Kenny eating dinner
The next morning we resumed our trek up the east coast towards Taitung. The scenery was remarkable, but to be honest the road was a bit narrow in places. On the four long climbs we had to get over it was a bit freaky. There was not a lot of gap between us and the tour buses and trucks. Of course, as always they did their best to give us some room. But I sure felt exposed. Each of the four climbs were around 3-4 or more kms long and meant climbing 100 or so metres. It doesn't sound like much but the headwinds (did I mention we had a 25-30 km headwind) and the feeling of being exposed made it seem harder than it was. But the scenery from the top of each climb was worth the toil. Here's some pictures at various points along the coast.
Coastal views
At the top of one climb- this lady had a motor scooter as support. Great idea!
The railway line
Me riding through the tunnel
It took us around 40 kms to get through the hills. As always Kenny took off when a large hill presented itself and waited for me at the top or at the bottom of the climb after the descent. On one drop he told me he tried getting over 60 kms an hour but the wind pushing on the panniers wouldn't let him. I descended more sedately at 40 kms an hour tucked in behind a tour bus.
We stopped at a 7-Eleven about 15 kms out of Taidong for a light lunch. It was only 1 PM and we did not want to arrive before 3 PM. So we dawdled for about an hour surfing the free wifi each 7-Eleven has. The ride into Taitung was pretty uneventful. It's a very pretty ride and I did intend to take some photos of the rice paddies that line the road. But before we knew it we were in the city. We then set about trying to find our hotel, which took us some time because the location on google maps was a bit out. Luckily Kenny used another map system to locate it.
The scenery today was absolutely stunning. The east coast is certainly the pick of Taiwan. It is so different from the bustle of the west coast. You sure get the feeling of isolation over here, with. One road (highway 9) and one railway line connecting them to the rest of the nation.
Along the east coast school children call out encouragement and in one town there wee policemen running a radar speed trap and they also started calling out encouragement. A lage number of police stations actually run bike stations where they provide,water, track pump and other help. You have to love Taiwan!!!
After we got in we had a bit of a snooze and then went out in search of dinner. Kenny has taken a liking to night markets so he quickly found out the the Taitung night markets were within a kilometre of our hotel. So at about 6.30 PM we wandered down for dinner. The night markets are an incredible experience. Often situated near university campuses and they cater for students and families. The Taidong night markets are much more relaxed than in Taichung or Kaohsiung. They had a nice feel about them. And you can eat incredibly cheaply. Kenny of course found his smelly tofu. I had noodles and fruit juice. And these custard tarts.
That's it for today. We rode 63 kms at an average of only 17.9 kms per hour. My stomach is still giving me grief and one of the side effects is that I find it hard to sit on a bicycle seat. I won't go into the details. I am also finding it hard to eat food during the day. At nights after a few hours off the bike it's a bit better. So tonight and tomorrow morning we will need to reasses our plans. We can continue to keep riding to Hualien or catch the train. Kenny is in favour of the train option because that gives him the chance of hiring a motor scooter. I prefer to ride but I am struggling with this 'bug'. So he may get his wish.
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