Saturday 9 November 2024

We left the Homestay/Air Bnb at about 7:30 a.m. there were a couple of breakfast places in Fangliao that we could choose from. The first one was Café 85, a good bakery and coffee shop. However, this one had nothing but cakes and good coffee. We need more than cakes for breakfast, although Ralf would argue that he could live on cakes. We went back to a small corner breakfast place. There didn’t appear to be anywhere to sit, but magically two stools appeared. The owner was really helpful, when we pointed to something he would get the item out of the fridge to show us what was in the sandwich. We ordered two ham and egg breakfast sandwiches, and two coffees. He then gave us a serving of pork loin and eggs and two small buns that were so soft and tasty I could have eaten more.

The day was off to a good start.  We headed off to the edge of Town and took photos of the Love Fangliao sign.  We knew today was going to be a Cycle Route One day as there were no other options to Kenting. 

Strange things you see when you take the back streets. A fisherman with a large tuna about to get on the scooter. It was a statue and the scooter just happened to be in the way.

Prior to getting on Highway 1, google took us through a cemetery. I have no idea why.

We joined Highway 1 and headed south. The road was a little noisy and busy until the Highway 9 exit across the mountains. We continued following Cycle Route 1-20. However, with the wide shoulder for cyclists and scooters I felt safe. 

What a difference a day makes. We are away from the stench of pollution from the industrial north-west and into the coastal area of the south. We could see the ocean most of the day, the hills were small and rolling and the wind was from every direction (but Ralf was in front), life is good.

Sites we see along the way. A Father Christmas (Santa Claus) temple, Yul Brynner and a happy buddha.

As we cycled along, we noticed a few farm stands with black moustaches advertising. We recognized these as the nut the lady had given us in the mountains of Shizhou. We stopped and picked the smallest bag. The lady was very happy.

We arrived in Kenting early around 12:30, check-in was at 3:00 again. We decided to investigate this small seaside area and have lunch. Cheese toastie and chips, it was good. We then headed to the hotel and asked if we could have an early check-in. Unfortunately, as it was only 1:30 the room wasn’t ready, but they very kindly allowed us to sit in the air-conditioned lobby and gave us a cold drink. At 2:00 the room was ready and after showering, we planned our route for the next two days.

Tomorrow we are heading to the southernmost point of Taiwan. We have asked at reception if we can leave our bags while we play the tourist at Cape Eloundi. We will cycle about 18 kms there (Cape Eloundi) and back to Kenting, then pick up our panniers and head back up the coast to Checheng, another 20 kms. This is where we cross the island to the east coast. The plan was to do the Lighthouse and Cape Eloundi and cycle up the coast to Dawu, which would have been 85 kms and a climb of 1,080 metres. Ralf suggested we split it into two days. That will give us more time to be tourists and not worry so much about the climb looming at the middle of the day. Then we can tackle the climb on fresh legs and earlier in the day!!

After doing our route planning we headed out for dinner. There was a night market, but I had decided on a Thai restaurant that advertised vegetarian service. Ralf had a Thai Chicken curry and it looked really good, we had spring rolls, and I had a pineapple vegetable fried rice, with a couple of beer. It was the most expensive meal so far on the trip at $38.00, but well worth the price. Things are a little more expensive in a holiday resort town. However, we really enjoyed our dinner and the walk around the night market.

Some of the food available at the night market: Fried swirly potatoes with battered sausage, steamed prawns, sausage and other pork and donuts and sweet stuff.