Happily, the winds dropped considerably overnight, and weren’t shaking the house this morning. The Taiwan weather forecast uses the Beaufort Scale, so I’ve had to do some studying to see how nasty it’ll be. Today in Kenting is 4 (moderate breeze) gusting to 7 (near gale), which the online description helpfully points out means “an inconvenience will be felt while walking against the wind”. I’m still wary of the winds, so I’ll take a hillier inland route instead of following my original plan going around the very bottom of Taiwan and hugging the east coast.
Either I’m getting used to the heat, or things have moderated a bit. The latter, I think. Plus there was cloud cover for most of the day, and that helps.
My route started out by backtracking, but on different side roads than yesterday, so it was all new. I saw lots of evidence of military sites - mostly warehouse looking places with surprisingly low fences and open gates. And also spied a few army trucks on the move. No pics, because I don’t figure it’s smart to be a foreigner taking pictures of military installations.
Breakfast was delivered to my door. It included cold milk tea (delicious, but too sweet to be a regular choice) and a very good egg/crepe/tuna creation. There was no kettle in my room today. But had I looked down the hallway, there was a hot/cold water dispenser.
This perfect concrete road puzzled me. It looked like it was built for a development that never happened. Or maybe it has something to do with the nearby military. In any case, it was in great condition and had almost zero traffic.
My route took me up to Checheng Township. Sichongxi is a hot spring village. But my first stop was at 7-Eleven of course. No yams at this one, nor at the next one a few km further up the road.
I spent most of the afternoon climbing on the very quiet road, passing through a few small villages, but not seeing any more stores or fruit/ver stands. For a short distance, it got down to one lane.
I saw a fair number of cycle tourers going in both directions, so the road isn’t a secret. It was marked as a highlight in Komoot.
I saw a few new plants growing - including what my phone tells me is white ginger lily, which is cultivated for medicine and production of aromatic oil. It smelled wonderful.
This big group of older Taiwanese folks is on a supported trip around Taiwan. They were riding all sorts of bikes, including road bikes, e bikes, and recumbents. I got caught up in a group photo at the top of a big climb (that was a descent for me). There was lots of cheering involved.
The final 12 km was a nicely paved downhill, back on cycle route 1. I stopped to put on my jacket - the thermometer on my bike computer said it was 23 C. I guess I am getting acclimatized.
I’m in a really nice homestay with another delightful hostess. I was greeted with tea and a quinoa cookie. And offered the use of their washing machine, so I got my laundry done.
The restaurant recommended by my hostess was closed, so I went to another nearby takeout place with very smiley owners. There weren’t lots of choices in the neighborhood. But I left with a bag of fried chicken and stir fried cabbage for $NT 100, or about $4 CAD. it was very tasty, and not at all greasy.
Komoot says 740 m climbed, but Garmin and Strava say 840. I agree with the bigger number. 😀
8 hours ago