I waited at the hostel this morning until 7:00 a.m. for our free breakfast, which mostly translated to eggs. There were other Taiwanese offerings, which I tried and did not like.
Alex showed up about the time I mounted my bicycle. He said he’d see me at the next 7-Eleven.
I passed the Tropic of Cancer today, returning to the tropical from the subtropical. I also cycled past another barrel of monkeys.
20 km into today Alex blew past me, startling me by asking where the next 7-Eleven was! I caught up with him at the next 7-Eleven, arriving as he departed. That was the last I saw of him. I wish I still had the power, speed, and knee to keep up with him.
I was glad to see the 7-Eleven, as I had only remnants of food and water at that point. The 7-Elevens are so ubiquitous I’ve stopped paying a lot of attention to where the next one will be. But they’re farther apart on the east coast.
The forecast of rain today meant that I wanted to arrive in Hualien before 3:00 p.m. I was on track for that plan until I hit a 260 m climb (right after a 900 m tunnel!).
Between the heat, my knee, the grade, and just generally not being in the shape I’d like to be in, I walked a significant part of that climb.
The descent took me through five or six back-to-back tunnels that were probably three or four kilometers in total.
I stopped at the 7-Eleven about 15 km outside of Hualien to book my hostel for the next two nights. I could see weather up in the mountains when I arrived in Hualien, but it never made it into the city.
After a shower I wandered out to get an afternoon meal. Then set about exploring. I found the local night market, probably 2 to 3 times larger than any other I’ve found so far. I bought shrimp dumplings to have for breakfast tomorrow, and then ate them all on the way back to the hostel.
I’m taking tomorrow as a rest day. I made a reservation for a whale watching ship.
Alex cycled 20 km further today to stage himself for cycling the Taroko Gorge tomorrow, leaving his gear at the hostel. He’s planning the original stage of what would be climbing to Wuling Pass, but cycling to the elevation of 650 m, instead of the total climb of about 3,000 m.
Then he plans to take a nap.
Just felt my first Taiwanese earthquake. Shook the bed like someone was climbing on it.