Huan Dao Taiwan

(a trip around Taiwan by bike)

By Robert Bloomfield

 

The idea of cycling around the coast of Taiwan was an idea that slowly evolved into a plan.  Our oldest daughter, Tai-Ling, had been on a mission in Taiwan for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since January of 2002.  We had always planned to visit Taiwan when she completed her mission on July 15, 2003.  We had, in the past, visited Taiwan many times, as my wife Suzie, was born and raised in Taiwan.   She has many relatives there including four brothers and two sisters.  Tai-Ling had spent part of the summer of 2001 at Nanjing University in the People’s Republic of China.  There she met many people and it was her desire to visit them after completing her mission.

 

SARS hit China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other areas in Asia severely in the spring of 2003 and there was a great deal of concern about traveling anywhere in Asia.  It was my plan to spend some time on my own meeting and speaking with the Chinese people to improve my language skills.  At first I thought about traveling on my own for a week or so in the PRC but due to SARS we scrapped that idea. 

 

I then thought about traveling around Taiwan to accomplish the same thing.  I have been to Taiwan numerous times and have traveled extensively around the island.  There was not much that I would want to see as a tourist but I had a great desire to practice speaking Mandarin. 

 

I had read numerous books recently about people traveling great distances via bicycle.  I read Miles From Nowhere by Barbara Savage (a young couple’s travels around the world), One Woman’s Bicycle Trip Through Mongolia, China and Viet Nam by Erika Warmbrun, Cold Beer and Crocodiles: A Bicycle Trip Into Australia by Roff Smith ( 10,000 mile circumnavigation of the continent), Off The Map: Bicycling Across Siberia , by Mark Jenkins, Full Tilt: Ireland to India With a Bike by Dervla Murphy and On The Trail of Marco Polo by Brady Fotheringham.

 

Reading these books I began to think about how I might enjoy traveling using this mode of transportation.  I had never ridden a bike very far in the past but I thought of the advantages of bicycling.  Bicycling gives you the opportunity to get closer to the country, the people and the culture of a country.  You can smell the rain as it begins to drench a parched field, you can smell the food being cooked at roadside stalls, you interact with the children as you ride into a group on their way to school.  These and other thoughts gave me the desire to plan a bicycle trip around Taiwan.  This would be a trip with three objectives; 1) to meet people and practice speaking Mandarin, 2) to have a short adventure using a bicycle, and 3) to give myself a challenging goal – 750 miles in 90 – 100 degree Fahrenheit with high humidity for someone from Alaska)

 

I would not be cycling specifically as a tourist.  That is, I wouldn’t be seeking all the tourist oriented sites and spending time visiting them.  If there were sites along the way that were noteworthy, then I would stop and explore but for the most part I would not be cycling from tourist attraction to tourist attraction.

 

Suzie and I arrived in Taiwan Tuesday morning July 2, having left on a non-stop flight from Anchorage Monday morning.

 

I had done some research on bicycles, bike shops in Taiwan and cycling in Taiwan on the Internet before I left Anchorage but had not made any final decisions regarding the purchase of a bike.   The first couple of days were spent gathering more information on bikes.  I was anxious to begin the trip and had reviewed a touring bike by Giant.  Suzie called nearly every bike shop in the country.  I was looking for a Giant Great Journey 2.  A bicycle that would suit my needs very well I thought.  It is a cross between a mountain bike and a touring bike.  It has a stout frame, drop handlebars, front and rear racks with panniers as well as fenders front and back.  Everyone said that they could get the bike in a couple of days but when we arrived in Taiwan no one can get the bike in a 19 inch frame.  One shop said they just sold their only 19” inch frame model.

That first morning, Suzie's oldest brother wanted to take me for a ride on the motor scooter.   When we walked out the front door I saw that he had an old mountain bike.   It was obvious that the bike had seen better days but I hadn’t been on a bike in a few days and I was anxious to ride.  I grabbed the bike and we headed out for what I thought was to be a 10 minute ride to some close-by destination. I thought we were going to find our wives, who had gone out shopping some place.   It turned out to be an hour ride on a bike that had 21 gears but only the gear that it was in when I started worked.  The chain fell off 3 minutes into the ride and the frame was way too small for me.  The seat was all the way down and required tools to adjust.  I had no tools on this ride.  We rode on and on.  I trained to ride for 50 to 60 miles a day and we had traveled only about seven or eight miles and the ride was not going well.  I had already told my brother-in-law that I was in great shape for the trip so how could I now say it was time to head home?  He would have serious doubts as to my ability to cycle around the island.  No, I would suppress the pain in my back from pedaling in the wrong gear on a bike that would fit someone about a foot short than me.  Finally, I came up with an out.  I would tell him the truth about his bike, that it was not working properly and that we should head back home.  He said that would be fine and we returned to his house.  It was an uncomfortable ride but nice to be in Taiwan and out pedaling in the heated air that I would be riding through in just a few days.

 

We finally found a Giant Great Journey 2 with a 17in frame at a bike shop in Taipei Wednesday night, July 3 and put money on it to hold it.  We bought a number of extras and the owner said it would be ready by noon the next day.  We showed up about  2pm and I took it for a ride.  It required some further adjustments but it was extremely smooth and comfortable after adding a riser to the handlebars.  We borrowed Suzie's sister's car to take the bike back to Ju-nan, where Suzie grew up and were we always base our activities in Taiwan.

 

Friday morning I got things loaded, did some final adjustments and set off about 11:30am.  The weather has been the same every day since we arrived - low 90's with high humidity. This day was no different. I planned to go only about 35 miles but when I got to that town I was unable to find a hotel.  Everyone said go back 3-4 K.  I did not want to back track so I went to the next town.  There I met a young man that said he knew of a hotel in the area but when he went to inquire as to its whereabouts he could not find anyone that knew the place.  He said he knew of an inexpensive hotel but it was about 6K away.  He offered to drive me to the hotel to see if there were any vacancies so I grabbed my backpack from my bike, which contains all the important traveling stuff, like money and passport and my electronic dictionary.  I left my bike in the custody of a small shop.  We drove to the hotel and secured a room then he drove me back to my bicycle.   He then wanted me to follow him as there were quite a number of turns from where I left my bike to the hotel.   I followed him until I was sure of the way then he sped off.  I back tracked a few hundred yards and took some pictures of a pagoda that we just passed, then it was off to the hotel.

 

The Author prepares to begin the adventure from his parent-in-laws home in Ju-Nan Taiwan

The pagoda I rode back to take a picture of after getting directions to the hotel for the first night

 

I ended up riding 50 miles the first day in the heat.  I learned quickly that if the sky is clear the mid-day sun is too intense to cycle through.  I had to escape the hottest part of the day from about 11am or so to about 3:30 or 4pm. .  The major factor that I faced in my riding was the direct sunlight in the heat of the day.  Days that had cloud cover were great for riding, despite the high temperatures. The amount of riding time I could get in a day depended on how much of the sky was covered in clouds.  If it was a clear day from sun up then most likely I would need to find some kind of shaded rest area by late morning and hang out there until the sun follows its course and gets a bit lower in the sky.  The Tropic of Cancer runs right through the middle of Taiwan   The Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary line just over 23 degrees north of the equator (23degrees, 27 minutes).  The highways that I traveled on both the west coast and the east coast had huge monuments designating the location of this imaginary line.  There is something strange in that last sentence but I did see the monuments to the imaginary line on two different occasions. This line marks the farthest north where the sun can appear directly overhead.  It does this around summer solstice which occurs June 21. The word cancer means crab in Latin ( don’t ask me how the two are related in the world of ailments) and refers to a constellation in the zodiac.  The position of the Tropic of Cancer was first marked on a map by its location directly below the constellation of Cancer.  To someone standing on the Tropic of Cancer, the North Star appears at an angle of 23˚ 27’.    My trip took place during the first half of July, just a couple of weeks after summer solstice.  So, that put the sun nearly directly overhead each day at noon.  When the sun is directly overhead it is delivering its full intensity, as it has the least amount of atmosphere to impede its strength.  When it is 95˚F in the shade it must be   140˚F in the direct sunlight.  I make this guestimate from my experience in Alaska.  Many times I have observed our home thermometer register over 100˚F at 7:30am on a clear summer day in Anchorage.  The actual temperature was probably 40˚F cooler.  140˚F is quite hot and drained the energy right out of me.  Consequently, I had to take cover when the sun was at or near its apex.  However, if it clouded up in the afternoon then I could start riding again.  

 

That first day was bright and sunny and with the late start I was immediately riding in the hottest part of the day.   I stopped at about 1pm at a grade school in the town of Xin Feng.   The school had some nice shade trees and benches.  While I rested I could hear what seemed to be some kind of a children’s summer activity class going on in one of the classrooms.  There was an adult leader that was asking questions of the group and they would answer as a group.  Sometimes he would say that he could not hear their answer and the children would shout it out louder and louder.  After a while some of the children came out with empty boxes and other trash and carried it across the track and the field to the other side of the enclosed school grounds where there was a large dumpster.  They threw everything in or tried to.  When some things didn’t quite go in the children kicked it around a bit and then walked off.  Different groups of kids filed out of the class rooms hauling rubbish of various kinds.  One time a group of about 7 boys came out carrying trash.  They made their way to the dumpster and then headed back to the classroom.  I could see and hear that they were curious about me sitting on the bench in their school yard.  I called to them and asked what they were doing.  The looked a bit surprised at my inquiry and they all came over to me.  There was one boy that tried to speak a few phrases in English that was not too clear.  Once I stared speaking to him in Chinese he gave up his bid to speak English and then began to speak derogatively of me in Taiwanese.  I assume he thought I would not be able to understand him.  I understood enough to know that he thought he could impress his classmates by ridiculing an adult in front of his peers. The group wandered off but returned later as all the children came out to play some games in the field.  A few of them came by and I chatted with them for a few minutes.  At about 4pm I loaded up and moved on.

