Wednesday, October 28, 2015

A longer than expected good-bye

We were not even sure if we would end up staying in Taipei for a long enough period to do anything but buy our departure tickets, complete some housekeeping tasks and say some quick good-byes.  However, as things played out the time quickly stretched to nearly a week of wandering, eating, getting to know better some of the people we had met previous, meeting even more wonderfully hospitiable people and cementing Taiwan as one of the best places we have had the good fortune of getting to know.
During our month or so spent in Taiwan we pedaled 1250 kms, got lost, viewed sights of uncomparable beauty, made a load of new friends (we hope you take us up on our offer to visit us in the US), learned a lot of history not taught in school, cried (out of happiness),laughed, and simply enjoyed ourselves.  We can not stres enough how strongly we believe everyone with the ability must visit Taiwan at least once in their lives.  

Reasons to visit:
- the food and huang cha (cold tea with sugar)
- the people
- great roads for touring whether you are looking for breathtaking views, picturesque landscapes, culture rich cities or hellacious climbs
- the cost is very manageable, though accomodation can be slightly more pricey when you get into the more touristy locations
-the convenience of everything- water, wifi, bike pumps, food, help if you need it

Reasons to NOT visit:
-none

Seriously folks, get your tickets to Taiwan and pack up your bike NOW!

A welcome return but not so welcome surprise

Taipei night skies

Taking the train the last couple hundred km back into Taipei was more like a homecoming than we ever could have imagined.  The familiar roads seemed so much less chaotic and our host, Mitchell, welcomed us back with cold Taiwan beer and an open ear eargerly awaiting the tale of our time circumnavigating the island.  Likewise, when we visited Tern the following day it felt like the victors returning from a great battle.  Handshakes, smiles and interested faces greeted us all around.  Taiwan has been too good to us.

Mitchell, Lynn, Bruce's arm, a huge bunch of pasta. Mmmm....

We expected to be in Taipei only for 2-3 days before flying out to our next destination.  However, our 'victory lap' quickly ended in 'pit row' when I nooticed that Chiara's bike frame was making some odd sounds when I carried it upstairs to the apartment at which we were staying.  Upon further inspection I found what could have been a catastrophic failure in the hinge that makes our 'folding bikes' fold.  At some point in the past few weeks, unbeknown to us, one of the bolts had broken and but the design was such that the bike had remained in one piece.  After a bit of hemming and hawing we came to the realization that we would not be leaving Taiwan as soon as we had anticipated.  So we settled in and enjoyed the place that we had grown to appreciate, knowing that we could have certainly been in worse places for this type of thing to have happened.

  At the tern offices.  Great folks work here. 
There's cool bikes too. 


We felt a bit strange entering the Tern offices on Monday morning after having aid our farewells the prior week.  The people at Tern, however, could not have treated us better.  We felt like family, apologies for the inconvenience and reassurance that the bike would be fixed ASAP.  And the following day when we returned we found that not only had Chiara's bike been repaired but both bikes had been given a complete tune-up and inspection for the coming legs of our journey.  

We had always been happy with our choice of bikes for this trip but now we felt as though we had done more than jut purchase a bike but that we had been welcomed into a VIP club where the only criteria for admission is a willingness to pedal your rear-end thousands of kilometers around some of the most beautiful landscape in the world.  We want to give a huge shout-out to all the employees at Tern that have helped us make this dream adventure a reality.  To Amanda, Josh, Galen, Rod, Eric, Kara and all those at Tern that we we didn't meet, thank you with all our hearts.  We hope you enjoyed the VooDoo Doughnuts and please let us know if there is anyway we can begin to pay back your hospitality.


