Tag Taiwan
A couple of Taiwan’s major country roads (road number marked by a blue shield) go through the mountains. Last year, Renegade Wife and I rode across the island on one of them, number 14 – often referred to as the Central Cross-Island Highway – and despite some rather miserable weather, it was a fun little adventure. There are a few more that look very tempting to a motorcyclist studying a map of the country and as it happens, they are connected in a big loop. With Tomb Sweeping day extending the weekend to four days, and the weather finally becoming … Read the rest
The road follows a mountain ridge, not far from the top, dipping and curving with the contours of the mountains. We are just past the peak, descending into the valley. Though the slope is gentle, it’s enough to keep us rolling, and despite the thin air, I no longer need to fight to keep the bike moving. As the road straightens out a bit, I dare cast a glance to the left and the whole landscape opens up. Beyond the barrier at the edge of the road, the mountain side slopes steeply downwards to the valley below, then rises skywards … Read the rest
It’s as if the road has been glued to the mountain side, a narrow strip of asphalt winding its way upwards along the steep slopes. To the right, a low barrier that keeps motorists from careening over the edge and beyond that the ground falls away sharply. The road follows the curve of the river below, the clear blue water cutting a perfect U through the pine clad landscape, and the banks strewn with grey boulders. It’s a picture perfect landscape, almost like driving through a Bob Ross painting.… Read the rest
The sky, clear now after a cloudy afternoon, is absolutely full of stars, the three in Orion’ s belt outshining everything else in the vicinity. The waves come rolling in to the beach just a few meters away, the black water crashing down on the dark sand with a loud booming sound that fills the air. I put my arm around my wife, feel the warmth of her body against mine as she leans on my shoulder, and just enjoy the moment. … Read the rest
The water is cold for a tropical island, just a few degrees above what’s acceptable for swimming. Big waves go rolling over the underwater cliffs, pushing me towards land with slow, deliberate force. The water is murky with sand stirred up by the waves, I can only see a few feet in front of me but that’s enough to explore the underwater cliff formations. The cliff below me is covered in a kelp forest, the long brownish green stems look like miniature firr trees that billow in the wind in an almost hypnotic fashion as the waves move them back … Read the rest
I’m armoured against the weather, warm jacket, rain jacket, rain pants with little built in shoe covers, helmet, and mountaineering gloves. Despite all that I know this is going to be hell, it is cold like it can only be in tropical weather, when normally comfortable temperatures chill you to the bone; and the rain is coming down hard. There is a kind of duality to this; the reports about low water levels in the nation’s reservoirs that I saw in the paper a few days ago had me worried so this is a good thing, but did the government … Read the rest
A typhoon is approaching, it was raining cats and dogs earlier but by now it has calmed down and it’s no longer so bad that it’s an excuse for shirking my exercise routine. The foul weather is keeping all the other schmucks indoors so at least there aren’t any onlookers or stragglers, but I was hoping it would be windy enough to keep me cool; I was wrong, thanks to my Swedish genome I am sweating in the rain. I swat at the dripping leaves as I run by, hoping the spray will cool me off but to no avail, … Read the rest
Today we continued our sightseeing in Tainan county, starting with Zengwen reservoir, a large man-made lake that provides irrigation for the Chianan plain (one of Taiwan’s most productive agricultural regions). We came up the river valley and our first view of the reservoir was the big dam with floodgates open and water flowing out. Luckily there was a viewing platform nearby and we stopped to snap a few pictures.
We made a quick stop at the top of the dam before continuing on to the main tourist site, a … Read the rest
It is Moon Festival in Taiwan which means we have five days off. Except for going back to Erlin to celebrate with Yini’s family, we planned to go out to the coast for a few days. However, the weather gods didn’t seem to like our plans because they sent not one, but two typhoons our way. The first one caused floods and lots of chaos down in the south and east parts of the island but Erlin, which is in the middle, was fine and we had two nice days with the family, barbecuing and shooting fireworks in the evening. The second … Read the rest
Today was the day we did the actaul crossing. When we woke up this morning it was raining but by the time we left the hotel it had cleared up. We rode out of Tianxiang, and while the landscape was plenty dramatic I was so happy to be on the road we didn’t really stop to take photos.
Riding a motorcycle on a road like this is a powerful experience. You feel like you are one with the machine and that you and the bike are one with nature. There is only the … Read the rest