 

The road that I traveled that first day had very little traffic and runs right along the coast.  The road has a 6 foot to 15 foot wide motorcycle lane in it that is just perfect for biking.  Everyone is quite courteous and always gives me plenty of room, except taxi cabs. Everywhere I went in Taiwan it seemed the taxi drivers all went to the same driving school.  Most of the ones that came near enough to me to interact with me while moving lacked any consideration for anyone but themselves.  Many times, while riding in cities or towns, I would be riding along and the taxi driver would want to pull over to the curb near where I happened to be.  Instead of pulling in behind me and waiting for a few seconds for me to get past the place they wanted to stop they would pull directly in front of me causing me to brake hard or swerve out of their path.   Motor scooters often pull up along side of me, as I rode in the motorcycle lane, and matched my speed and engage me in conversation.  Some continued on for just a short time, others would stay with me for a few kilometers.  All were astonished of my plan to ride completely around Taiwan.  But all smiled and said that I was li hai. or in English awesome.  In fact, everywhere I went around the island that was the word most commonly used to describe me and my adventure.  They appreciated the distance, the heat, the hills and the effort that it would take.  Sometimes I would be in a town and contact someone on the street for directions as to how to get out of the town and onto a specific road or highway.  Many times I would ask how to get to a specific town located on the road that I wished to travel.  Usually this town would be the next substantial town down the road from the one I was in at the time and maybe 15 or 20 kilometers away (10 – 12 miles).  The people would look at my bicycle and tell me that the town was very far away and proceed to give me directions to the bus station or train station.  I assured them that I was riding this very bike to that city and beyond and for that matter I had already ridden X number of kilometers.  Their eyes would widen and then they would try to direct me to the correct highway.

 

I felt very good after my first day on the road even though it was 50 miles in hot weather.  The training I put myself through paid off.  While training I meet a guy from Holland that had spent the last 15 months traveling around the world by bike.  He had logged about 19,000 miles.  I told him I was training for my first bicycle tour and that I would spend about three weeks circumnavigating Taiwan.  I told him that I had been training for a number of weeks to get ready for the ride.  He asked “what for?”  He meant, why would I bother with training, why not just go and do it.  I explained to him that if I was doing a long ride of more than three months then I would probably not do much of any training as the trip would get me into shape.  However, on a short trip there is no time to become accustomed to the seat of a bike or to get legs and lungs into shape to cycle for 40 – 60 miles day after day after day.  A three week trip would be a trip of pain and suffering without getting into reasonable shape to begin with.  He concurred.  He was trying to get to the airport and as my training ride would take me right by it we rode off together to the airport and I enjoyed our conversation as we rode side by side for about 3 miles.

 

Day 2:  Saturday 7/5  I left Ju-Wei at 6:30am and headed to Dan-Sui.  I took the ferry across the Dan-Sui River and then I had to make a decision. The Stake that Tai-Ling was serving in at this time was having a Stake Conference on Sunday July 6 and Suzie and I wanted to attend as Tai-Ling would be there.  The main reason we had come to Taiwan was to join our daughter as she finished her mission.  We had spent part of the day with Tai-Ling the previous Wednesday as that was her last preparation day( preparation days are days that the missionaries are allowed some free time to sightsee, do errands, etc).  We had lunch with her and a number of other missionaries then went to the zoo together.  It was wonderful to see her and spend some time with her and her companion.  The Stake Conference was supposed to be in May but due to the SARS outbreak all meetings were cancelled for a number of weeks.  The day we arrived in Taiwan was the day that appears to have marked the end of the major precautions that were being taken related to SARS.  We were told on the plane that our temperature would be taken before entering the country.  After we entered the terminal there was a section set up for some type of medical testing and there were medical looking people there but they just waved us through.  There were also some “disinfectant” mats that we passed over.  How they disinfected anything but the bottom of our shoes is a wonder. There has been little indication of any concern about SARS.  People in Asia have always worn surgical masks to protect themselves from smog or to protect others when they have a cold or other respiratory ailment.  It did seem as though there were slightly more people wearing masks than what I recall in the past but from what people told us the number of wearers was way down from days previous.  Tai-Ling told us that one of the precautions that the missionaries did was to clean their apartment three times per week with bleach.  The entire time I was in Taiwan the only direct SARS precautions that affected me were that we had our temperature taken before entering the zoo and Costco of all places.

 

The decision I had to make was where to end the day’s ride.  It was only 9am but should I stay in Dan-Sui, which is only a few MRT(rapid transit) stations from where Tai-ling is, or do I push on to the next town with a train station to easily get back the next morning.  That town would be Ji-Lung about 65 kilometers further on.  I decided to push on and that would create the worst day of the trip.  I knew that I had to ride west out of Dan-Sui but when I came to an intersection with three roads heading generally west it wasn’t clear which way I should go.  I stopped to ask how to get to road #2, which is the number for the coast highway but no one had ever heard of highway #2.  I rode about 100 feet further and there was a huge sign saying Hwy 2 turn left.  Everyone calls the road bin hai gong lu or the coast highway.  People don’t’ use the numbers as we do except for freeways.  There are three main freeways in Taiwan.  Number 1 Freeway runs from the north to the south of the island.  Number 2 is a short section off Number 1 that leads to the international airport south of Taibei.  Number 3 Freeway is another north-south freeway.  But everyone calls the Number 3 Freeway Number 2.  Suffice it to say that I had to use the colloquial name for the highway in order for anyone to understand where I was going.  Once I learned the name then I never had a problem getting directions.   

 

I passed by many small fishing villages but with the heat my appetite just wasn't there.  I was drinking water but not enough.  I took a long rest at the half way point.  It was a nice shaded area with tables and chairs.  Five other cyclists showed up and we talked for a while.  They are from Hong Kong and studying in Taiwan.  They were doing a similar trip as mine except they were going to take the train form Suao to Hualien because they had heard how dangerous the road was.  They took off and I remained and rested a while longer.  I set out and about 10 miles out of Ji-Lung I hit a long hill.  I stopped to rest before going up and shortly the five cyclists showed up.  We all rested a bit then we all started off with me in the lead.  They are all young guys in their 20's.  Only one of them passed me on the long hill.  We rested again at the top and they all took off with me at the tail still putting stuff away in my panniers.  I passed every one of them on the way down as they all had mountain bikes with tires suited to dirt and consequently did not roll all that well on pavement.  I never saw them again.

 

 

 

 

The author poses with the five students from Hong Kong who were circumnavigating Taiwan also but they did not have the nerve for the Su-Hua Highway

 

Near the bottom of the hill I went by a sign that said “Ji-Lung” but there was never any city of any size.  I knew the city was of significant size and was concerned that I wasn’t seeing any evidence of a large city.  There were businesses and houses but no city.  I kept going and going.  Finally I stopped to ask someone where the city was.  They told me it was still ahead.  “Just keep going and you will get there.”  I did keep going and eventually made my way to the city center.

 

 I stopped at what was a major bus stop right at the port.  I had spoken to Suzie earlier in the day and she had everything arranged for me to meet her aunt and cousins when I arrived.  She had given me several phone numbers, so when I stopped at the bus stop I proceeded to call the numbers on the cell phone borrowed from Suzie’s sister..  There was no answer at any of the phone numbers.  It was now after 6pm in the evening.  I was exhausted, soaking wet and not feeling all that well.  I called the numbers every 15 minutes but there was no answer.  Finally at 8:30 someone answered one of the phones.  I explained who I was and what I was doing but the woman on the line had no idea who I was, who Suzie was or why I would be calling her.  I finally hung up in frustration.  I had tried to call Suzie numerous times as she was visiting a friend of ours near Taibei but she was not there.  Now my cell battery was nearly dead.  I decided to call Suzie’s sister Su-Chin, the sister I borrowed the phone from.  I contacted her and explained the situation and gave her the phone numbers.  Part of the problem in explaining the situation to the local relatives is that, in China, you usually do not call relatives by their name.  You use there relationship and relationships are important and complex in Chinese society.  There are specific names for aunts on mother’s side, aunts on father’s side, grandmother on father’s side, grandmother on mother’s side and much more.  So, trying to explain relationships over the phone just wasn’t working for me.  Once I explained all to Su-Chin she made some calls and had everything all worked out.  It seems that the person I had on the phone was not aware of my arrival and the associated plan but her husband, Suzie’s cousin was.  Soon I had two different people coming to lead me to Suzie’s aunt’s house.

 

Suzie’s cousin and another cousin’s son showed up at about 9:30pm.  I jumped on my bike and followed them through the busy streets of the city.  You do not see any bikes actually riding amongst the traffic in Taiwan so as I strove to stay on the car’s tail I got some strange looks from other motorists.

 

We arrived at Suzie’s Aunt’s house and after introductions I had to take a shower.  It had been a long day.  Suzie was meeting me here but I was starving so I was taken down the street to a simple restaurant where I feasted on Shabu-Shabu, a mixture of vegetables and sea food that you drop into a pan of boiling water at your table.  You decide when it is cooked and then partake.  At the end you are left with a wonderful soup.  I ate everything but even so, what I had eaten that day didn’t add up to much.

 

Suzie arrived at about 10:15 just as I was finishing at the restaurant.  We went back to her aunt’s house and learned that we would be staying at a cousin’s house as there was really no room at her aunt’s home.

 

It was a short walk to her cousin’s home.  She lived on the 4^th floor.  We got into the apartment and the air conditioning was turned on.  I was feeling the late hour and the lack of nourishment and as I sat in a chair in the living room while everyone else talked in Taiwanese/Mandarin and a Chinese soap opera blared on the TV, my consciousness began to fade.  The cousin’s home turned out to be not much bigger than the aunt’s home

 

Finally the idea sunk in to others that I was exhausted and needed to go to sleep.  The cousin led me to the area where I as to rest.  The room I was to sleep in was about 6 feet by 8 feet shaped like a triangle with no window.  As everyone went to bed they turned off the A/C.  I laid down and tried to sleep.  As tired as I was I didn't sleep much.  The air was thick in the tiny room.  I am not sure how much was mental or how much was physical but I couldn't get enough oxygen and felt like I was suffocating.  I had to get out of that room and get some air movement.  I went back to the living room and the door to the balcony was open and I turned on a fan.  I laid down on the couch but the heat was intense.  Needless to say I didn't get much rest that night and this combined with the ride and lack of food, I was wiped out.