--We are presently at around 3600km cycled for the trip.  Most of the gear is holding up well.  The Big Sky International tent has been everything we hoped and more.  Spacious, lightweight and easy to set-up/break-down.  The Luminaid inflatable solar lantern I bought in Japan has been very useful though there has been issues with it leaking air.  The company was very reponsive and sent us another one in the mail.  After a few afternoons of GI discomfort from filling our water bottles from "nonapproved sources" (ie. public bathrooms or outdoor spigots) we decided to start using our Steripen.  Though nothing is written regarding there being water quality concerns in Taiwan we have been told tales by locals of there being periodic episodes of the water causing problems for people and animals.  Though unsure whether the water was the culprit or we just were feeling the heat and new foods, we did not seem to have any problems after we started treating the water.  The MKS pedals we chose have not been our favorite thus far.   Though the quick-release function has been super helpful in breaking down the bikes for travel, they are quite heavy and we have not enjoyed spending the the better part of a km after every stop fiddling endlessly trying first to flip the pedal to the correct side and then engage the tiny cleat into the pedal.  I am not sure how every other pedal clipping mechanism we ever used coould be so much easier than this design?!

Now for a bit of housekeeping:
--We received the box sent by our great friend Scott and Jessica- Shout-out to them as they navigate their own challenging tour of the PCT from Canada to Mexico! Check out their progress on their blog: - filled with things that we decided would be nice going forward, including our front paneer bags, to help redistribute the weight of our gear, our ultralight running shoes, our rain jackets (the ponchos are good but we had a few times after day long rains that we felt the warmth of a jacket was needed, a few more wool items for Chiara and a little surprise of Trader Joes dark choco PB cups!  /or You guys rock!
--While talking with people we have come to realize a reoccuring question we get is, "What exactly is Warmshowers?"  I guess we made a leap when starting our trip and blog assuming that people all inhabit the same world as do we.  Therefore a long overdue acknowledgement in the thing that makes our journey easier, more enjoyable and gives it so much moore meaning than would be possible oitherwise.  Warmshowers, despite the suggetive and mildly ambivelent and maybe slightly ill-conceived nomenclature, is a hosting service like Couchsurfing but angled and meant to support cycle tourers around the world.  It is a completely free fraternity that aks nothing from it's member but to be honest, good people to others.  The hosts may offer anything from, well a shower to food, a shuttle, a night sleep, and/or anything/everything you might imagine.

How do you go on?



Leaving Dulan and cycling south toward the southern terminus of the island it was hard to believe that we had only made it about 1/2 of our intended cycling path.  Based on most of those we had spoke to we had at this point passed through the best of what Taiwan has to offer to tourists.  But as many cycle tourers will probably tell you the best part of places aren't always the sites, at least not the sites that you might expect.  In fact, often the best things, those that you talk about years after your trip is just a memory, are those places that either people never tell you about or even those places that people suggest you avoid all together.  We first learned early in the trip in places like Geoje Island, Korea and Osaka, Japan.  And even more often it is the people that make a place truly magical such as in Yadoriki, Japan or now as we headed around the south of Taiwan new surprises awaited.  First we needed to find our way across the island from the wild and scenic east to the busy, traffic choked west.  Based on a few factors we decided to tread across island a bit north of the picturesque, and tourist laden Kenting area.   Though there is no debating the pictures we have seen of this area are amazing we decided we preferred to put some space between ourselves and the tour busses that choke these sites.  Also we knew that we had a long journey ahead of us both in Taiwan and in other locations and that we decided to opt to take a less crowded route.

                     
There's a lot of great public art in aboriginal villages

Riding through a typical neighborhood

As the daylight started to fail we found ourselves in some out-of-the-way villages with no intended destination.  For the first time our go-to Police station stop failed to result in a good option to camp.  Based on the maps, however a small town in the mountains a few km away appeared to be our best chance.  As seems to happen all to often we found ourselves making a sweaty climb up a narrow and mildly busy road at dusk searching out a place to camp.  This one payed off and we found a great school grounds with a covered area and friendly, inquisitive locals.  We made an early start, followed some wonderfully, quiet roads through villages and dropped into the west side of the island.  From a suggestion of another cycle tourer we headed toward the small port town of Fangliao where a hostel awaited.  This became one of those places discussed prior- that being one where we met wonderful people and had an experience that cannot be planned, charted, or booked.  Fresh seafood, drink, conversation, hospitality and an a/c cooled room- what else does one need?

