All articles filed in Hualien

Waking up to the sound of rain on the roof is never a great omen on a cycling tour, and was even less so for me as guide since I knew that the first half of the day would be filled with winding mountain roads. But the group was in good spirits nonetheless as we rolled down the hill from Ruisui heights, rain gear flapping wetly as we rode. The rain slowed to a drizzle around the time we reached the bottom of a road which, for my money, is one of the finest in Taiwan: Route 64, AKA Monkey Mountain Road.

Although I’d only known Brandon and Emily for an hour (including time taken to adjust their bicycles), I felt like I was riding with old friends. A line in Emily’s final tour confirmation email had tipped me off to the fact that this would be an interesting tour.

Route 11 stretches like a lazy python along Taiwan’s eastern coast. From north to south it’s roughly 300 miles of  small towns, sheer-drop cliffs, dynamite-blasted tunnels, and many spectacular (and eminently surf-able) riptide heavy beaches.  It’s a road for drivers with strong stomachs who are in no particularly hurry. Leaving Hualien early, we ride beneath watery skies, passing a series of strange statues from Chinese mythology in a parking lot overlooking the beach. At the far edge of the lot a group of travelers giggle and take pictures of something beyond the railing. It is a bare-chested mermaid sitting on a rock next to an arch bridge, wearing a Hawaiian lei.