 

The next day I bonked.  (Bonk is a cycling term used to describe a situation where a rider uses up all of their energy reserves and becomes totally exhausted.)  Without even riding I was not doing well.  We got up early and drove in to Taibei to the area where Tai-Ling was serving.  The conference was to be held in some kind of a sports facility.  It took us a while to find it and to get parked but we managed and finally were in the air conditioned building.  We met many of the church members and missionaries living and serving in the area and then the conference began.  Half way through the meeting we stood up to sing a hymn.  I couldn't stand for the entire hymn as I felt very light headed.  I had to sit down.  After the meeting I felt a bit better and started eating some of the food that we had in the car.  Suzie and I had lunch with Tai-ling and I ate quite a bit.  Then we drove back to Ji-Lung and had a great dinner with lots of liquids and I felt like I was getting my strength back.  I had been so weak it was quite concerning, but the food I was getting now was putting me back in shape.

 

This weakening experience made me realize the importance of scheduling water, food and rest. Now I would organize my day according to these three important components.  Every 1/2 hour I would stop for water, every hour stop for 10 minutes to rest.  Rest for two to four hours in the middle of the day, depending upon cloud cover, and eat three meals per day.  Drink and drink and drink.

 

             

Temple in Jee-Lung with associated vendors for worshipping paraphernalia such as ghost money, incense and assorted foods for the hungry gods

 

Suzie and I stayed another day in Ji-Lung.  Monday Suzie headed off to see other relatives and I headed for Tou-Zheng, another 50 plus miles down the coast road.  Saturday was a difficult day because of all the hills and I was hoping that Monday would find me on flatter terrain.

 

I headed east out of Ji-Lung at about 10am.  The northeast coast has many beautiful beaches and the sun was shinning bright.  It was going to be in the 90's again today.  I stopped at one of the many beaches that had a nice rest area that was covered.  A number of people came to swim in the small pools that were around the rocky coast.  The water was inviting but due to the direct sunlight and my not wanting to put too much skin in it I did not go into the water.  I did take off my shirt and sit in the sun for 10 minutes to begin to get accustomed to the sun.  10 minutes was too long and I got burned. 

 

The day was really hot.  There were a few hills but nothing too bad.  What was a challenge besides the heat was the wind.  I had a great deal of 10 - 20 mph head wind.  This really slowed me down and made for a long day.  I was thankful for drop handlebars that allowed me to get into a more aerodynamic position and beat some of the headwind.   I stuck to my travel routine; water every 30 min, rest every hour for 10 min, eat often.  I now make sure that I have a good breakfast of some kind of sandwich, usually bread and vegetable with egg.  Lunch is noodles and things to go with it and dinner is rice with vegetables

And some chicken or duck.

. 

The author on the north shore of Taiwan were there are many beautiful beaches that didn’t get sampled due to the intense sunlight during the middle of the day, which is when I always seemed to arrive at them.

 

At one point I was resting part way up a long hill and a young lady on a motor bike pulled off the road right next to me.  I greeted her and she greeted me.  She was a “missionary” from some church that I had never heard of (at least I hadn’t heard of it in Chinese).  She was stopping for a rest break as I was and wanted to drink some water and eat a bit of food that she had with her.  We talked for a while and then it was time to be on our way.  She insisted that she sing a couple of songs for me before she departed.  She opened her hymn book and sang a couple of hymns that I was not familiar with.  Then she was off.  I saw her the next day as she rode by me and we waved at each other.

Another view of the beautiful north coast.  I stopped here for rest at a great swimming hole but again couldn’t get in the sun because of its intensity

 

Monday was a long day and I was looking forward to getting to a hotel in Tou-Zheng.  There were some long stretches with no shade to stop in so it was difficult to stop and take on water.  I stopped for very short periods to take on water but to stop for any length of time in the direct sunlight is not a pleasant experience.  The breeze generated by riding is cooling.  When you stop you really feel how hot it is.  

 

About  5 miles out of Tou-Zheng a cyclist on a racing bike past me drafting behind a motor scooter.  I was doing about 13mph, he was doing about 25 or 30.  He said "hello" and waved and I returned the salutation.  About an hour later I saw him up ahead a few hundred yards and I sped up to catch him.  I pulled up along side him and engaged him in conversation.  We rode together for about 1/2 hour.  He said he could help me find a hotel in Tou-Zheng but when we got there there were no hotels in the town.  I was pretty beat, having covered nearly 50 miles most of it with strong headwinds.  We were told to go another  7K (4.2miles)  down the road.  So we headed off together.  It was getting late and we would be arriving in the next town in the dark.  I put on my flashing tail light and we rode into Jiao-Xi.  He took me to a hotel and we said our good-byes.  He owns a bike shop in Yi-Lan, another 15K down the road.  The hotel turned out to not have any rooms so I looked around and found one that was a bit cheaper but not real cheap as this is a famous Chinese tourist town.

 

I was pretty tired after the ride and hauling all my gear and bike to the second floor room.  At first the manager wouldn't let me take my bike to my room but I convinced her otherwise.

 

I showered and headed out to find dinner.  I ended up at the usual outdoor vendor stall.  I ordered and it turned out to be much more than I could eat but I did my best in putting away a large plate of fried rice, a plate of goose and a plate of vegetables.

 

One of the major factors in this section of the country is the availability of hotels.  Many towns just do not have any.  This certainly makes it difficult to plan where to stop for the night.

 

I was having a great time and the riding was very challenging but not too hard as long as I kept feeding the furnace and kept the fire burning.

 

During the trip I was emailing family members when time and opportunity permitted.  Some times I would either been too tired at the end of the day or there was no internet connection available where I was staying.  Sometimes I did not end the riding day until 7pm, which is the latest I can end because of darkness.  I do not have any desire to ride in the dark.

 

Tuesday morning, 7/8,  I had a short ride of about 25 miles to Su-Ao.  This was planned to set me up for the most difficult portion of the ride.  This section of road is famous throughout Taiwan for being beautiful and dangerous.  The five Chinese cyclists that I met were going to skip this section by putting their bikes on the train and riding the train to Hua-Lien.  I wanted to do the entire circuit of Taiwan by bike so I was prepared to ride the infamous section.

 

The reason for the danger is that the road is very narrow, there is a lot of large truck traffic, there are many tunnels and the road is carved out of the side of a mountain so on one side is mountain going up for thousands of feet and on the other side is a cliff that drops off hundreds of feet to the ocean.  The uphill side of the road has its danger also.  Running next to the road is an open cement storm drain that is from 2 feet to five feet deep and about 18 inches wide.  Getting into that at any speed would be almost as bad as going off the opposite side.  The road does not have the usual motorcycle lane but is wide enough for two trucks and a bike to pass, barely.  The truckers are very nice and accommodating.  They are always waving and giving the thumbs up sign for encouragement.  They always try to give me as much room as they can but it isn’t much.  You have to know that they are aware of you and trying to be as accommodating as possible or else you would be too scarred to ride the road.

 

I met a man by the name of Joey at church in Tai-Dong that told me the following story; He was in the Taiwan Air Force and now works for a company that has many contracts with the Air Force.  He met an American who flew F-4 Phantoms in Viet Nam.  This former pilot told Joey that driving the Su-Hua Highway was more thrilling than flying an F-4.  So where does that put biking the Su-Hua Highway?

 

I had prepared myself mentally as well as physically to meet the challenge that the next day would bring.  I had read other accounts of individuals riding around Taiwan and so I knew that right from the beginning of the day I would be in for the longest uphill sections of the trip.

 

So, on my birthday, Wednesday, July 9,  I got up at 3:50am packed up the bike and headed next door to the hotel where a small restaurant was already open.  I had the typical Chinese breakfast of shi-fan (mushy rice) and some dou-fu.  I hit the Su-Hua Hwy at 4:45 to beat the heat and as much traffic as possible.  Right in Su-Ao the road starts up a very steep grade for about 6 miles, then it is down a few miles of exhilarating speed then up for 5 or 6 miles again and again and again.  The road is all that is said of it – great beauty as well as breathtaking excitement as you look over the sheer drops to the deep blue ocean below.  The uphill portions of the road find trucks barreling down with wheels steaming, as they have some kind of water spray system that puts water on the wheels to cool them down.  Even so, the smell of burning break pads hangs heavy in the air.  The entire down hill lane of the road is wet with the amount of water that the trucks use to cool their breaks.  At first I thought there must be some kind of water truck that dumps water onto the road so when other trucks come along the water is picked up by their tires and sprayed on the wheels.  I never did see any kind of water truck so my assumption is that each truck has its own water spray system.  Sometimes, concerned truck drivers will stop at a pull out and get out of their rigs to inspect wheels, tires and other aspects of their vehicle.  When they stop, great clouds of steam float off of the all the wheels.

 

I rode quickly up that first long hill to try to get in as many kilometers as possible early.  I only rested twice up the hill and both times for only a couple of minutes each.  The ride down is always something to look forward to as you climb the hills.  This was no different.  Free-wheeling down the hills was exhilarating.  I only had one tense moment going down hill.  I had climbed one of the many hills this day and was speeding down the opposite side doing about 35 – 40MPH when I took a turn a little too wide and came within about a foot of the open storm drain on the right side of the road.  I could see that I had too much speed for the track that I was taking in the turn.  I applied some break but it was too late to make a significant course correction and I came quite close to ruining the day.

