An Easier Ride

Taiwan Stage 6 – Zhushan to Chiayi 57 Km (Fri 16 Nov 2018)

Weather: 21⁰C min – 30⁰C max, overcast smoggy

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“Behind every angry woman is a man who has absolutely no idea what he did wrong”

On my way to 7-Eleven for breakfast something felt not quite right with my rear end. Looking back in disbelief I saw that my tyre was flat, the same one that I put a new tube in yesterday. Damn! No drama though because I have two spare tubes and a massive foot pump strapped to my pack rack. All it cost me was 30 minutes of my time.

Every day is different here in Taiwan. No brilliant sunshine today, or Sun Moon Lake, or Rainbow Village, but nevertheless no shortage of interesting sights.

Street markets always interest me and the one I walked my bike through at Douliu was as good as any I have seen. What fascinates me most is the variety of food and the lively, colourful atmosphere. There was even a cute little dog riding a motor scooter who posed for a photo.

For the first half of today’s stage I passed through a string of townships, not as grimy as some on previous days. There was always something new to catch my attention … wall murals featuring cute pandas, a backyard bike repair shop, villagers trying to eke out an existence selling simple wares or produce on footpath stalls, a craftsman making bamboo furniture, a family in their living room open to the street, pots of food brewing in simple street cafes. All wonderful aspects of a different culture for me to absorb and take delight in.

Not long after Douliu my route took me into the country, through paddy fields of rice, papaya fruit trees, pomegranate trees, and green vegetable crops that I couldn’t even identify. But the most amazing thing I saw was a duck farm with literally thousands of free range white ducks (or perhaps more correctly geese).

Chiayi City, where I am staying tonight, is a fairly impressive, modern, city of about 270,000 people, located in the plains of southwestern Taiwan. It is one of two cities in Taiwan (the other being Hualien that I will reach next Friday) where you pass over the Tropic of Cancer. Chiayi has a special park, called Tropic of Cancer Square, containing many interesting features, including Sun Square, Eight Planets Water Playground Section, Time Orbit Section, Green Tunnel, 12 Zodiac Constellations Section, and Chronological Tropic of Cancer Landmarks Display Section.

Dull, grey, smoggy days like today are not conducive to good photography so the photographs are a little disappointing. However, it was another good day of bike touring. Unlike the previous five stages the terrain was flat meaning riding was easy … something that appeals to a creaky old cyclist in their 74th year!