Bike Trip: Hualien to Shitiping to RuiSui to Hualien

A road drenched in sunlight, bathed in heat, and two empty days on our side allowed us to take a bike trip that we had been pondering for a while. We are working our way towards biking the entire eastern coast - not so much a mean feat, its just nearly impossible to do in a mere weekend, so we are piecing together the east coast weekend by weekend. This weekend we took the arduous, at points, 75km from Hualien City to Shitiping, a gorgeous fishing harbour and geological oddity south of us. We have been here before, but never by bike from Hualien. So, it was a must-do. Saturday we ventured south, camped on the coast, and then crossed the coastal mountain range and ended our trip Sunday in Ruisui. An amazing trip, gorgeous weather (Saturday, especially) and legs left asking us, politely, why the hell we do this to them. The hills....the freaking hills....

The trip started in the city, but soon left the confines of urbanization and entered the glory of the East coast and its natural beauty. Along the way we were able to hug the coast and watch the turquoise ocean lap at Taiwan's shores the whole day while we plodded our way south. The best part of the trip was an old section of the highway, now closed because of its perpetual damage. Closed to cars, open to anything else. That meant us! A long stretch of road, just to us this day.

Outside our house, bikes ready to take us away. A stop by the start of the ocean trail that would take us to the main coastal highway to check our gear.

Biking along the trail that connects to Highway 11, and along Highway 11 later in the day.

This is part of the section that is closed to traffic, so we had it all to ourselves - epic views, cliff faces and absurd road damage!

The east coast of Taiwan has two main arterial roads heading south; Highway 193, which goes inland between the two mountain ranges, and Highway 11, which follows the coast. Hwy 11 is much less developed, not near the train line, and gets battered by typhoons and coastal erosion. So, the road here at points is precarious, but stunning. Along the way there is constant repairs, damage and utter chaos at points (see above!) But, it is without doubt the best way to get from north to south if you are not in a rush.

Finally at Jici! A coffee break and lunch were exactly what was needed at this point of the trip.

After 4 hours of riding, along a part of the road that held more uphill than our heavily burdened bikes wanted to tackle, but did, we arrived in a nice little coffee shop in the middle of, almost, nowhere. Off our bikes, ringing out the sweat drenched clothing (ok, that was just me....) and sitting down to some juice (Crystal) and coffee (me) with a view. Below us was Jici Beach, our lunch destination. Only 5 km more, gloriously downhill, and we were sitting at a little shop chomping on some rice and cabbage.

Biking along the roadway some more...action shot styles. Crystal on the right sipping away at the local, cavewater coffee.

Back on the road for part two, re-sunscreened and re-energized and re-riced and re-cabbaged and re-tea'd. this stretch was a more pleasant, flatter (mostly!) ride that allowed us to enjoy the scenery more. Along the way it was all ocean, all the time....

Arriving in the village of Shitiping, basically a fishing harbour and a smattering of houses and stores to fill basic needs, we were beat. Its not so much the length as the hills and the heat. Not a complaint, merely an excuse to make our sore legs feel better!!

Shitiping, along with the houses and harbour has one other splendid attraction - a coffee shop. Coffee beans from the mountains in Taiwan, groundwater (sourced from a cave on the owners property) as the key ingredient and an epic view of the ocean. A perfect way to end a seven hour push south.

Biology and geology are the key ingredients to Shitiping - these are but a few tastes of the place.

Shitiping, along with the houses and harbour and coffee shop...., also has a perfectly quaint campsite. We grabbed a site (to the absolute incalculable confusion of the park staff who, in utter astonishment, couldn't understand why we would be ok with a campsite without electricity and lights...you have to experience Taiwan outdoors life to understand this...they repeatedly asked us "do you understand Chinese? This campsite has no electricity!" To which we responded, again and again "yes, I know. Why do we need electricity?".

To which they responded... "Do you understand Chinese? This ..." And on and on...