The north coast is beautiful but the awesome beauty of the east coast coupled with the treacherous road make this section of Taiwan a must see for all visitors

 

The previous week, when we visited the zoo with our daughter and the other missionaries, I saw another foreigner and we spoke briefly to each other, primarily about the strange selection of English words at some of the exhibits.  Everywhere there were signs on the fences in front of the cages that said “No Striding Permitted”.  We assumed they really meant “straddling”.  I saw him again later in the day at the MRT station as we waited for the next train.  We began talking about what we were each doing in the country.  He had been working in Taiwan for about four years.  I told him that I was going to circumnavigate the island on a bicycle.  He proceeded to tell me of friends of his that have tried to do the same thing.  They became so frightened when they reached the Su-Hua Highway that they could not continue.  He said the road had been completely taken over by heavy trucks and “if you sneezed at the wrong time you would be dead”.  By that he meant that the trucks were so close to you even when there was plenty of room for them to move over that you had only inches of clearance between life and death.  I never found this to be the case and as I have stated before the truck drivers were always courteous and sympathetic to my path.

 

I tried to take the easy way around one of the tunnels using the old road.  I actually carried my bike over this precarious rock fall and then followed the "road" for another 100 yards only to find an impassible rock fall.  The drop off to the left is only about 700 feet

One of the many tunnels that must be braved.  You can see that no bikes are allowed and that there is no shoulder.  This one is lit quite well, others were hardly lit at all.

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The long climb out of Su-Ao with its narrow roadway, lack of shoulders and the concrete storm drain visible on the opposite side.  There was a lot of truck traffic but the truck drivers were always courteous and gave me all the room they could.

 

 

The middle of the day found me at a road-side rest area at the entrance to Toroko National Park.  It was an ideal place to rest for a couple of hours in the heat of the day.  There was plenty of shade, a spectacular view of the coastline and it is a favorite stopping area for people to stop and view the scenery, take a break and have a picnic.  I met many people at this rest stop and had a wonderful time.  The people are all so kind, inquisitive and giving.  Repeatedly I was asked to take bottles of water and snacks.  It was nearly impossible to refuse their offers even when what they were offering had little or no appeal.  One especially nice family that had stopped for a picnic gave me all kinds of snacks.  One was some kind of pork flavored chips and another was cow tongue crackers.  The crackers aren’t actually cow tongues nor do they have anything to do with cows at all but the crackers look like a large tongue.  Not too appetizing from my point of view.  I accepted their gifts as it was difficult not to but I could not consume most of them and did not wish to carry the extra weight so I had to discard them.

The entrance to the park has a wonderful rest area with a fantastic view of the Pacific Ocean and the east coast.  I met many friendly and generous people who stopped for the view.

I finished up the day leisurely riding into Tai-Lu-Ge, a small town at the entrance of one of the Wonders of Asia - Toroko Gorge a section of Toroko National Park.  I had ridden the road most feared by the local people and it was well worth the effort.  This gorge is a magnificent scenic area.  Suzie and I took my Mother and her husband through the gorge in a car when they met us in Taiwan in 1986 and Suzie and I had traveled the area by bus during my first visit to Taiwan in 1977.  The road is carved out of solid rock with many tunnels, pagodas and scenic areas along the way.  The first time I went through it in the bus I was so nervous that I couldn’t swallow for about 6 hours.  The bus drove so close to the edge of the road and the drop off into the river was so far down that I was quite uncomfortable.  In fact if I had something I could drop out of the bus when we went around a corner it would fall hundreds of feet straight down.

 

Thursday July 10 - This day I hit my first rain.  Right after entering the park you find a beautiful waterfall with some Chinese pagodas and small buildings decorating the cliffs.  There is a river that runs through the gorge and winds around near the bottom of the waterfall.  A path has been cut out from the side of the near vertical walls of the gorge and it leads up a number of switchbacks to the Pagoda and other buildings higher on the cliffs.  It is an easy climb even in the heat but no one else was walking the circuit.  Eventually the path leads to a suspension bridge about 100 feet over a small stream that flows into the river.  The entire area is quite picturesque and a delight.  Often scenic areas in Taiwan are over-done with gaudy buildings, loud music and decrepit small amusement rides but in this national park man made things have been kept to a minimum and what is there is done in good taste.

The entrance to Toroko Gorge.  This gorge is one of the Seven Wonders of Asia.  It is a truly magnificent scenic area.  High on the list of any trip to Asia

 

 

The clear river and its pools at the base of the trail were quite inviting and I promised myself that I would visit them more closely on my return later in the day.  I road 12 miles uphill to Tien-Xiang, stopping often to take in the many awesome and spectacular sites.  Tien-Xiang is a significant tourist area in the park and when I was there much construction was underway on the trail leading to the large pagoda set high on a hill overlooking the small village and the river.  I stopped here for lunch as there are many small restaurants with a wide variety of offerings.  I had met another foreign bicycle rider on the way up.  He was riding a racing bike and had no extra weight.  He is from Peru and has been in Asia for 14 years.  He makes jewelry and has traveled and lived all over Asia.  He had been living in Taiwan for about a year and was out for a day’s ride.  He left the site where I met him before I did but then I caught up to him when he stopped at another scenic site to enjoy one of the few places you can get down to the river.  I was sitting on the side of the road in Tien-Xiang when he rode in. 

This is the first main attraction area once one enters the gorge.  It is just 1 kilometer into the gorge and offers a cave, spectacular trail carved out of the rock that leads to these small buildings then winds it's way up the mountain another 300 feet to another building and a pagoda.

The trail up the mountain winds around and comes out at this hanging bridge and a large temple.

 

I had lunch, visited with a couple of Chinese youth who were on a short bicycle trek then proceeded to explore the area before descending back down to Tai-Lu-Ge and on to Hua-Lien.

Pagoda at Tien-Xiang.  The 12 mile ride up and was not bad, especially with all the sites along the way.  But the ride down was even better and I was able to see some sites that I had missed on the way up.  It is good to look back to where you have come from once in a while just to see things from a different vantage point.

The ride down was wonderful as it was a coast of nearly the entire 12 miles.  There were many sites on the way back that I had missed on the way up.  It pays to stop often and look in the opposite direction to your travels as you may be missing many sites.  There were some wonderful sites that I was unaware of earlier in the day.  One such site was a section of old road that weaves in and out of small tunnels and half tunnels that runs right along the cliff above the river.  This section is blocked of and many of the tourist busses unload at one end and let or make the tourists walk the two kilometers to the other end.  It is well worth the walk.  During the ride up I had missed this section as I did not know how long it was.  It appeared to be just another scenic stop along the way.  I had ridden the tunnel up but on the way down I maneuvered my bike through the barriers and had an enjoyable causal ride from beautiful site to beautiful site.

The road has been cut out of solid rock.  The canyon walls are thousands of feet high and narrow down to this section that measures only about 40 feet.

 

When I arrived back down at the bottom where the river was so inviting earlier in the day I met a young man traveling the east coast by motor scooter.  We talked for about a half hour.  He was touring the Toroko Gorge and then would be headed north up to the spectacular cliffs I had passed the previous day and then would turn and head south to spend the night in Hua-lien the same as I would.  He then went to hike a bit of the trail I had hiked that morning.  I told him it would be well worth his time to hike the entire circle up to the pagoda and other buildings then to the suspension bridge and back but he said it was much to hot to be doing things like that.  I headed for the river after locking my bike up.  It was wonderfully refreshing to wade through the river.  On the sandbars along the river many Chinese had written with small stones Chinese characters and some English words.  As I walked the guy I had been speaking to earlier was on the trail above me and he called to me and waved.  The thought entered my mind that I would ask him if we could meet up later in the day in Hua-Lien for dinner.   I walked up river for a hundred meters or so and then it began to rain.  I stayed in the river as everyone else headed for buses, cars and other shelter.  When it began to rain harder I too vacated the river and headed for cover.  I didn’t make it back to my bike before the heavens opened and the rain came down in torrential proportions. The young man’s scooter had been parked next to my bike but now it was gone.  I had missed a great opportunity to setup an appointment to practice speaking all evening.  I was a bit upset with myself that I had let the opportunity slip by.  The next day as I was bicycling south on the coast rode the young man sped by going north on his scooter.  I yelled and waved to him to pull over, which he did and then turned around and rode back to me.  He was headed back to Taibei.  We conversed for a few minutes and he was off leaving me his business card and an invitation to call him whenever I came to town.

This photo gives the reader an idea of just how rugged the area is and an idea of how difficult it was to build the road.  Many people died during the construction.

 

So, there I was standing under an overhang in the side of the mountain staring at my bike through the pouring rain, across the parking lot.  This was the first rain I had experienced on the trip.  I had brought a breathable bicycling rain coat with me and believe it or not, I was looking forward to using it.  As I stared at my bike through the curtain of water that was coming down I was planning how I was going to get socks and shoes on and the rain coat before I became so soaked that it wouldn’t make any difference if I had the coat on or not.  Finally the rain let up just a little and I made a dash for the bike, removed my water shoes, dried my feet, put on socks and cycling shoes, slipped on the bright yellow rain coat, fastened on my helmet and gloves and was off.  The rain increased and I rode a short distance to one of two tunnels that lead out of the park.  The rain continued and so I did to the next tunnel.  I decided that now was my time to test the breathing capabilities of the rain coat so I road out into the flood from above.  It wasn’t all that bad.  In fact riding in the rain was refreshing as it cooled the air and me. 

 

Once I rode out of the canyon and got a few kilometers past Tai-Lu-Ge the clouds parted and the sun was shinning its familiar face again.  It was back to direct sunlight but it was getting late in the day and the sun would soon drop behind the towering mountains that make up Taiwan’s north-south range.  I rode without event into Hua-Lien.

