January 13th

January 13, 2024

To Danan with Debbie

Taiwan's presidential election is held today, so it's a national holiday. Not that it means very much, as all the shops are open as usual.

The weather looks pretty good, so Deb and I decide to get out on the bikes and opt for an easy spin out to Danan. It's flat and there's a quiet back road to get us there, one that winds past smallholdings and farms.

It's well past 10:00 when we venture outside - me wearing a thick merino top over a merino shirt. My guess is the mercury is nudging up to 20°C, but it feels a little bit cool in the shade.

The shade from tall apartment buildings lasts until the end of our block and it's then that I consider taking off the thick top.

We ride along side streets for a few more minutes to reach route 114, which heads south to a small town called Bade. When we get to it, it's packed with cars that have tailed back from a set of lights. It seems everyone is going somewhere.

We're only on the 114 for a few minutes before making a left, then find a narrow lane that drops down between some older houses and we reach farmland. Not long after my warm top gets stuffed in my saddlebag. It feels like an English summer day.

The fields are small and usually there's rice or something growing in them, but they're empty right now and remind us it's winter. There are lots of polytunnels around, with seedlings in some and others look like they've become redundant. It's quiet around here.

We trace a river and get to a busy road that we ride along for a few blocks before going through a small industrial area. I've brough my camera, but there's not too much to photograph.

We reach the edge of town and it's usually easy to get to the market area, but it looks like a tourist zone today with hoards of people. Making progress is hard what with shoppers dawlding along and scooters weaving around on the crowded, narrow street. Vendors yell with gravelly voices just to add to the sense of chaos.

It's a national holiday but all the shops are open, even the charity/thift one. We have a quick look around and I end up with a denim jacket that was likely made for a company - maybe the telephone one here. It's unworn, has a YKK zipper and sets me back just $3.

We leave the bikes locked up outside the shop and go for a walk around. Debbie buys a single carrot for the equivelent of 30 cents, then we dine in a backstreet Vietnamese place. I have a bagette sandwich while Debbie has a bowl of noodles, which she's not impressed with.

Louisa Coffe is around the corner. We get two stools in the window. It's crowded in here also.

rather than retrtacing our steps, I tell Debbie we should pop to teh chocolate factory. It means riding along teh main road for a while, which is a pain, and when we get there it's closed until 2;)) and iyt barely 1:00 so we head off to get back to teh road but get a bit confused and end up in central Bade. We soon find the 114, so it's easy to get home.

The news is all about the election and voting stops at 4:00 and then the counting starts. The result is usually known by 8:00. They don't hang around and by 7:00 the TV is showing who the winner will be. It's not the one China wants.

Today's ride: 25 km (16 miles)
Total: 3,590 km (2,229 miles)

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