Might have gone too cheap on tonight's accommodation. The host is friendly and speaks good broken English but the room feels very damp. Fulong is a surfing and summer beach holiday location and it's currently mid winter. I think I'm the only guest.
My "Japanese" style room with a small attached bathroom.
There was a slight issue at Hualein Railway Station. The woman at the ticket gate was conveying to me that the combination bike and trailer were too long. I walked away rather than argue by sign language that I'd travelled on the train from Taipei to Hualein 13 day earlier without a problem.
Upon returning to the gate 50 minutes later there had been a change of staff and I was waved through. The departure board showed my train leaving from platform 3B but when I reached 3B the train didn't look right. I thought the train on 3A might be correct and this was confirmed by a helpful young female Taiwanese traveller whom I showed my tickets to.
I was the only person in the carriage for my entire trip.
The cycling commenced at Suoxin station. It was a 56km ride to my destination of Fulong. All of it along the east coast. A cold and blustery day. Fortunately no rain!
For my reader who isn't already "Temple Exhausted" here are a few more I passed today.
Toucheng is the last city I will pass through before reaching my destination, Taipei. Yes, they are all starting to look the same!
The sea did not look inviting
However I noticed a few hardy souls in the water
Just north of Shihcheng there was an interesting detour.
The railway was realigned in the early 1960's and the old line closed. In 1985 the government reopened part of the old alignment as a bike path. This included the old tunnel. It creates a shortcut from the east coast to Fulong.
A final look at the Pacific before heading NW
The inside of the 2km long tunnel was well lit. More importantly for me; there was a warm breeze inside. Hidden speakers played light Chinese music. Bikes can be hired at either end and it appears to be well patronized.
Fulong is at the western end of the tunnel. I was an hour too early to occupy my booked room so I wandered around the town attempting to keep warm.
54km cycled today. Another 56km tomorrow will see me reach Taipei and the end of my tour around Taiwan.
No comments :
Post a Comment