 

Friday morning July 11, I continued south from Hua-lien.  The road led inland a bit and as the sun continued to rise I knew the day would be in the higher 90’s.  The map showed the road continuing as Hwy 11 to Tai-Dong.  It curved around a small bay and over a small mountain range to the coast.  I rode until I came to an intersection.  There were two large signs.  One said Hwy 11 to Tai-Dong straight ahead and the other said Hwy 11 to some small village turn left.  I knew I wanted to go to Tai-Don via Hwy 11 as indicated on the map.  There was no one around and there were no establishments of any kind in the vicinity where I could ask a local to clarify the situation, so I went straight.  In retrospect, I should have known to always go towards the coast.  But I got lead by other thoughts than logic and ended up 17 kilometers down a road with very little shade on one of the hottest days of the trip.  Finally, as the road continued to angle away from the coast I stopped and learned of my error.  Yes, indeed I should have turned left at that intersection.  The gentleman that I was speaking to said it was only 10 or so kilometers back but in fact it was 17 for a total wrong turn of 34 kilometers.

 

Once I got back to the intersection and over the small mountain range to the coast I was relieved that my mistake had been corrected but now I was heading into the hottest portion of the day and I really hadn’t ridden very far towards my objective. 

 

The road led up and down hills along the coast and I ended the day in Feng-Bin, a small town about 1/3 of the way between Hua-Lien and Tai-Dong.  I was looking for a lu she (bed-and-breakfast) as I had been told that there were many along the east coast.  When I asked where a lu she might be I was directed to a building just a few doors down from where I was.  I walked over to it and inquired as to the availability of rooms and was shown one without air conditioning.  It turned out to be a hotel and not an lu she but I was tired and the next room I was shown had A/C and that was all it took to convince me that this is where I would spend the night, even though it was one of the shoddier rooms that I would stay in. 

 

After I got cleaned up I headed out to locate a place to eat.  As I was walking away from the hotel a man was walking across the street and called to me, I thought.  Then he walked over to a small table and chairs set up at the road's edge.  There was another man seated at the table.  The first one carried a plastic bag of something and he sat down at the table.  I thought I must have been mistaken and he was really gesturing to the other man.  Then he looked directly at me and called me over to the table to sit down.  He asked me if I had eaten and I told him I was just going out to find something.  He tried to hand me a beer, I refused it but he said his family had lots of food and that he would bring it out for me.  I sat down and they proceeded to bring out all kinds of vegetables, fish, rice and other dinner items. 

 

Populated areas allow me to stop for rests at small stores which offer ice cold drinks.  Many of the drinks are only for local palates such as ice cold asparagus juice but they always have bottled water and a couple of different types of sports drinks.  One I enjoyed immensely is called Super Supau.  It is like Gator Aid and really quenches a thirst when you are hungry and thirsty. However, I could not stomach them when I was thirsty only.  Taiwan also produces another brand that uses the word sweat in the name and consequently is not too appealing.  Often these small stores were 7-11 stores.  Over the past 15 years or so 7-11’s have sprung up all over the country.  There must be more 7-11’s here per capita than any place in the world.  In large cities I have seen them every couple of blocks and on one occasion I saw two across the street from each other.  Throughout the west coast area I could always count on making a rest stop at a convenience store.  These stores had three things that benefited me.  They are quite ubiquitous, they have cold drinks and they are air conditioned.  But to say they are air conditioned doesn’t really convey the differential in temperature that they support.  They are kept at such a low temperature that when ever I entered one and reached in the refrigeration units to pick a cold drink I could swear that the bottles had always only recently been placed there and had not had the time to cool down.  However, after paying for the drink and stepping outside the bottle then was obviously sufficiently cold.  Sometimes the store clerks wear coats because of the inside temperature which must be set at least 25 - 30 degrees lower than the outside temperature.   

 

As we sat around the table they knew I would be thirsty so, unbeknownst to me, someone had gone to a store and purchased some of the sports drink Super Supau.   The food was excellent and we had a grand time talking for hours.  The man that called me over is Mr. Li and we were seated in front of his house   The other man was a neighbor.  Both are of one of the eight aboriginal tribes of peoples that have inhabited Taiwan since pre-historic times.  They are a people resembling those of Polynesian descent rather than Han Chinese.  There are four main groups of peoples that live in Taiwan.  The first group is these aboriginal tribes.  The second group is that of those that migrated from the Chinese province of Fujian, which lies just across the Straits of Taiwan on the mainland.  Their dialect is very close to that of what has become Taiwanese.  My wife’s family is part of the second group and have, as their first language, Taiwanese. This is probably the largest of the four groups and makes up a significant portion of the nearly 22 million inhabitants of the island.   The third group is that of the Hakka people.  They migrated from the mainland from an area near Hong Kong.  The fourth group to arrive in Taiwan is the group of northern Mandarin speaking Chinese that were forced to leave the mainland at the end of the Chinese Civil War, which occurred at the conclusion of World War II and lasted until 1949.  This group, lead by Chiang Kai-Shek, brought roughly four million Han Chinese to Taiwan and set up the Nationalist Government in Taibei.

 

We chatted on and off again about the similarities between what has happened to the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan and the American Indians plight.  The tribes in Taiwan, over the years, have been pushed deep into the high mountains on the west side of the island and many have settled in the towns and villages of the east side since 90% of the population of the country resides on the western plane.

Here we are gathered around the dinner table right on the side of the highway.  Mr. Li with his guitar.  The most enjoyable evening of the entire trip.

As the evening drew on Mr. Li had one of his daughters get his guitar.  He played some beautiful aboriginal folk songs and then handed the guitar to me.  I started out with "Walk'in Cane", then I did a song that I wrote called "And I tell Her So", then "Pride and Joy".   All are somewhat bluesy and he was not familiar with this type of music and was quite interested in its sound.   It was a lot of fun.  It was a wonderful evening.  It was one of the most memorable evenings of the entire trip.  Late into the night, as much as I didn’t want the evening to end, I had to bid all a good night.  Once I got into the routine of cycling it seemed there was a constant hand at my back urging me to push along to the next town.  And so, as all things must end, so did the night.  But it was what I had come to Taiwan to experience and it was very rewarding.

 

Saturday July 12 was very hot and the road very hilly.  I didn't make it too far but that was OK because I was trying to hit Tai-Dong on Sunday.  I decided that I would stop at Zheng-Gong which would still leave me 55K (33 miles) to go to Tai-Dong.   This is the day that I passed the first monument to the imaginary line.  As I did so the occupants of a car going the opposite direction opened their windows and began to wave excitedly at me.  They pulled into the parking area for the monument and I turned around and peddled back to meet them.  They were a young couple and wanted to take me to lunch.  The young man knew of a restaurant not far ahead and so we headed a few miles south.  The restaurant tuned out to not be open but there was a snack shop open and we sat around the tables in a shaded area drinking sports drinks and talking.  We took pictures of each other before we departed, going our separate ways but, again, the friendliness of the people is what I enjoy so much and this interlude was what I was after.

The couple I met on the highway at the Monument to the Imaginary line.  They flagged me down right on the highway.  The Taiwan people are wonderful.

Church, on Sunday, was at 9am so I was going to have to cover the 33 miles by 8:30 in order to get cleaned up before church.  I had been given the phone number for the Church by my daughter and so Thursday night I had called and I spoke to a local member that spoke excellent English by the name of Mr. Shao.  He told me to call him Joey.  I told him who I was and he remembered Tai-Ling.  I asked for directions as to how to get to the chapel assuming that he would start telling me from some prominent point on the north side of the city where I would enter.  Instead he began by asking me where I was.  At the time I was in Hua-Lien, so he directed me to travel south.  He then proceeded to go into some detail as to how to go south until I interrupted him and told him that I knew how to get to Tai-Dong and that I was really looking for some directions once I arrived in his city.  He got the idea and gave me detailed directions based on the location of a Mc Donald’s restaurant, as they are prominent landmarks in all cities.  Even though I was given the directions, when I arrived I was unable to follow them to the chapel and had to call Joey again to get help.  Joey said I was close and he would quickly come to where I was and direct me to church.   I arrived in town right at 8:30, but due to the trouble locating the church I didn’t get to the church until 8:50.  I quickly cleaned up in time for the 9am start of Sacrament Meeting.  Tai-Ling served here for 7 1/2 months and loved the place and the people.  I met many of the people she knows and can understand her love for the place and its people.  They are all so friendly and hospitable.  Many people offered their homes for me to stay in but I felt it best to go to a hotel.  I saw a number of pictures on the bulletin board in the church with Tai-Ling in them and seeing the pictures gave me such a wonderful feeling of peace and joy.  Everyone I met was so excited when I told them that I was Sister Tseng’s (Tai-Ling) father.  I went to the Branch President's for lunch and there was a picture with Tai-Ling on the wall there also. Everyone I met knew Tai-Ling and repeatedly told me how great a missionary she is and how much they love her.  It was very heart warming.

 

Monday July 14 it was off to Da-Wu another 30 miles down the coast and the last major town before heading back to the west coast.   I had originally planned to cycle into the mountains out of Da-Wu and then head south through some small back roads and enter Kenting Park from the east.  The farther I got down south the hotter it seemed to get.  Now the daily temperatures were pushing 100 degrees Fahrenheit.   I had to make another decision at this point.  Do I head into the back roads of southern Taiwan with the prospect of there not being any sleeping accommodations as the towns were quite small as indicated on the map or do I push on to the west coast?    I had already traveled to a number of larger towns with no hotels so I was leery of getting into the area and having any problems that would cause me a major inconvenience.  For this reason I elected to cut off this section of the trip which was less than 75 miles.

 

Tuesday, July 15, I got up at 3:50 to ride the last big mountain sections of the trip.  This was another 7 mile long hill.  There would be some strenuous hills later in the trip that were totally unexpected but not nearly so long as these on the east coast.  This hill began as soon as the road turned west and was quite steep in sections.  All the hills that I did in Taiwan were challenging in the heat but none were so much a challenge that one, in shape, cannot climb them without too much difficulty.  I may have to rest often but I always pushed at least 1 kilometer at a time. 

