Amoi on Pedals: LTF Spring Ride (14-26 April 2018), Day 11 : Chishang to Taitung

Aqueduct near Ruilong

Breakfast at Chishang

Pan fried vegetable pau

The Marin 4C became the topic of conversations after it made it to Wuling. Yesterday saw Khee Jin and Papa Mike test riding the bike. This morning was Ying Chang's turn. Before the end of the trip, Khass had made an additional 3 sales though we never see Khee Jin, Papa Mike or Siew Ling's nephew riding them!!!!

Acres of paddy fields

Hai Tuan Levee to our left

This morning, after KC had gone through another round of tube patching, we made our way to Taitung. Left behind in Chishang were George and YC who had planned to take the afternoon train back to Kaoshiung.

You can't rush art!

Hai Tuan Levee, ahead

The ride to Taitung passed through peculiar landscapes. At one point, we were riding along Fangxun Road which runs parallel to Beinan River. Hai Tuan levee, built along this river, keeps the water in but helps to irrigate the paddy fields that ran for acres along this area. Along the way, we passed a few pig farms and a silo.

Skimming past Guanshan Waterfront Park, we then crossed Dianguang bridge to ride along the foothills of the Guanshan mountain range. All along, the Beinan River continues to run its course with most of its river bed exposed, revealing a rocky base.

Turning inland, we crossed Baohua bridge. This time, the landscapes took a prettier turn with more greens than greys. Farmlands decked the pretty countryside, made prettier by a red aqueduct, built to irrigate the fields.

However, the farmhouses in the village continue to despair with little thoughts for design. Buildings were in blocks with most walls tiled for easy maintenance and yards fortified with ugly high fences, a common trait all along newer towns and cities.

Stopping for lunch at Ruilong, our palate were again discouraged by the boring Taiwanese dishes of boiled food slapped with generous helpings of sweetened oyster sauce! Everything from chicken to fern to tofu to century eggs began to taste the same!

It didn’t help that our cook is an Indonesian. Married to a Taiwanese with a son in primary school, she had more or less assimilated to the Taiwanese way! What choice, as her customers were the villagers, who has the same discerning taste. Moreover, marketability is more important as she is the sole breadwinner with a husband battling throat cancer!

We had an extended lunch hour in this small village when Siew Ling, on a quest to buy us mangoes, bumped into the next door shopkeeper. Returning with “free’ sugarcane and “paid” mangoes, we were later hauled over to the lady’s shop for tea tasting with an obligation to make a purchase.

After lunch, we embarked on a long climb, circling the foothills of Luye highlands. Fruit traders ply this highland road but with stomachs filled with mangoes and sugar cane, we just gave them a perfunctory nod.

Close to the peak, we took a long break at a convenience store. We were hot and flustered. But after cooling down on ice creams, fruits and coffee we were all ready to free wheel down the mountain, a good 15 km or more, all the way to Taitung!