Zhiben - Hengchun Day 5

Day 5. 19.12.2018 97km Still Impressed

https://www.strava.com/activities/2024605254

The night, after the hot springs, was a little shorter than expected. At 3 o'clock in the morning, there was a loud bang and a presumably drunk driver crashed his car right in front of my room door into the construction site. I was wide awake, but didn't want to go and check. I think everyone in the neighborhood must have heard it and come to help in Taiwanese better than me.

The alarm at 7 was also confusing, signaling that the night was over. I packed my things almost completely and got a fantastic breakfast from Nancy, the owner. That's how the day can start. Nancy told me a lot about the surroundings and Taiwan, so I hit the road around 8:30.

The first 50km were highways with partly crazy bridge construction sites and also work on the slope below and above the road. If anyone still needs help with high-rise road statics, I think you can find it here. Despite the construction sites and the partially busier road, the pictures of this morning speak for themselves. The sun was back in the cloudless sky. I would have loved to stop a hundred times and just be amazed. If it weren't so time-consuming.

My route research showed that the mountains start after 60km. So there was lunch before that. The mountains were a welcome change from coastal cycling and at the end on the highest peaks I even saw the sea. The pictures from the mountains speak for themselves as well. It took me about an hour to make my way down the almost 20km long descent.

On the way, I met an English woman who started in London in January and made it to Taiwan by ferry via Athens, Turkey, Pakistan, and China. It was my first shared meters with a long-distance cyclist. We also rode together until I had to turn off for my hostel and were given watermelon by a street vendor at a stop. I think being a woman sometimes helps in life.

Arriving at the hostel, after the past few days, I feel like I'm back in abundance mode. Main road with many restaurants. Many shops and the beach is not far away. I will stay here for at least the next 2 days before continuing.

A Swiss woman seems to have already given me my next stop, but I'll tell you about that later.

Best regards