 

It was cool early in the morning but there was a head wind.  Headwinds are the bane of all cyclists.  Headwinds can make even downhill sections difficult and an uphill headwind is the worst.  It seemed like I could walk the bike faster than what I was doing.  One consolation is that with any kind of wind it was nice when I rested, which was every kilometer on the hills and every 10 - 15 K on the flat.  Regardless, a head wind going up hill is no fun.  Once well into the mountains the sky was a bit cloudy which is great for riding - no direct sunlight.  The down hill section to the West coast was great - miles of down hill.  It coontinued to be cloudy through the mountains and on to the west coast.  This was an excellent day and the first significant cloud cover of the trip.   I was able to do 90 kilometer (55 miles) easily by 12:30pm.   Along the way I stopped at a beautiful cliff overlooking the ocean.  Soon after stopping an elderly man pulled over to the side of the road near me and parked his Mercedes. 

 

There are a lot of Mercedes, BMW’s, Lexus and other expensive cars in Taiwan.  The standard of living has risen considerably over the 26 years that I have been traveling to the country.  When I first came to Taiwan, there were few cars and lots of motorcycles, motor scooters and many rode bicycles.  The traffic has always been atrocious compared to the US because vehicles are maneuvered however the driver wants.  I have a theory that this all started from the days when no one had cars or motorcycles and everyone rode bikes.  Just as in other countries, there are not many bicycle riders that pay strict attention to any set of rules except the rule of “go any direction you want at any time”.  Often in the US you see bicyclers running red lights, riding on the wrong side of the road, acting as a pedestrian when it suits the rider and other times acting like a car if that is to his or her advantage.  So it was in Taiwan long ago.  However and wherever you could maneuver a bike was OK.  Then they started getting motorcycles and the same mentality prevailed.  Certainly there are laws and there are police that will exercise their authority over an occasional driver but with the prevailing attitude being chaos there is no way to control the public without a great deal of re-educating and some strict enforcement. 

 

On one trip to Taiwan a number of years back I was riding a bike down a one-way street, going the correct direction and I was run off the road by a car going the wrong direction.  Taiwan has the same system of driving that the US has.  That is, drivers are supposed to drive on the right side of the road.   However, as evidenced above, drivers only take that as a general rule and if it is to their advantage to drive on the shoulder on the far left then they will do it.   There is an unwritten rule that says “if you are driving on the wrong side of the road then always go to the left to avoid the on-coming traffic”.  Some drivers fail to heed this important rule also.  One day, a number of years ago, I was riding my bike in the town Ju-Nan, when I came to an intersection.  Intersections are interesting in Taiwan.  Not so much the intersection itself but how drivers negotiate the intersection.  Many times they will cut the corner of the intersection so far back before the actual turn that they end up on the opposite side of the road and onto the shoulder when they make the turn.  This puts them on the wrong side of the road after they have made the turn.  As I approached this intersection, a girl on a motor scooter had cut the corner and was now on the wrong side of the road, my side of the road.  Now here I am on the shoulder on the right side of the road and this motor scooter is headed right for me.  The unwritten rule says that I should go to the left to let her pass by on my right.  She should also go to her left and we will pass each other without mishap.  But she either doesn’t know the unwritten rule, which is highly unlikely, or she believes this foreigner in front of her does not know the unwritten rule and therefore will move to the right so she must move to the right.  I am not sure of her reason but she went against the rule and moved to her right, my left and the same direction that I was moving.  Now this is a very dangerous situation as there are cars and trucks speeding by in the traffic lanes.  We are moving farther and farther out into those lanes without time to be looking around to find out what traffic we will be interfering with.  I could see that this was not going as planned.  I was only going about 15mph when I saw what she was doing and she was probably doing about the same speed.  I braked hard and tried to avoid her but I was unable to.  I am not sure exactly what transpired from that point to the time of impact but I must have reduced my speed and put out my left leg to brace for impact.  I hit her a glancing blow and she went down.  She was wearing a dress and she skidded and rolled onto the pavement losing a considerable amount of dignity in the process and a few parts and pieces broke off from her scooter in the fall. We ended up nearly in the middle of the street and cars and trucks continued to wiz by hardly slowing.  I remained upright and really suffered no damage to self or bike.   She couldn’t have been injured too badly because she jumped up and came over to me shouting and blaming me for running into her.  I reminded her of the unwritten rule but she didn’t want to listen to a foreigner speaking about the finer points of Taiwan driving.  I peddled off leaving her there to gather her scooter and its broken pieces. 

 

This unwritten rule is known by all and is commonly employed everywhere in the country.  During this cycling trip I was tested with rule on a daily basis.  Most of the time, as you see the situation develop in front of you and the person on a bike, motor scooter or even car approaches you on the wrong side of the road, you see or sense that they know the rule and that they know you know the rule.  In that case I move to the left, they move to the left and we pass without incident.  We pass as if that is the way it is always done.  No one really thinks that much about it as it happens all the time.  However, occasionally a person, usually on a motor scooter, will approach me on the wrong side of the road and a special look will come upon the driver’s face.  This look speaks to me as plane as if the driver had a sign in front of them that read “Here is a foreigner coming at me, does he know the unwritten rule or not?”.  Instead of looking directly at me to gain acknowledgement of the unwritten law then looking away from me to concentrate on the path ahead these uncertain drivers will continue to stare directly at me and pull even farther over to the left and practically stop their forward progress, thus allowing me to pass with great caution.

 

The Mercedes that pulled onto the roadside where I was resting had a sole occupant, an elderly man who exited the vehicle and walked over to me, almost without hesitation.  I greeted him and he returned the greeting.  He is a professor at a local university and was on his way to a nuclear reactor at the southern end of the Island.  He had spent considerable time in the US and had a fine command of the English language but I insisted on speaking Chinese whenever possible.  We chatted for quite a while then he had to head off to his meeting. 

 

Shortly after the Mercedes pulled in and we began our conversation anther car pulled in with a man and a woman.  They got out and set up a small gas fired burner and boiled water for tea.  This sort of operation is seen at road-side rest areas all over the country.  When the man in the Mercedes left I turned my attention to the tea making couple.  They were out for the day visiting local tourist sites.  They offered me a paper cup of tea and after a lengthy refusal I was sitting on the bulkhead overlooking the Straits of Taiwan with a cup of tea in my hand that I would not drink.  Now, how do I get rid of it without offending my new friends?  When they weren’t looking I nonchalantly dumped the tea over the bulkhead 15 feet to the sand below.  It was quite hot and I knew it would dry soon and no one would be the wiser for my action.  He said this tea had great medicinal qualities and would help make me strong for my cycling trip in such hot weather.  When the man came back over to me to continue our conversation he noticed that my cup was empty and insisted on refilling it.  I repeated the sham once again.  As they packed up, the man brought out a number of different vitamins and downed several with his last cup of tea.  He insisted that I take a week’s worth of orange pills that would also give me great strength for the remaining days of my trip.  I dutifully put the pills that he had placed into a small plastic bag, into one of the pockets on my left rear pannier.  I ended up throwing them away a few days later.  I really had no idea who this person that gave me the pills was nor did I really know what they were.  I had no reason to doubt the man’s sincerity but one can not be too careful.

Here is what you are up against as you ponder what to order at store selling all kinds of drinks. Just go ahead and make your selection.  Mine is the one in the very top left corner – mu-gua nui-nai – papaya milk shake.  I can spot those characters at 25kph from 50 feet.

The day ended with me in the town of Chao Zhou.  It was such a great day for cycling and I felt so well that I could have easily continued on for another 30 or 40 kilometers.  But I was to meet Suzie and Tai-Ling in Qi-Shan the next day and didn’t want to have too short of a ride on that day.

 

Wednesday 7/16 I had a short ride from Chao Zhou to Qi Shan.   Tai-Ling's efforts to learn Mandarin on her mission inspired me to improve my own abilities.  I get frustrated every time I visit China because my vocabulary is not large enough.  So, last summer I committed myself to learning 10 Chinese words per week.  I have kept that up and have learned about 400 new words since August 2002.  This has helped me greatly in my experience here in Taiwan.  I also log new words that I learn on the trip into my notebook.  One such word came in handy everyday.  Huan dao means to “go around the island”. This word helped me explain my trip on daily basis to those that I met along the way.  It always takes me a bit of time to attune my ear to hearing the language again.  I thought it would be great to have a tutor while I was studying my vocabulary words, so Suzie arranged for the manager of the China Airlines office in Anchorage to tutor me.  His name is Mr. Guo.  He and his wife were in Anchorage for a time.  Their children are all grown and so did not have a lot of non-work responsibilities.  Mr. Guo would come to our house Thursday nights and we would work on my flash cards that I have created for the 400 words.  We would work on vocabulary for an hour then have a general discussion for 1/2 hour.  It was great training and we built up a great friendship at the same time. 

 

Mr. Guo now has retired from China Airlines and has an ice cream shop in Qi Shan.  That is why I planned to stop there.  Suzie and Tai-Ling were coming down to meet me there as they were on their way to Tai-Dong to visit Church members that Tai-Ling had met, worked with and come to love.

 

I arrived in Qi Shan at about 11am and the Guo's fed me ice cream and ice confections all day.  It was quite refreshing.  Suzie and Tai-Ling showed up in the middle of the afternoon.  We had dinner and spent the evening with the Guo's.  It was great to renew our friendship and spend some time with them.

 

Thursday 7/17 – Suzie, Tai-Ling and I spent the night at a hotel just around the corner from Mr. Guo’s shop.  We were up at 6am for breakfast and a quick departure.  Suzie and Tai-Ling would be catching a bus for Gao-Xiong and I would be riding west to link up with the highway leading north that would take me to Tai-Zhung.   As I left Qi Shan and right at the edge of town there is a hill that is quite steep and goes up for about 5 miles, then another awesome downhill ride.  I rode west to a town spelled "Alien" on my map but spelled "Alian" on the road signs.  It was a great day, a bit cloudy again and not too hot, only in the low 90’s.

 

A beautiful “Alien” temple right near where I stopped for a much needed drink of my favorite sports drink.

