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 4

Now this will be a very short post.

When we began cycling, two things were immediately apparent. Firstly, the sun was gone, hidden behind cloud. This was a kind of blessing as it made the day a lot cooler. However, it also meant that sometime later in the week, the rain would come.
And secondly, we were riding into the wind, and we would be riding into it all the way north. We knew before we began the trip that the wind on the east coast would be against us, but I don't think none of us realised how hard it would be.

So, with the wind pushing against us and tired muscles that hadn't fully recovered from the previous day's cycle, we were only able to cycle a measly 30km. We reached Taidong city and gave up for the day.
We stayed in a hotel that we had stayed in the previous year. We all got showered and changed, found a curry restaurant, did some fruit shopping, and then headed back to the hotel to rest up.

These two pictures are photos of the destruction caused by Typhoon Morakot. The river had burst its banks and destroyed or swept away homes and part of a bridge. It is easy to forget that although the typhoon is over, the clean up operation takes months to complete.








This fruit is a mystery to me, the translation of it is 'Buddha head', but it kind of resembles chirimoya/custard apple. Whatever it is, it's delicious, and they are a local speciality in Taidong County.








Taidong city
















Taidong is famous for producing the best fruit in Taiwan. A walk down 'Fruit street' is something to be seen, countless varieties of tropical fruits on sale.