Zhiben to Chenggong

Water running upwards

I took advantage of the 7:30am opening to use the hot springs before breakfast.  I was the only person there and the young female staff person seemed to be keeping a close eye on me to make sure I followed all the correct procedures.

There was a full buffet breakfast that spanned three sides of the restaurant.  Despite the temptation to have fries for breakfast, we stuck with eggs, toast and fruit as well as some croissants that heated up nicely with two rounds through the toaster.  Jonno didn’t bother to get out of bed for breakfast.

It was a cool, grey morning, with clouds sitting low over the mountains, but at least the rain had stopped by the time we left a little after 9am.  We headed back to the main road and continued on to Taitung, another bustling Taiwanese city.  There was a triathlon planned for the weekend and we saw lots of tents and signage as well as the swimming lake ready for competitors tomorrow.

It was windy crossing the bridge out of Taitung, and we were cycling directly into it, making for slower progress than we would have liked. There were lots of fighter jets taking off from a nearby military base recognisable by its camouflaged control tower on the nearby hill.  We stopped at Xiaoyeliu, known as “small Yeliu” after its more famous namesake north of Keelung.  We took a quick walk along the array of boardwalks to view the rock formations but given the strong winds, didn’t linger.

A few kilometres further on, we stopped at Jialulan Coastal Park with its driftwood art installations and stunning coastal views.  It was definitely coffee time, and I’d read good reviews of Coconut Cafe, a few kilometres further up the road.  It had a lovely setup that made the most of its coastal location. The coffee was expensive, but pretty good and we also enjoyed some of the recommended cinnamon buns.

Next stop was “Water Running Upward”, a stream that appears to run uphill.  Fortunately it was only a few hundred metres of the road, as it was rather underwhelming but interesting nonetheless to see the perspective that created the illusion that water was flowing uphill.

We had a quick stop at Jinzun Recreation Area with more coastal views then covered the last few kilometres into Donghe where we bought some steamed pork buns for a quick lunch.  We crossed the old bridge on our way out of town with views of huge white boulders in the Mawuku River.  The new bright red bridge was a few hundred metres away,

We passed lots of rice fields and detoured off the main road and along a quiet coastal road for a few kilometres before tackling two final climbs into Chenggong.  We struggled to find our accommodation at the Taitung Crabs House until eventually spotting a sign for the “Hairy Crabs Homestay” which we figured must be the same place. 

We checked in and the host was concerned about the whereabouts of our fourth person.  We reassured him that Jonno was coming, having taken a different route through the mountains. He arrived about an hour after us.

The rooms were large, and we gathered in our room for some tea and snacks, before heading out to a nearby seafood restaurant for dinner.  We initially thought we were the only people there but it turned out there was a group in a private room.  We ordered swordfish, mahi mahi fish and wild boar as well as squid balls and fried rice.  There was heaps of food, though the wild boar had lots of ginger that we tried to avoid.  Another good dinner and a quick walk back to the hotel in the icy wind.  Rest day tomorrow.

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