Super rad people who cook some mean seafood by the train station

Tainan- the early capital city of Taiwan-would be our next stop.  Of course, as is our lot, we arrived on a holiday weekend where no Warmshowers were  available but a recommended hostel had room...and we soon found out the reason.  Not only was there a large typhoon approaching the island but also the recent upsurgence in heat and humidity (a sign of an imminent storm we learned) but along with this came a local outbreak of Dengue Fever, one of the very few potentially deadly illnesses which has no immunization.  Turned out these things resulted in an enjoyable four day layover in this ancient city.  After two nights in the hostel we found a returning Warmshowers host who turned out to not just offer our own room but also Michelle was the best tour guide through this history and cuisine rich city.  We cycled through the small streets to see temples, where we finally began to understand a bit more about these ubiquitous, ornate structures that dot every corner of Taiwan's landscape.  

  Pretty canal bikeway, Tainan
With Michelle, the hostess with the mostess, visiting a temple
 
Idyllic temple grounds


The typhoon passed the island more to the north however did not leave us untouched more to the south.  There were many inches of rain and winds that took down trees (and my kickstand...RIP) but this only temporarily slowed the people.  Early the next morning the people were out and about cleaning up and going on with their lives- something we admired.  
The night of the storm we had another one of those chance meetings that was in none of the tour books.  A local man invited us to visit with him to a local painter we later found out is considered by some to be an incarnation of Buddha.  A small, lean older man sat eating his dinner while his art hung in various stages of completion all around.  All pictures of dieties from Buddhist and Taoist lore which he had seen while he is entranced.  They also took multiple pictures of yours truly saying that he had seen Jesus and that I was that image.  We laughed, talked, ate deserts, drank tea, and ultimately....as you do...finshed the night singing karaoke as the rain and winds from the typhoon raged just ourside the doors of his cluttered studio.  


Exhausted, arms full with prints of his art bestowed upon us and dreading our wet, windy ride home we left and headed home.  How do you forget moments such as these?!

We enjoyed one more day with our host then made our way again north.  Originally we thought that it would be nice to ride the roads away form the cities but the hilly, winding terrain and the late start we got that morning found us on the heavily tavelled roads through towns and cities making our way toward our finally destination, Chieyi, where we would catch the train back to Taipei.  Leaving the 7-11 about 40km into our day we were confronted by a vaguely familiar looking man who thrust a phone in our faces with a translation from Chinese - English saying 'We met yesterday.  Do you remember?'  We, of course, did as he and his wife were at coffee shop that we stopped in to buy some beans.  The couple asked us what we were doing and where we were headed, through Michelle our host/translator/guide/friend.  They were excited about our trip and took her number saying that they wanted to show us the coffee growing region of Taiwan between our location and intended destination.  Thinking this was lip service or a well intentioned but empty offer we thanked them and after not hearing from them that night we moved on with our plans.  And now, here they were, in front of us encouraging us to put our gear and bikes into their small SUV so they could take us somewhere.  


High up in the mountains drinking coffee 

Unwilling and ultimately unable to refuse such a generous offer we piled in and communicated, slowly, for the next hour drive through the winding mountain roads via a phone translator app. Turns out they had spent the better part of the morning driving all over the area looking for us so they could fulfill their offer to show us the area!  This being more than we could have imagined we were beyond greatful to their hospitality.  We arrived at their friends coffee...uh, store, in the region where hundreds of butterflies fluttered about and we were served fresh baked breads, tea and fruit from the Lagdon (I think...) trees growing right on his property and of course his freshly roasted coffee.  In what world does this happen?!  And this wasn't the end of our surreal time spent with our new friends.  They told us all out their family and asked us whether we wanted to visit an area famous for its MUD hot springs.  When in Rome...so we found ourselves at a beautiful resort with our hosts offering coupons that made our visit to this unique (truly there are only 3 places in the world with these type of hot springs, Italy, Japan and here) cost $3 USD.  We cannot express enough our greatitude and awe at the unselfish and hospitality of all the people of Taiwan that have made our time here beyond compare.