Until I blurted out "Canadian people don't like electricity!".

Then we left them and went to our campsite. They still didn't believe us...

The birds were crazy here, singing and prancing about, the sun setting over the mountains and the salty air humid and thick. Shitiping at its finest.

As beautiful as Shitiping, Hualien...Taiwan...is, there is always the garbage issue. Environmental education is earning its place in e school ethos slowly, and most adults not only don't understand what is right/wrong, but they don't teach their kids. So, schools and the science/environmental community have a hefty battle ahead, but a vital one.

Morning views - you cant see it in the picture on the left but there is a sea of birds there calling and chirping away in beautiful song, while we tend to our breakfast duties.

After a solid nights sleep we got up, ate, played on the rocks a bit, poked around for critters in the tide pools, then hit the road again, much to the chagrin of our legs. To we were going to head across the mountains to Ruisui, then take the train back to Hualien. A slight drizzle accompanied us, but other than that it was a pleasant ride. This mountain road is, while lacking in ocean views (obviously!) simply peaceful. Monkeys, birds, butterflies....nature abounds and it was just us and the empty road for the day.

A magi snack-stop along the way home...

Biking up the hill that accounts for the entire (almost) second half of the trip from the ocean to Ruisui...steady, but not too steep. On the right, the view of the SiouGuLuan River that empties the water from the rift valley into the ocean.

Snake, which we found already killed, was enough to call our attention and give us a short, slight scare. Still looking into this specific species....poisonous or not, it was cool to see!

This ride was much shorter, a shade over 3 hours, and we arrived in Ruisui in time for lunch. Hotpot, coffee, then to the train...and home. Wonderful ride, wonderful sights and a wonderful weekend. (then we whipped up some pizza!)

PingXi Hike and The Never-Ending Walk...

Leading off into the mist of the forest....

PingXi, a surreal sub-tropical wilderness nestled in the mountains outside of Taipei, is home to a wonderful network of trails. We had previously explored some of them...less than half apparently...and this weekend we returned to try to stomp our feet along more km's of this gloriously muddy, sloppy and beautiful chunk of the island.

Friday we hurried to Ruifang, returned to the hotel we stayed in last time, walked about in the town then hit the sack early. Waking up for a morning train to Pingxi, we guzzled coffee, chomped on porridge - the usual morning fare for the weekends - and walked over to the train station. Arriving early, quite a change for us as we are usually the ones running full throttle through a crowded station with bags hanging off our backs towards a train wanting to leave. Today it was nice and calm...we were able to wait!

Ticket to travel... packed and ready to go!

Ruifang night market with 'small food' (snack) stalls and some pretty lanterns. It was drizzly, but nothing that kept us or others off the street.

Temple, along the early stages of the trail. Actually a shrine. Yes, a shrine. Not a temple at all.

Pingxi rail line on the left, early section of the trail on the right.

More trail...

The Pingxi train took us to the Pingxi village, where I got to play with not one but two cats (one was not so happy to have me trying to play with it, but I consider chasing a cat around old traintracks playing, regardless...). We got some snacks - sweet gelatinous rice with dried beans inside...mmmm - and hit the trail.

Along the trail we saw a number of new critters, a few birds that eluded both our binoculars and our camera, but a few that were captured. Its such a rewarding experience to continue to see new things in the woods. Each time we go out, each place we explore, we find new birds, frogs, insects, everything. Always something to discover....ah, Taiwan!

Streak-Breasted Scimitar Babbler; __?__ frog.

Trail signs along the way, this one telling us that our day was over....and time to head down. At the same point I am taking a peanut break...and water...and more peanuts....and a few peanuts to wash down the peanuts. Then a few peanuts for the road...

After a hearty 7 hours on the trail, feet sloppy and muddy and our energy at a low, we came to the end of the section we wanted to explore. Actually, after a strong 7 hours moving through the woods we only covered less than a third (about?) of the possible trails. There are at least two more weekends of hiking - on new trails - in this area. Do we have the weekends left before we leave, that is the question!

