Liuqiu to Hengchun

Random Robots

We allowed plenty of time for the 9am ferry and the bikes were quickly loaded on board.  Back on the mainland we set off along the coast, past heaps of fish farms.   Jonno cycled with us briefly then made his own way at a much faster speed. There was a bike path along Dapeng Bay National Scenic Area but before long we were back on the main road.  We detoured off on occasion with the sea mostly in view.

The temperature had risen and it was a hot and humid day. We came to a town and looked in vain for somewhere to buy a cold drink.  Nothing was open so we kept going for a few more kilometres before stopping at a 7-11 for a cool drink and a sandwich for a late morning tea.

Along the coast we passed lots of picnickers sitting in the shade along the shore. The beaches did not look appealing for a swim.  We stopped at another town for lunch, and again everything seemed closed.  There was one restaurant that appears to have a few people in it, so we decided to try there.  Turned out it was full with a big cycling group who were cycling round the island in seven days using a mix of trains and cycling.

The leader of the group helped us to order food.  There was no menu, you decided what you wanted from the selection in the fridge and they cooked it for you.  Our new friend helped us to order prawns, fish soup and pork with bamboo before insisting that we have a photo taken with him.

The prawns were good, but there seemed to only be a few small pieces of thinly sliced pork amongst the masses of bamboo, that G described as tasting like the white part of a zucchini.  The fist soup had a few pieces of fish and a lot of bony bits.  It was quite expensive, costing over 700 NTD so definitely not our best value meal to date.

It was a long, hot ride though the occasional sea breeze provided some relief. We past a gathering of random robot statues which seemed quite out of place, and we had no idea why they were there. We finally turned onto some back roads through farmland and picked up the road into Henchun. We passed the South Gate located in the middle of a large roundabout, part of the well preserved city walls.

Jonno was already at the Surfspot Hotel, having had some problems locating it.  The rooms were comfortable with large balconies overlooking green fields.  The perfect place for an afternoon beer and chips before heading into town for dinner.  The Cinema Cafe boasted an enormous collection of DVDs and delicious pasta, though it was a long wait, with each meal being served separately.  The orange fruit drinks went down a treat whilst we waited.

We detoured home via the supermarket to pick up provisions for the next few days as this will be our last big city for a while.

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