Butterflies!!

Friday, October 23, 2015

Apologies

Chiara and I wanted to write a quick apology for all those that have been awaiting the next nail-biting, hard-hitting installment of the non-award winning 'Nothing-so-Familiar' blog.  We have run into a few technical glitches and have not been able to post a large backlog of entries that we have from Taiwan and now Indonesia.  But to answer the question on the minds of everyone and help you sleep at night we would like to say that we have been in Indonesia, specifically East Java for about 2 weeks and we are headed to the island of Bali soon.  We have met some great, great locals, eaten our fair-share of desiel exhaust and unknown meats and played Beer Pong all within a short stretch (turns out little Chiara is quite the Baller at pong!).  Anyway we hope to be back and running soon but you can alo check out the Instagram posts that Chiara has been able to keep up (c.maltese76).  Thank you all for the support and well wishes.  We look forward to sharing with you in person some day soon.

Love Bruce and Chiara

Here we are!

Where in the world is the "Crack of Noon Tour"...

Sunday, October 4, 2015

The Dulan Vortex




Dulan turned out to be one of those towns that anyone that has traveled has been to and maybe even found themselves "stuck".  Not that stuck is the necesarily a bad thing in many of these cases.  Certainly not for Dulan, a small, artsy, surfing village tucked neatly in a cove just north of the city of Taitung.  As for us, unable to delay our riding any longer we rolled in an evening ahead of our friend and decided to wait him out figuring that some time to blog or clean clothes would not be the worst option.  After stopping at a brick-oven pizza joint on the side of the road- an obvious sign that this place would be slightly unique- we went to the usual location, the local police station, to ask about camping foor the night.  As it turned out they had built a few small covered sleeping platforms for cyclists right on their grounds for free.  

Um, hell yeah I am ready for some pizza.  3 months+no cheese = cranky Chiara
Aparently I was looking at something super interesting on my phone in the free campground at the Dulan police station.  WHERE in the WORLD do the police have free places for you to camp?!?! Oh, yeah, awesome Taiwan, that's where.


Delighted by this we claimed a spot, showered, and made ourselves comfortable.   That evening we went for a stroll down the single drag that made up the bulk of the town and discovered this little spot housed multiple backpacker style hostels filled with westerners and locals intermingling, drinking, eating, and listening to loud music.  We even came across a couple from Denmark that we had met previously in Haulien and we spent the evening chatting, drinking,and enjoying a more traditional 'backpacker' type experience.  Awakening the next morning, feeling a bit rough from the nights libations (i.e. Chiara was pretty hungover) we made slow progress packing our gear and moving from 'camp', but we eventually climbed the hills outside town to meet our friends.  That evening we were reunited with
Aaron or A-A-ron (a Warmshowers host from Japan) 
and we were introduced to his friend, an artist also from Spain, Alvaro aka 'Boubba', who lived austerely in this little artist, surf onclave while he worked on an art installation for which he had been commissioned.  To round-off our small mismatched crew was a Chinese woman, Vivi, who was also staying at the small home through a Couchsurfing vacation.  



We were quite the internation hodgepodge- eating, drinking, swimming, debating, and sharing stories.  Quickly 4 days elapsed and it became apparent why so many of the westerners didn't appear to have any plans on leaving any time soon.  We even started becoming more acquainted with local, um, friendly insects, that used the house as at least aspart time  residents, such as Priscilla, the bathroom spider that was almost the size of my hand, and this crazy praying mantis that was not the size of my hand.  Also viewed were groups of monkeys, hawks, hawks biting the heads of snakes, headless snakes, possibly every genus and species of moth ever recorded, dark brown wasps well over and inch and 1/2 long, and tons of others crazy creatures.
    

The laid back lifestyle, the access to beautiful uncrowded beach and surf breaks, and the congenial vibe slowed us down too, but eventually we packed up and continued further south.