Late morning found me having passed through Alian headed north again on one of the main roads north.  I saw, up ahead, a group of 3 cyclists so I peddled up to them to see where they were going.  They are a family, father, mother and son (16 yrs old).  The father and son had the same bike I have. ( in fact they were the ones that purchased the only 19” frame Great Journey 2 in Taiwan)  They had shipped their bikes to Tai-Dong then had ridden some on the east coast then shipped the bikes to Gao-Xiong (skipping the ride I did on 7/15). Now they were on their way to Tai-Zhung.  We talked a while and decided to ride together for a ways.  The  mother and father  were not in any kind of shape for riding long distances and peddled at a very slow pace of about 10 -15 KPH.  The son, however, was eager to speed up and that we did.  I was quite strong now and could easily do 30KPH on the flat without any head wind.  We flew down the road and I think I surprised him as he had to work to stay up with me.  We would pull way ahead of the others then find a 7-11, buy cold drinks and wait for the others to catch up.  Sometimes this wait would be 45 – 50 minutes. 

 

The father, Lo Tien-Zhi, noticed my style of ridding and one of the times that he caught up with me and the son, Zi-Yang, he commented on how fast I was peddling.  He said I was peddling much to fast. He had never seen anyone peddle like that.  If he had never seen anyone peddle quickly then he has never seen any serious cyclers.  There are not many serious riders in Taiwan or the mainland for that matter.  Most of the bicyclers are riding for transportation and have never paid any attention to efficiency, bicycle fit or conditioning.  Often times you see Chinese riding a bike that, I’m sure they ride daily, that has a seat much too low and, if they have more than one gear they are in a gear much too high for the terrain.  I like to peddle a cadence of about 75 RPM.  My current strength and endurance find this cadence ideal for efficiency.  I explained the facts of energy expenditure and peddling to my new friend but he looked at me with doubt written all over his face.   My study and experience tells me that I should try to maintain the same cadence no matter which gear I am in.  When I first started biking in the spring of 2003 I was only able to peddle at about 50 – 60 rpm.  But as I trained and practiced spinning the peddle crank faster I was able to get to the middle to upper 70’s.  I explained that each gear can be peddled at any RPM, however some RPM’s are much too slow because it is either too hard or too easy to peddle in that gear.  These gears are not the optimum gear for the terrain.  Once the correct gear is found for the terrain then it is a matter of fine tuning to find your optimum cadence.  This optimum cadence is where the least amount of energy is expended to travel the farthest distance.  As you become stronger a gear that was optimum at 55 RPM may not be optimum now and a higher gear may be needed as well as perhaps an adjustment to the cadence speed.  All this seems complicated but as you ride and with a little bit of practice in counting the RPM’s one adjusts naturally.  Eventually you will be able to easily determine your optimum cadence for any physical conditioning level.

 

Tien-Zhi didn’t believe much of any of this.  He thought about it for a while and the next time he caught up with us he said “I would like to discuss further your theories on peddling”.  I told him that these were not theories they are facts.  I am not sure he ever believed anything I was saying but during one of the times that Zi-Yang and I flew ahead of his parents we hit a section of road that was ideal for riding and we had no wind at all.  We had loaded panniers front and rear but we were still able to move at quite a pace.  Zi-Yang started watching my gear and my peddling speed and soon he had shifted out of his too high of a gear and slow cadence to a lower gear with a higher cadence.  Perhaps his experience will induce a conversation with his father on the “theory” of peddling. 

 

We rode together as a group through the morning, afternoon and into the evening.  Early afternoon we were all quite hungry and we planned to stop in a town that was not too distant.  When we arrive in the town we found a nice little bien dung shop and we loaded up with the various offerings and sat down to a wonderful meal and conversation. 

Lo Tien-Zhi, Xan Fen-Pu and Zi-Yang.  I rode with them most of the day and they made the day a high point of the trip.

A bien dung shop is a Chinese buffet.  There are all kinds of entrees offered and you just scoop up what you want then take it to the cashier where they load you up with rice and you pay very little.  

 

I had never really been too concerned with theft of anything in Taiwan and did not always lock up my bike. 

Tien-Zhi was insistent that I lock my bike whenever we left them.  He always locked all of their bikes together whenever we were away from them for any length of time. 

 

After lunch Tien-Zhi wanted to visit an ice cream store that was the most famous in the land.   Many places I went there were ice cream shops that claimed they were the most famous in the country.  This particular store was managed, at one time, by Tien-Zhi’s father.  This was many years ago but he had been there in his younger years and knew the way.  We rode a short distance from where we had lunch to an industrial area. He found the building that housed the shop but the shop was not there.  The building was old and quite large and didn’t’ look at all like an ice cream shop.  He asked around and we found the building across the street.  It was a huge store that sold a lot more than ice cream.  It had a large covered area that we were able to bring our bikes into.   All day I was unable to pay for anything as the Luo family treated me to everything.  Again, I was having a great time meeting the local people, practicing my language skills and seeing the country that I have come to know so well and love.

 

We had two rounds of ice cream and then decided we would take a half hour nap.  At the conclusion of our nap we packed up and headed out onto the road again. 

 

The west coast has 90% of the 22million people living in Taiwan, so, it is quite populated with many small to large cities.  The east coast is sparsely populated and one can ride for several hours without traveling through any kind of town.  The west coast has many towns and villages and even thought there is much farm land between the towns, you are often riding through small villages or towns.  So in the west it is a ride from 7-11 to 7-11.  There are so many of them and their local version that when it is time to take a break there is always one near by. 

 

We rode for quite a while that day and I put in over 100k but by now that was not physically demanding and it was a wonderful day.  I stopped in Yuan-Lin but the Luo family continued on for another 20k or so, as they wished to get to Tai-Jung the next day.  We took a number of pictures of each other, traded addresses and email addresses and I headed off to find a hotel while they continued north.

 

Here is what parking looks like in Taiwan.  There really is no place to park if you have a car so this could be a severe hindrance to everyone eventually having an automobile.

 

My experiences in both China and Taiwan have always been wonderful.  One of the main questions I receive from people, as I related experiences or talk of traveling to Asia, is health related.  Many people are primarily concerned about health risks and how to minimize the possibility of becoming ill.  The recent SARS situation has heightened this concern.  There has been some progress in general precautionary attitudes mostly in Taiwan as it is much more advanced, economically and educationally, than the PRC (People’s Republic of China).  Both countries did away with the wooden or even plastic reusable chop sticks.  Certainly the reusable wooden utensils were a great hazard as the wood was porous and the water that they were washed in was questionable at best.  Years ago we always carried our own plastic chopsticks to ensure how they had been cared for.  Today both countries rely on packaged, disposable chopsticks.  These are found at every restaurant that I have been to for the last five years at least.  There is still a concern in Taiwan at smaller restaurants and food stalls about the manner which spoons, plates and bowels are cleaned.  Often you can see them being washed in water that looks like it has been used to wash dishes in for the last few days.   I do not drink the tap water in Taiwan until it has been boiled.  Most hotels have dispensers that produce drinkable hot and cold water.  This was very convenient for filling water bottles at the beginning of each day.   Traveling in the PRC I only drink bottled water or other commercial drinks.

 

The preparation of food, the handling of it in while it sits waiting for buyers and the serving of all types of food has been a concern for any westerner that has visited Asia and seen food, even meat, sitting for hours without refrigeration.  Visit most any market in Taiwan or the PRC and you will find raw meet of many varieties lying on tables as flies buzz over and around.  The shopkeeper may stand over his commodities waving them off or there may be a strip of string of cloth attached to an arm of a small electric motor that rotates at about 120rpm’s.  Still, the thought of meat sitting in the open in the high temperatures of a tropical or sub-tropical summer does not stimulate the western palate.  I was at a small restaurant near the end of my trip and I ordered some noodles with a side dish of some spicy chicken strips.  As is the case in most all restaurants whether large or small, the food preparers do not wear any  kind of plastic gloves nor is there any sign of them washing on a regular basis.  The person that was preparing my dinner looked like she was the mother of the proprietor just filling in where ever she could.  All was well in dishing up the noodles as they are only handled by chopsticks but when it came time to cook and prepare the chicken things were different.  There is no obvious health department that visits restaurants and ascertains their cleanliness.  There does not appear to be any standard rules for food storage, preparation or serving.  Some proprietors seem to be more conscientious of disease and take precautions that are taken for granted in developed countries but are just now being employed in Asia.  Certainly larger restaurants are taking the time to ensure a higher degree of cleanliness for all aspects of their business but most small shops have yet to understand the importance and consequently pay little attention to precautionary measures.  Some are trying though.  This restaurant that I was patronizing, for instance, with the proprietor’s mother preparing my chicken at first used tongs to select pieces of the meat and to carry it to the stove.  She obviously was not use to the tongs as she had some difficulty operating them and getting the chicken where she wanted it.  As she cooked the chicken she would turn it occasionally but not without some difficulty grasping it and getting it to the area of the pan that she desired.  When she thought I wasn’t looking she reached back into the container holding the remaining uncooked pieces of chicken and grabbed one with her bare hand and slapped it into the frying pan. Perhaps the SARS situation will continue to accelerate the progress in both countries towards disease prevention through better hygienic practices. 

 

Both countries are plagued with the effects of both air and water pollution.  Years ago when I first visited Beijing you could see for many miles.  Our last trip in 2001 found that one could not see past about half of the length of the Forbidden City, which is about 1/2 mile.  Taiwan certainly has its share of air pollution but not nearly as bad as some areas of the PRC.  Taiwan is a small island and consequently rivers and streams are not very long.  The industrial and economical progress made by both countries has been at the expense of much of the environment.  Practically every body of water on Taiwan, except for those in large parks or high in the mountains, has been abused to excess.  Any river or stream running through populated areas are so polluted that they often have a grayish tint to them.  There is often sludge floating in them and the banks are lined with garbage

 

 

Saturday 7/19 I rode from Yuanlin to Taizhung, which is only about 40 K.  I stayed away from large cities on my trip and this was the only large metropolitan area that I would ride through.  Suzie had gotten somewhat interested in bicycle traveling as I was preparing for the Taiwan trip and did some research at the local library on books about bicycle touring.  She found an interesting book written by a young Chinese woman from Taiwan that did the same trip that I was on and then flew to Anchorage Alaska and rode from there to San Diego California.  She has subsequently cycled much of Europe and North Africa as well as Australia.  He name is Vicky Lin.   Suzie emailed Vicky about my trip before we departed and this began a friendship that was solidified once I arrived in Taizhong.  I was going to Taizhong specifically to meet her in person and learn more of her travels by bike.  There is camaraderie among bicycle touring people.  I enjoy meeting others touring whenever I come across someone riding a loaded bike. 

