Daren to Taitung

November 21, 2024

Along the east coast

It was a relatively cool 22 C when I woke up today. According to windy.com, I was looking at a headwind of about 23 km/hour. Not ideal, but better than it’s been. The wind warning now lasts for the next three days, so there’s no waiting it out. And no alternative routes. It was a good day to load up with a great breakfast, and I lucked out with my B&B.

My delicious and beautiful breakfast, with lots of fruit and veg, scrambled eggs, and yogurt too. The red bread looked unusual, but tasted good. Funny thing is, I was worried that I wouldn’t be happy with breakfast in Taiwan.

Today’s route was a bit like British Columbia’s Sea to Sky Highway - mountains on one side, ocean on the other, and plenty of traffic. There is chance of an earthquake on this road, but fewer hills.

Yesterday I managed to go about 1 km in the wrong direction after leaving a 7-Eleven stop. I need Sue and Rick to save me from doing dumb things. But with the coast as my guideline, there was no getting lost today.

I also need them to remind me of the cool stuff I’ve seen. Yesterday it was two macaques. My natural science knowledge isn’t great. I’ve been calling them monkeys. And today I confined that they ARE monkeys.

The coastline is well protected. Whoever makes concrete here is doing a good business.

Route finding was easy today. Just follow the coast.

I was also in sight of the train route for most of the day. Here, the train tracks are protected from things falling from above.

It had a long way to my first and only real stop of the day. I went about 10 km further than planned because one town was far below the highway. It reminded me of Spain, where the towns can seem so close until you realize the vertical involved.

I saw multiple tourers, including two men who passed right by me without acknowledging my existence. They definitely weren’t Taiwanese, because they would have given me some encouragement and said it was nice to meet me. I can’t say for sure where they were from, but much of their gear was from a country that rhymes with ‘dance’. On brand, I suppose. And I stopped to check on a loaded tourer who was walking his bike. He was a young North American and said he was fine. Maybe he was just tired of the wind.

The bridges here are all designed to handle quite a bit of movement in an earthquake. One bridge I crossed yesterday had 5 or 6 of these joints.

Today isn’t the first windy day here. At one point I was protected from the headwind by a ‘windbreak protection forest’ planted in the 1930s.

Once I got to Taimali, I saw some mango trees (no fruit on them), but the area around Taimali and Taitung seems to be all about growing and selling custard apples. Hibiscus is grown here too.

I bought one and ate it with a spoon at a nearby 7-Eleven as part of my lunch. They’re very delicate when ripe. Mine pretty much disintegrated when I transported it. Still delicious though! It’s hard to tell this big they are from this photo - about the size of a grapefruit.

I was happy to get off the highway and away from the trucks and buses for the last 10 km.

I saw no watercraft out on the ocean today, but there were some fishing buoys offshore after my last climb/descent.

For once, it was really easy to find my homestay (B&B). It is near the train station and lots of restaurants, but an outrageous 800 m from a convenience store. That must be the furthest distance yet.

I went for dinner at about 6 pm to a well-reviewed local hole in the wall restaurant. The kids of the owners were playing in the corner. With a toy backhoe, of course. Another client helped me order dumplings and a small noodle soup - it’s all done by checklist here. It was an unassuming place, but doing a steady business and people were sharing tables, so I sat with the nice guy who had helped me order. It turns out that he grew up in Hong Kong, and his wife is originally from Shanghai but grew up in Hong Kong. They live in Sydney, Australia now. And HATE the Chinese government. Her parents live in Shanghai now. They say the government monitoring and control is awful. I asked if people in Hong Kong were as friendly as Taiwan, and they don’t think so. Especially in the past few years. They think the two friendliest places in Asia are Myanmar and Taiwan. Too funny - they were also in Myanmar in December 2019, at the same time as me, on my last trip to Asia.

I’m feeling the miles on my legs, so will have a tourist day in Taitung on Friday before heading up into the East Rift Valley.

Taiwan is full of cutesy things. I’m in a Hello Kitty themed room for the next two nights. It’s very pink! Pets are welcome here - the direct translation from Chinese is ‘furry children’. 😂

Returning from dinner I was greeted by this real (and tiny) kitty.

Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 840 km (522 miles)

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