middle of the park which was really amazing. Yet even the lanterns couldn't keep me out for long, the rain and wind soon drove me back into the hotel.