2018-10-28
Start: 10:45 / 94 km / 853 hm
Weather was now changing – Temperature dropped to 24°C and sky cleared up with the sun coming through. Perfect weather for cycling. Also even if it doesn’t sound too warm, the way it is felt is way much higher.
So left the route leading inward to head for the sea. After a climb on road 30 and a approximately 3km long tunnel on the top (which was actually really fun to ride due to being empty), I arrived on road 11 at the sea. Wind was super strong, but coming from the right side it gave me constant tailwinds. This is one of the advantages of going clockwise around the island.
Waves were super huge and a joy to watch – so this was a very scenic ride.
Had a break at Sianxitai national park – a small island with a bridge made of 8 arches leading to it. Watched the waves, had a small tasty seaweed snack and wandered around. So beautiful!
Last half to Taitung was okay, tailwinds and smooth roads giving me a boost. Nevertheless it wasn’t as spectacular as the first half. Also could feel the constant up and downs of the route in my legs. Despite being a coastal road, this is nevertheless quite hilly.
Bought some taiwanese sugar apple on the way, but was offered two different ones. Decided on the riper one, which turned out to be way to slimey to eat just with bare hands. Nevertheless this was really delicious, sweet and with a taste of vanilla. Gonna have to try again, but with the less riper ones.
Taitung
Arrived torally tired at the hotel, which was the complete opposite of yesterday, one of the nicest design wise among the whole trip. I was even told to take my bike into the elevator and just leave it in front of my door on the roof.
Afterwards went to get something to drink from the convenience store and do a little bit of route planing, as I wasn’t sure if I could do the planned 135km (with loads of climbing) on the next day. While sitting there I met Guillaume, a former bike messenger from Berlin, who’s planning to design some bikepacking stuff. Had a nice chat!
Further planning took too long, even in a nice lively town like Taitung everything food related closes down at 20/21:00. You can still buy mochis, coffee or go to a tea store late, but chances of getting something proper to eat are zero. Strange…
So had a frustrated quick meal from the convenience store. Still being hungry I gave up and went to “Mo’s burger”, a japanese fast food chain. Actually this was quite nice, had a cuttlefish burger with pressed rice instead of the bun.
Finally felt super tired to bed, as I had to get up early the next day. Will take it easy, but maybe I can get to the small surfer village on the next day. If not, there won’t be many exit points, but at least they exist.
Oh, and by the way: Taitung seems to be a really nice town, would love to have spent a day more there…