We hiked down and eventually made it to a Buddhist temple, where a nice lady chatted with us for a while then gave us bus info. 5 Minutes. Go. Go! She gestured to us that we should run - we clarified that we could make it in time and when she said we could, we began down the hill further and scampered to an eventual bus station. Wait. Wait. Bus. Taipei.

...

Once in Taipei, a destination we did not really plan on (we intended to go back to Ilan or Fulong for the night...), we set out to find a hostel. Remember the 7hour hike....well in this trek to find a hotel we halved that again - 3 hours walking through Taipei looking for a place to stay. No rooms, anywhere. Except one place. A business hotel. I wont tell you the cost. Just know that a regular hotel we stay in anywhere in Taiwan runs us about $20CND for the whole night. This cost a tough more, but we stayed in luxury....after 7 hours in the forest, 3 hours on the streets and no food in 9 hours, we capitulated and took the business hotel room. Discounted, but still not our regular place!

Crystal in the wonderful morning sun on the left, the grounds of the memorial monument on the right. People come here to play Chinese violins, practice tai-qi, dance, sing, run, ..., do anything. An excellent public space that is both useful, and beautiful.

In the morning we set out to buy new hiking boots (this is why we came to Taipei) to cure our slippery existence while hiking as our boots now have less-than-no tread and are slowly dying. A gorgeous day, we made it to the large memorial for Chiang-Kai shek (the dude who tried to fight Mao in China, lost a bit, retreated to Taiwan and started his own country...basically...while planning a second war with China to retake the mainland. This battle continues today, but in the politics of the China/Taiwan issue, not with tanks and planes. Although, Taiwan's army is always at the ready for the inevitable...). Then to buy boots - I got some, Crystal couldn't find her size - and then home.

Falun Gong, doing their creepy child indoctrinating, in the space that is otherwise nice and blissful. The right to practice any religion in Taiwan gives everyone the right to believe and be open. This particular flavour of creepy religion is persecuted in China, so they always try to force on people in Taiwan hw bad they have it in China. In the chamber of weird religions - a chamber that holds all religions - Falun Gong ranks among the eerie, not creepy scientology style, not horrid catholic style, but a creepy style of their own. Note the kids...as if they know anything about religion or understand...or chose...to be a yellow-shirt-wearing falun freak. Not that this is different from other religions, but when they are colour coded and an invention of the last few decades, it makes it creepy and fake. A creepy fake sandwich. And creepy fake sandwiches give me heartburn.

A "slack" trip to Taroko

Tomb sweeping holiday - where families travel to their hometowns and tend to the graves of their lost family members - combined with the national "childrens day" holiday gave us a hearty four day weekend. The weather is starting to turn warmer, with intermittent heat permeating a blackened background of dark clouds and cool drizzle...the summer heat is approaching... and we took our friends slacklining on the beach and to Taroko Gorge. The slacklining was of course awsome, good times, good audiences and a few passerby's (some young, some old) gave it a try with excellent results - at least they all left laughing and happy. After some slack action and a night on the town we drove up to Taroko. Nothing of surreal nature to note, just an excellent drive up and a cool and rainy drive back (the hostel was full....should have reserved a room!). After a nce day in the gorge and a long day on a scooter, we scampered off to eat some hot pot and sit our arses down at a pub and chat the night away.

Claude starting the line, Calire watching; Claude again on the right once he had become Master of the Line...

Crystal and I showing our skilz...

Even the birds were watching in amazement (or flying away....), and this kid came to hang out once, twice, three times....and by the end of his time with us he was doing quite well!

After our short hike in Taroko we walked the road back to our scooters, stopping for a pic along the way. And, a pose of beauty by the Eternal Shrine.

Hot pot...getting our game faces on to eat at the buffet!

To Sue's pub afterwards for some good times and good music and a rather curious dancing scene!