Day 25

Lugang to Dajia.

Starting at 3pm, we hope it’s an early enough start to catch the train to Hsinchu tonight. The Hsinchu Marathon has been a source of great excitement for runner and lazybones alike, and is scheduled for tomorrow. It’s been organised meticulously by Alex and Steve and we hear there’ll be lots of runners and friends taking part. Luckily, we’re not too far behind schedule, but we certainly would rather take the train than ride the motorbike all the way there. Leaving Lugang, the road splits and we ponder whether to take the 61 or the 17. The hundreds of thundering trucks on the 17 seems reason enough to take the other. But road 61 is possibly the ugliest I’ve ever seen in my life. The elevated expressway roars ominously from above, towering down from massive concrete pillars and overshadowing the motorcycle route we are on below. The road’s lined with truck tyre shops, mechanics and the compulsory sprinkling of betel nut stores, the girls in raunchier outfits than usual and the only bit of ‘glamour’ along this polluted, industrialised stretch of hell road. But, it’s flat and even and Neil’s making great progress.

With the iPod uncharged today, Neil’s mind is springing into action and his philosophical mood is taking him on a mental journey thats theme seems to revolve around the nature/nurture arguments. Every six kilometres he updates me with his theorizing and insists I give my opinion so he can mull that over during the next part of his run. Later, we meet some drunk but harmless Taiwanese who are very concerned about why I’m sat on my own in the dark. I try to explain that it’s only 8.00 and, in fact, I’m glad the darkness has erased the monstrous view, but to little avail. When Neil arrives, one of the gentlemen seems genuinely impressed and donates 200NT. The other doesn’t seem to grasp the concept at all. He’s flabbergasted and in disbelief. Neil reckons he thinks the whole thing is preposterous. Good word, I thought.

The finish is smooth and early at 10.30pm. We drive into Yuanli and are fortunate enough to be in plenty of time for the last train to Hsinchu, and we relax on the train with a beer and discuss with great anticipation the excitements that tomorrow holds.