This tale takes place on this chunk of rock, the love child of two tectonic plates in the tempermental south pacific. If you look to the right side of the island (Taiwan) you can see a grey valley. This is the Eastern Rift Valley, and this is where we live. To the right - East - of that is a mountain range. That is what we biked across. To the right of that is a whack of blue stuff...confoundingly uncountable billions of trillions of molecules of hydrogen and oxygen that have a mighty affliction for one another. That is what we went to see. Here are the details.
The winter chill is in the air and the days of sunshine are no longer sweat inducing. Instead, the winter here feels like a chilled summer day in Canada. When it is sunny, shorts are apt and you can get yourself a hefty suntan. When it is cloudy or foggy, it is better to wear a sweater and a thicker pair of socks. The snow will come to the higher mountains in the next few months and then as our chunk of rock tilts its northern tip back towards the sun it will become unrelentingly hot once again. Enjoy the chill. We must!
And now that the winter nights are here it is once again camping season...so we packed our bikes full of food, our tent and sweaters (and sandals!) for another bike trip to the coast. The salty taste on our lips, the crashing of waves on rocks, the breeze, the lovely oceanic beauty. This time we took a new cross-mountain road to get to the ocean, and returned on the same one we took last time. A nice circuit. From valley to mountain tops to ocean and back. All by the power of our legs.
We started in RueiSuei (stayed there Friday night) and biked north along the rift valley to a quaint town called Guang Fu. Here we grabbed a coffee, checked the weather report (actually, the report we got was "it hasn't rained yet"....thanks....thanks for the obvious report!). We debated two different destinations - stay inland and go to a lake (with fireflies, a killer hike and a nice view, or to the ocean and epic geology and fresh fish to oggle at the harbour as fishing boats unload their catch...and an epic bike through the mountains), but decided to keep going to the coast, never mind the weather or the clouds beaming above the mountains we were destined to enter (it never actually rained!!!).
And now that the winter nights are here it is once again camping season...so we packed our bikes full of food, our tent and sweaters (and sandals!) for another bike trip to the coast. The salty taste on our lips, the crashing of waves on rocks, the breeze, the lovely oceanic beauty. This time we took a new cross-mountain road to get to the ocean, and returned on the same one we took last time. A nice circuit. From valley to mountain tops to ocean and back. All by the power of our legs.
We started in RueiSuei (stayed there Friday night) and biked north along the rift valley to a quaint town called Guang Fu. Here we grabbed a coffee, checked the weather report (actually, the report we got was "it hasn't rained yet"....thanks....thanks for the obvious report!). We debated two different destinations - stay inland and go to a lake (with fireflies, a killer hike and a nice view, or to the ocean and epic geology and fresh fish to oggle at the harbour as fishing boats unload their catch...and an epic bike through the mountains), but decided to keep going to the coast, never mind the weather or the clouds beaming above the mountains we were destined to enter (it never actually rained!!!).
We grabbed some lunch here, a nice cafe/buffet style place where you always get exactly what you want and the price is always affordable...nice now and then to have such luxuries. After lunch...to the mountains...up, up, up!
Along the cross-mountain road we saw all the pretty sights, the flowers, the birds and the geologic winders that we have gotten used to throughout this area and noticed that the uphill finished sooner than we imagined ... "I think thats all the up parts" we noted with glee. Legs ok, lungs ok, brakes ...check....down, down, down. The road we took last time was much more undulating and once you had reached what you thought was the climax of the climb and as you prepared yourself for a nice downhill to the ocean you realized that the downhill ended with another steep climb...over, and over, and over again!! This road, although crossing very close to the other was much more forgiving and was a constant slog up (but a wonderful slog!) and a nice coast down. Simple.
Along the cross-mountain road we saw all the pretty sights, the flowers, the birds and the geologic winders that we have gotten used to throughout this area and noticed that the uphill finished sooner than we imagined ... "I think thats all the up parts" we noted with glee. Legs ok, lungs ok, brakes ...check....down, down, down. The road we took last time was much more undulating and once you had reached what you thought was the climax of the climb and as you prepared yourself for a nice downhill to the ocean you realized that the downhill ended with another steep climb...over, and over, and over again!! This road, although crossing very close to the other was much more forgiving and was a constant slog up (but a wonderful slog!) and a nice coast down. Simple.
Six hearty hours later we arrived at the coast, at the shores of the Pacific, at our campsite and at one of the geologic gems of Taiwan - Shi Ti Ping Harbour. Not the most beautiful - although it is stunningly so, but one that is quite interesting and highly researched by local scientists. It has a tale to tell of the violence of the past!
Set up camp, praned about in the harbour and on the coast for a while, then headed into town for dinner. After a full day of biking and the prospect of fresh food on our plates, the idea of freeze-dried chili and veggie powder didnt seem to hold the wieght it did when we were packing. No matter, it will be needed in the Central mountains later on in the year, so save our camp food we decided.
After dinner we wandered back to our campsite, grabbed a few cans of Taiwan Beer and a bag of peanuts and headed back out to the rocky outcrops on the shore to sit and watch the furious ocean batter the coast relentlessly and chat about the day, life and such. A few hours later we picked ourselves up (so hard to leave such a spot!!) and called it a night. To the tent....sleep. Perfect sleep. Windy...crazy windy....tent shaking violently....but we still managed excellent sleep.
Morning came, we woke up to the sounds of....wind. And birds. And a slight glimmer of sunlight through the clouds. Once again to the shore and to the volcanic rocks (it was so tuff to leave that place, andesites were so beautiful! Someone, somewhere, is laughing with me here...)and then to the road.
Homeward bound. This time we biked south to DaGongKou and turned westward back into the mountains towards RueiSuei. This was the aformentioned road that is super up and down, and out legs had a better workout on this one. Not that the other 6 hour crossing was easy....it was long and hard, but this one was intense and shorter. However, this is, of the three cross-mountain roads that we have traveled from the rift valley to the ocean, the most beautiful and scenic. So, there is much to see as you sweat and strain your way up and down!
Then, home. Ish. To RueiSuei, and to a Hot Pot place for a warm lunch. Then coffee...more coffee...then home.
Click on all pics to get the real size version. Totally worth it. Totally. Fully. Comple...
