Day 8

Fulong to Jilong

We had high hopes for this day, we wanted to do a big cycle and get over to the western side of Taiwan so that we could finally have the wind behind us. That didn't happen. What did happen was the complete opposite.
When we left the hotel in the early morning, it was (still) raining and cold. Looking at the map there were two routes to Jilong, one along the coast, and one through the countryside. The coastal road looked a little longer and we figured the wind and rain would be worse, so we chose the country road. I knew the country road was going to be hilly as I had been in this area before, but we figured we had been on higher mountains, so it wasn't going to be a big problem.
At first the journey wasn't so bad, even though it was raining, the countryside and small villages were really quite picturesque.
Leaving the small villages, the road began to ascend, but not too far up I stopped at a police station to get some water. When I enquired about the water machine, the policeman barely took a look at me and waved me to the back of the room. He was too busy keeping the electric heater and TV safe from crime whilst reclined on the sofa, he made multitasking look so easy. I left the station with a slight pang of jealousy.

We continued cycling up, and up, and up. We couldn't see how far the road went as it was hidden in cloud, but we knew that Jilong must be near as the distance on the map was quite short. Jilong was near, there was only one problem, there was a very big mountain between us and it. The higher we went, the wind got stronger, the air got colder, and the rain got wetter! Soon we were lost in cloud. It didn't help that we wore sandals and no gloves; our hands and feet were freezing. When we reached the peak, we seemed to be the only idiots people up there. It really felt like we were atop a huge mountain. However, we were glad we were at the peak as we could now go down.
Going down didn't help, it actually made us feel a lot worse. The cold wind bit our hands, feet and faces a lot stronger.
After cycling a few minutes downhill, out of nowhere civilisation hit us with a bang. We found ourselves at the entrance of Jiufen old street, which was thronged with hundreds of tourists, all wanting to do what we wanted to do, get off the mountain!! There was an 7/11 at the entrance of the old street, so we all ran inside to devour whatever hot food there was. We could barely hold our drinks our hands felt so numb.
There were no gloves for sale at the 7/11, so we decided to buy some socks and use them as gloves. At the 7, we discussed what the plan was for the rest of the day. We were all cold, wet and eager to get warmer. So we decided to call it a day and go to the nearest city (Jilong) and get a hotel. Leaving the mountain was easier said than done, taxis, buses, scooters and us were all fighting for a space on the narrow road.

When we arrived in Jilong we checked out few hotels before we found one that was neither fully booked nor too expensive (thank you Chinese New Year!). After settling down, showering, and putting on warmer clothes, we headed out to get some food.
And yet even in warmer clothes, the cold rainy dampness of Jilong still managed to seep through our clothes and into our bones. I tried to do some sightseeing as Jilong seems like an interesting city with lots of cool alleys to explore, yet the bad weather sent me back to the hotel and has put me off from EVER going there again. I'm sorry Jilong, you had your chance and you blew it!

Taiwan Cycle, Day 6

Hualian county to Nan 'Ao

This was the first official day of the Chinese New Year holiday. The night before seemed to be one huge party on the streets, with firecrackers going off throughout the night.
With the start of Chinese New Year, this meant that everybody would be leaving their homes to go to their family home, so the roads were going to be busy. Luckily, because we were going north, the traffic was quite light as most Taiwanese work up north but their homes are in the south, so at least the traffic would be going in the opposite direction.

A very early start in Hualian, and yes, I am holding toothpaste and a toothbrush in the photo. I forgot to pack them away.









This turned out to be one of the best mornings, the skies were clear and the sun was out. It was pity it stay like that the whole day!

























After this picture, the mountains on one side of the valley began to grow smaller the closer we got to Hualian city; the East Rift valley road was coming to an end.
By the time we reached Hualian city, it was getting time for lunch. We found a bakery and got some cakes. The sugar rush was greatly appreciated.
Once we left Hualian, the only road we could take to go further north was the coastal road. I had heard a lot about this part of the coastal road; the Hualian to Su 'Ao section is a narrow two lane road that skirts along high cliffs, up and down hills, and through numerous tunnels. It was going to be an exciting leg!









