Oh yea, that cliff needs to be jumped off!
Aside from teaching a lot of elementary school kids random board games in the morning and a handful of English classes in the evening, I have been exploring the mountains near where I live. Constantly finding new roads has been so much fun. Some lead to arterial roads, others a quick short cut around traffic, some end in the middle of a rice patty leaving me the only option of turning around and cycling a couple of kilometers back to try again, and yet others go way out-of-the-way only to end up a kilometer down the road from where I started. At the end of the day though, Taiwan continues to surprise me.
I honestly believe that unless you cycle (or ride motorcycles for fun) it is difficult to explain what make a road good or bad. Either way, I will try to stop saying the same thing over and over again on my blog and how awesome roads are….
Many people have said that cycling has started to build up here in that past few years. Give it five more and you won’t be able to get on the road. It is only a matter of time before the secret gets out. Taiwan is a cycling paradise. Hands down it’s the best cycling I’ve ever seen. Clustered populations are a quick escape here and within a handful of kilometers your lost in the country. Consider yourself unlucky if you see more than a handful of cars in an hour. Truly amazing.
And to my cycling friends, if you have the opportunity, think about taking a week to visit and explore with me – seriously. In a few years these roads won’t exist anymore; at least sans traffic and congestion.
It’s the only place I’ve ever seen to encompass every type of cycling within 20-30 kilometers of an area. Long mountain climbs, steep winding descents, flat country roads, rolling roads through rice patties and valleys, beach roads, networks of trails and clearly marked arterial roads low on traffic.
The past few weekends have been spent between Taipei and going to a park on the shoreline north of Taipei. Yeliu Park is home to awkward rock formations caused by centuries of wind and sea abuse. After viewing some of the highlights, such as Queen’s Head and Fairy’s Shoe, we walked around the back side of the park on what looked to be the surface of another planet.
Paul and I in front of the space rocks
A walk along Mars
JUMP!
Splashdown
Chilling during a hot afternoon
Once on the back side, away from the plethora of no swimming signs, we decided to take a dip. A little cliff jumping ensued. A few of us swam, while the others decided to stay dry. Afterwards, we hiked to the top of the small peak and then back down through the park.
The past few weekends have been a ton of fun and we are still searching for new adventures for small day trips on the few Sunday’s that we have off. In the past week or so I have secured some additional time off and places for adventures in the upcoming months.
Next month I will be participating in one of the world’s largest mass-swims across Sun Moon Lake. People are only allowed to swim in the gorgeous lake one day a year. It is a 3 kilometer swim. Sweet mercy its going to be a long one.
A week or so later we have a three-day weekend for the Moon Festival. A group of us are planning a trip to Orchid Island, a small aboriginal island off the southeastern coast of Taiwan. The plans aren’t for sure yet, but I’m hoping for it. Should be an awesome little trip!
In October, I was able to secure two weeks off work to cycle around Taiwan. It will be my first solo cycling trip. I’m a little nervous about it, especially since the east side of the island speaks almost no English and in some areas, no Chinese.
I have been working on planning a route, but half of the fun is exploring roads that look ideal at the time. I am unsure as to where I will be staying at night as of right now and am hoping to soon lock down some places early on in the trip. I have been looking into couch-surfing. Anyone know first-hand how this is? If not it’s a cool idea. Check out the website if you’ve never heard of it.
Once that is completed I will have a week or so of normal life and then back to the east side to Taroko Gorge. It is probably one of the most beautiful places in Taiwan, at least that’s what everyone says. On November 5th, I will be running the Taroko Gorge Half Marathon. Can’t wait to do another race; it’s been too long. Hoping to use this as a launch pad for a solid marathon at the beginning of the year.
So yea, that’s what’s been and will be happening with me. Hope to have a camera soon so I can continue to share the epic views of Taiwan. Much love!