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Haikou to Jiadong.

The day began in a relaxed fashion, watching rain fall in Kending where we’d returned one last time after yesterday’s adventures. The woman at our hotel, a round and ever-happy Taiwanese woman, was delighted to see us again and we even got upgraded to a room bigger than the cupboard we had stayed in previously. After a leisurely lunch we head back to Haikou. This turned out to be no small task as the wind that day was so strong that even with two people on a motorbike it felt a take off may be unavoidable. Passing through the towns, we saw that the south-western coast is to onions what the south-eastern coast was to custard apples. Countless shacks along the highway sell pink, brown, red and white onions in differing sizes. I realised why my tomato salad was 95% onion at lunchtime. The fierce wind blew onion skins from the seller’s stalls, the fields and the large piles of onions at the roadside, onto and across the highway. Driving through, the peels danced comically around us as though they were autumnal leaves.

Neil starts to run and finds the elements are up for a fight. Battling against the wind (apparently there was a typhoon in the Philippines), he is blown back through the air with each strong gust, much to the mirth of passing (more…)

Jiopen to Kending.

Waking in Kending meant we had the luxuries of internet use and western food. A coffee or two and Sub sandwiches are a welcome addition to our stomachs. Kending is it’s usual vibrant self. The holiday Mecca of Taiwan, it has the feel of Thailand (sans Ladyboys), and people love to come here to soak up the sun, rent scooters, browse the bright night street market and laze outside the busy bars.

We head back to yesterday’s finish line on the 200 near Jiopen. Neil is a little concerned about a quad strain he suffered yesterday and starting on the rapidly falling downhill slope may not prove comfortable today. But at 6km it’s not his quad but his hamstring that is causing pain. I complain about the amount of bugs bugging me and later realise my tiny complaints are not justifiably comparable to his and the scale of the obstacles he faces each day. Neil’s fed up of (more…)

5km past Daren on Highway 9 to Jiopen.

Having bought a more detailed map of the area, (albeit in Chinese), we attempt to figure out how we can stick to the coast when there is seemingly no road for tens of kilometres. We eat a good lunch and take a daylit scout down “Highway” 26. It proves that the road is certainly in the process of being built but is, as yet, nowhere near finished. After a few kilometres, only a dirt track stretches out in front of us. According to the map, this will soon lead us to a river and then, inconveniently, disappear.

So the mountain route it is. In daylight it’s far better and the cooler temperatures of this altitude make uphill running a little easier for Neil. At Shouka, we think we can leave Highway 9 and take a district road (199) back out to the coast, meeting then again with Highway 26 (the part that has, we hope, already been built). Neil is as ready as ever to take on a mountain. Of course, he would have preferred to stay on the flat coastal route, but as he says, “If I have to go inland, I’ll go inland”. (more…)

18km past Tamaili to 4km past Daren on

Highway 9

The price of a great night out with our friends we expected to be steep and prepared to encounter a dog of day featuring short tempers and fiery snapping. The 9.30 train from Taipei arrived in Taitung at 14.00 and, apart from first losing my phone at Taipei Main Station and then, luckily, retrieving it from Lost Property followed by falling asleep on the train and waking to find my phone had vanished into oblivion (this time for good), the day had gone smoothly.

We fetch the bike from the Airport and head back down the eastern coast to begin the day. Surprisingly, Neil’s running very fast, feeling light and spurred on by thought of a good night’s sleep. He tells me he’s going so fast because I (jokingly, for the record) reminded him his PB is 3.14 so why doesn’t he just ‘leg it’ today. So, ‘legging it’ he is. (more…)