One of the tourism information signs along the road went into the history of this road, I won't go on too much about it, but it did say that many people had died in the process of constructing the road. It's incredible that they were able to build a road along here, the rock is hard and the cliffs are steep.

At certain points along the road, we had to cycle through tunnels. At first, this caused us some confusion as at the entrance of the tunnels, it said no bikes allowed. Well, firstly, if no bikes are allowed, how could we go on with no other road available, and secondly, I don't think any of us were prepared to turn around. So we decided to ignore the signs and cycle through.
The tunnels were really exciting,




















The line you see in the photo below is the road we had to cycle up, and it didn't just stop at the end of the photo. When the road turned the corner, it just kept going up and up. However, before cycling up, there was a tiny town at the base of the road which was full of people all grateful that there was a place were one could eat, rest, go to toilet, etc. We took advantage of a small shop to buy some drinks and sweets for the road ahead.




















The clouds above me are a sign of the rain that was to come.












And with the start of the rain the plastic raincoats come out.

Taiwan Cycle, Day 5

Today's entry takes place mostly in Taidong County. As we had cycled the Coastal road on a previous occasion, we now wanted to try the East Rift Valley road which connects Taidong city to Hualian city.
The East Rift Valley seemed to be where most of the produce for Taiwan is grown, we cycled by numerous rice, bamboo, corn and other vegetable fields.

As the name suggests, the East Rift valley takes us through the centre two mountain ranges. However, thankfully the road is mostly flat.




















When you are hungry, there is no need to go into a 7/11 for a snack, there are plenty of roadside stalls that sell delicious fresh food. We bought some corn from this woman, who as I got talking to her, found out she was from Vietnam. She then offered us free of charge some sugar cane because as she put it 'we were all foreigners here'. Very nice lady, and very nice sugar cane!




























Police stations are great, they offer free water, bike pump, and bicycle repair kit. And if you have a tent, you can camp on their grounds and use their shower and toilet facilities for free! These police men had to take pictures of each cyclist who used their station, so we decided to use this opportunity to also get a photo of them for our collection.

Taiwan cycle, Day 3

Kenting to Dawu, or 'from the southern point to the eastern coast'.
This was one long day, so long that I'll keep the writing part short.

We left the hotel before sunrise to make the most of cool air as it quickly got hot after sunrise.
First stop of the day was the southern most point of Taiwan which strangely enough was full of mosquitoes. Thankfully, I have learnt to NEVER leave the house without my repellent.










Cycling on, we passed by some cliffs that gave an amazing view of the surrounding area.








My favourite part of the day, second breakfast. After eating 'first breakfast' in our hotel room (fruit, yoghurt, cereal), by the time 8/9am rolled by I needed something a little more substantial, so a stop at breakfast shop for a tuna sandwiches with egg and a tea was essential!









Cycling through the hills we passed some great sights, plus we also came across this great looking lizard that you can see more of in the video.








The midday heat was just too much to take, so at first we hid in this little pagoda and chewed on some snacks. However, hunger was urging us on, so we cycled on through the heat to stumble upon an amazing little restaurant in the middle of nowhere that catered for cyclists!!

The manager told us that from her restaurant onwards, it was going to be a long uphill journey to reach the cross-island highway. She wasn't wrong.

We popped into the shop next to the restaurant to buy some snacks for the uphill journey where I was surprised to see an Axolotl kept as a pet.








The journey uphill was tough and hot and humid. However, the views were worth the toil.

















Finally, after hours of going uphill, we reached the end of the 199 which connects to the cross-island highway. The rest area that was offered didn't really look particularly inviting nor open.








The moths were about the size of my hand, insects here are just bigger! Then one last photo from the top of the mountain before the journey down to the east coast.








And after a long day's ride there is nothing better than a filling and delicious meal.









I think I kept this write up quite brief! Quite the opposite of the video!