Meeting Vicky and Pinky after hearing Suzie speak of Vicky's book was a real pleasure.  Vicky is a wonderful person and a real adventursome person.  She spent the entire day with us and was generous beyond belief.  (from L to R - Tai-Ling, Suzie, Robert, Suzie’s brother A-Li, his wife XXXXX, Pinky, Vicky and the owner of the restaurant)

I had been to Taizhong a few times in the past and thought I would be able to get my bearings and find the large department store that Vicky had told me was a good place for me to meet her.  I rode into the city and had a very difficult time finding any street that was on my map.  After speaking with several people and not getting closer to my objective I called Vicky and she came on her bike and met me where I was which happened to be not too far from her home.  She took me to a wonderful restaurant that is like an oasis in the desert.  The restaurant is what I call Japanese architecture but Vicky insisted that it was Chinese architecture.  I have been in many Japanese buildings, those with sliding doors from room to room, tatami mats, paper covered window pains, tiled roof, gardens all around, and even a fish pond in the middle of the structure and this beautiful and quaint establishment was exactly that and did not resemble any Chinese building I had ever entered.  The entire building was built with such attention to serenity and peacefulness that it was a great pleasure to walk through it and to be seated anywhere.  The building is surrounded by large trees and inside it is totally absent of the commotion that exists on the streets just a few feet from the front door.    Suzie’s aunt had a Buddhist temple in Xinju that was much simpler than this restaurant but has the same feel.  It was constructed by the Japanese during their occupation of Taiwan prior to World War II.  I always enjoyed visiting A-Go (father’s sister in Taiwanese).  Vicky told me that the style of architecture is actually Chinese from long ago and the reason the Japanese style is similar is that they have taken the style from the Chinese.  Regardless of the name on the type of building the experience of spending half the day there with great company was most memorable.  Later in the day, after we had lunch in one room and then moved to another room, Suzie and Tai-Ling arrive.  They were on their way back from Taidong.  It was great to see them again and we called Suzie’s brother who lives with his family nearby.  Suzie’s brother, A-li and his wife showed up and we had a wonderful time sitting on a small veranda overlooking the fish pond.  Vicky introduced me to the restaurant owner and then presented me with a Taiwan flag signed by the staff and Vicky and her friend Pinky, who has accompanied Vicky on some of her cycling adventures.  All in all it was a great day but it was getting late and I need to put in a few more kilometers in order to make it to church the next morning back in Junan, my trip starting point.

I

It was about 70 kilometers to home and too far to make it there by 8:30am the next day.  Vicky rode with me to the edge of the city and then we said our goodbyes and I started off.  Immediately there was a long climb up a hill before the Straits of Taiwan were visible again and I experienced one of the longest downhill rides of the trip.  There was a considerable amount of traffic as it was now early evening.  I received a number of strange looks as I flew down the long incline passing many motorcycles and their passengers.  Once I got to the bottom and after taking a short wrong turn I was back on a rode headed north to my destination for the day, Dajia.  Still 15 or more kilometers form the hotel for the night the sun set and I was forced to ride in fading light and finally in darkness.  I was thankful for the taillight that I had brought with me.  Thirty minutes out of Dajia it began to rain and I experienced some incredibly refreshing blasts of cool wind as the thunder shower passed by.  There were times when the air must have been 20 degrees or so colder than the normal air temperature.  I almost started to get chilled.  I continued to ride on and the shower began to dissipate and the cool winds dissolved but left me with large rain drops falling and a refreshing drenching.

 

I pulled into Dajia at about 7:45pm in the blackness of night and a light drizzle.  I didn’t care about the rain but I was concerned about riding at night.  I was pretty tired by this time and I asked the first person that I could, where there might be a lu-she.  He said and indicated that there was one just up ahead and that I couldn’t miss it.  I went a block or so without seeing any sign that had the characters for hotel or B & B.  I asked the next person I found where one might be.  He indicated just right up the street, can’t miss it.  I went another block, still nothing.  I asked the next person I came to and he again indicated just up ahead.  I was getting frustrated and was in dire need of food and drink.  Everyone says it is just up ahead but I don’t see anything that resembles a hotel.  Finally, I ask the next person to actually point it out.  He walked with me for another block and we found it.  I thanked him for his trouble and he departed and I checked in.

 

I got out of my wet cloths, showered and then headed out into the night in search of dinner.  The hotel owner told me there were many places to eat just up the road so I headed in the direction that she indicated.  I walked for a number of blocks without seeing anything that looked appealing.  I circled around a couple other blocks and finally settled for a papaya milk drink to hold me over until I could find a suitable restaurant.  The drink was quite refreshing and I savored it as resumed my search.  I finally settled on a small restaurant that specialized in noodle dishes.  I ordered and had my fill of the house special and a couple of dishes to go with the noodles.  When I left the hotel I walked north and then turned west.  At the point where I turned west I could hear Taiwanese music playing just to the north of my position, perhaps another two or three blocks.  I was so hungry that I had to find food first even though the music was quite inviting.

 

I left the restaurant and headed directly to where the music had been playing.  Before I got to the location I could again hear the music as it was quite loud but very interesting.  I arrived on site to find a traditional Chinese drummer with a tom-tom and a few cymbals, a middle aged man playing an electric guitar and  an organ player playing a Yamaha electric keyboard.  The guitar and keyboard both played similar melodies but the melody was so long and did not repeat often enough for me to catch on to it.  I was amazed that they were able to stay together on it. 

 

The music being produced by these three musicians was very entertaining but the most interesting portion of the music wash nine ladies dressed in pseudo-monk clothing.  These ladies would take turns being the lead singer while the others provided backup vocals.  The songs they sang went on and on but were of such beauty and so exotic that I was mesmerized by the entire show.  I asked a local what the occasion was for the playing of the music but was unable to understand the answer.  What I did learn was that they had been playing and singing since 3pm.  It was now after 9pm.  I ran back to the hotel to get my camera and arrived back for the last few minutes of the last song.  I really enjoyed the performance.  It was the most enjoyable music I had heard on the entire trip.

 

Wonderful music was produced by this group of musicians and singers.  They had been singing for six hours when I got there.

Sunday 7/20 -  I was up and on the bike at 6am so that I could make it to Junan and our church meeting at 9am.  The road was uneventful, the weather the same as it had been for nearly all the trip, hot and humid.  I rode into town just before 9am.  Suzie called me on the cell phone and I was able to fish it out of my front left pannier without stopping.  I told her I had just arrived and would be at the house in two minutes.  She had to get to church as it was almost start time.  I told her I would catch up in a bit.

 

I actually did not want to arrive in Junan.  I did not want the trip to end.  I didn’t follow the shortest route home.  I took a road that would lead me downtown first instead of the road that would have taken me directly home.  It added a few kilometers onto the trip and postponed the end a while longer.  Before I began the trip, even before I arrived in Taiwan, one of my brother-in-laws, one that is quite well to do, offered to loan me a car or motorcycle to tour the island.  He said that I would be much more comfortable driving a motor vehicle than riding a bike.  He said it was too hot and too far to ride.  He said I should take his offer to drive. 

 

When most Taiwanese travel they enjoy big cities mostly.  They love going where there are large crowds of people and mingling with them.  A number of years ago the same brother-in-law that was offering me a car or motorcycle, came to visit us in Alaska.  We took him to do many of the notable activities that Alaska is famous for.  We drove him to Denali National Park and other scenic locations.  I flew him out fishing and gun shooting.  We stopped by our cabin in the bush.  He was not impressed with any of it.  His comments were “Oh, everything is so far away.  Even to go to the store you have drive a long way.  And if you want to go sight-seeing you have drive for many, many hours.  And why would you want a small home out in the middle of nowhere with no running water and no bathroom when you have all these comforts in town?”  He just could not understand that for us, getting away from technology, congestion, and the city is refreshing.  For him and those in his country, they have not gotten their fill of the hustle and bustle of life in the city yet.  They are just beginning their life as an industrialized nation.

 

So it was with the offer for a car and the opportunity to drive around Taiwan.  He thought it was the destination that was the goal.  It is not the destination but the process of getting there that is the experience.  It is the meeting of the people, conversing with them and getting to know them.  It is the smell of burning break shoes on steep hills, the smell of foliage as you pass through a rain forest.  It is the taste of an ice cold papaya drink and the end of a 65 mile day in 100 degree heat.  It is the experience of being in a foreign country with everything you need on your bike.  It is the love of being close to it all as you can never do with any other form of transportation.  Moving from place to place under your own power gives you a unique perspective.   It is the experience of coming into contact with the local people that are fascinated with the idea of riding a bicycle around the country but they will never materialize the idea into action in their own life.

 

I had a wonderful experience circumnavigating the Island of Taiwan and would do it again.  It was everything I hoped it would be and more.  It certainly gave me the opportunity to practice my language skills as I met many wonderful people.  The trip was also a great adventure.  Each day was new, each kilometer held new vistas and new friends.  And it was certainly a challenge with the three “H’s” – heat, humidity and hills.

 

I wanted to know if this form of travel really held any interest for me.  I actually wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it at all.  In fact I did enjoy it and now wish to do some significant cycle traveling as soon as circumstances permit.  But this time I want to experience it with my lovely wife, Suzie.