Day 06

10km along Highway 9 past Suao to Auhua (Haenben)

Neil wakes me up unceremoniously to order me to an internet cafe to catch up on the blog. I jump out of bed and slip on the floor, which is coated in a film of something which could be either condensation or seven people’s sweat, and everyone is treated to being awakened by a stream of bad language as I nurse my stubbed toe. Tim, Wes, Maggie and Chris head off for home and Neil, Kevin and I return to the mountain top and last night’s finish line. Congratulations to Tim and Wes, who as well as showing sheer determination in finishing yesterday provided a huge amount of laughs for everyone.

Neil was rewarded yesterday’s hard work with a great 5km downhill start to the day. From the bottom to the top and the top to the bottom. Some may think it has the ring of pointlessness, but they didn’t see the views. Highway 9, a coast-hugging, mountainous, winding stretch of road leading to Hualien, is renowned for the hair-raising sights and insane driving one encounters, but the beautiful scenery of the route makes it one worth braving. The traffic north is heavy. Car after car, punctuated by some ridiculously risky overtaking (a lorry passing a bus on a blind bend just seconds before a second bus came around the corner is the craziest so far).

I leave Kevin to run with Neil. He is wisely orchestrating joining him on the downhill stretches only. I take my bike on a detour down to the beach. The dirt track leading there is about 500 metres and bumpy as hell. With the beach in sight, I see a small house and stop to take a picture. At this moment, two dogs begin to bark and run towards me. They are vicious little blighters and I’m scared, manoeuvring my bike 180 degrees as quickly as I can. The dogs have caught me up and are yapping wildly at my ankles. I drive away but they give chase. I feel I may be mauled to death by these mentalist canines. In order to save my own life, I risk that of my scooter, and accelerate over the rocky terrain, and I’m approaching 40km per hour before they give up on eating me alive, and I escape, only just, unscathed. Neil has experienced similar incidents with these crazed country mutts. On foot, his tactic for escape is to stop, look them in the eye and shout, “Bah!” And this is why cats are better than dogs.

Neil and the Shireman arrive. Kevin claims he feels “rubbery”. This must be what it feels like to run down a mountain. Neil explains that though easier than running uphill, one’s legs must be constantly bracing against gravity to avoid spinning off down the mountain, cartoon-style, legs whizzing like a Catherine Wheel at 50km per hour.

The weather is beautiful and waiting is hot work, let alone running. But the winding roads are spectacular and the lush, green mountains are teeming with hundreds of varieties of trees and flora. Butterflies flitter about the long grasses and aside from the noise of the traffic and plentiful shouts of “Hello!” all is very peaceful. Cyclists ride by beneath the shade of the trees and small waterfalls and tiny villages are sprinkled along the way. Neil tells us he was stopped earlier by a couple who give their bottle of water, and then by an old woman who emerges from her isolated mountain shack to give him a jug of water to pour over his head and cool momentarily from the heat. As we go south, the people seem to be friendlier, as oftentimes occurs when one ventures out of the city. Unfortunately, one cannot say the same for the dogs.

Kevin runs again with Neil in preparation for a full marathon in this coming week. As the sun begins to retreat the ocean to our left lightens and glows pink, stretching off like a rippling sheet of silk before melting into the sky. To the right, the mountains darkened and, in the distance, the hills still to travel decrease in detail, each one less distinguished than the one before, until the furthest one away is nothing more than a charcoal silhouette. To think that Neil will soon be running through those far-off painted shadows is staggering to me. (And I hope this adjective will not return any time soon as a description for him.)