Taiwan | Sept 2023 |
In the 1990s, Taiwan was my intro to owning and street-riding a motorbike. And in retrospect, it's a miracle that I survived! After a total of 7 years of intermittent living there and final departure in 2003, I had always wanted to return and tour the island on 2 wheels. And I finally did it, with a 1-week stop on my Vancouver to Singapore flight via Taipei on EVA Airlines. And yes - Taiwan continues to be as scintillating as ever.
Renting a bike
Prior to departure, I did some quick research on Taiwan bike rentals and routes. I arranged a rental with Bikefarm, managed by Jeremy, who I surmised to be an expat due to his impeccable written English. The price was really fair, NT2600 per week (actually, you get a 2-weeks rental for that price!). Amazingly, when I arrived at the shop to collect the bike, I recognized Jeremy as someone I had met in the past in Taipei, at least 20 years ago. The bike was a 125 Kymco scooter, a very standard ride in Taiwan. Jeremy gave an extended riff on the comprehensive new road rules in Taipei, "geared" towards trouble-free riding and parking. These are a big change from my prior riding days in Taiwan, when road rules did not exist! Now, in closing here: I realize a Kymco 125 scooter is not a standard issue Adventure bike, the most macho or stylin' ride on the planet - Joe Average KTM 890R rider is probably not going to be seen in public on one - but, as the old saying goes: "When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do".
Rental: Kymco 125 from Bikefarm
Price: NT2600/week (USD 81)
Taipei
So there I was, Saturday 11:00am, on the bike. It was great to tour the city and visit many of my old haunts. Taipei has changed a lot since I first arrived on April 1, 1992 (April Fool Day, appropriate). But, while it's now clean, orderly, even a bit sleepy, the city still has an awesome new/old, organised/chaos, ying/yang vibe. After 2-days in Taipei, with some great connections with old friends, good eatting, and re-exploration, it was time to hit the road! I booked a decent little traveller (love?) hotel in Shi Men Ding, the Shibuya of Taipei, a real buzz and some decent street food, like the amazing Dan Ping seller I bought breakfast off every day
Stay: Lio Hotel / $27 / 4/5
East Coast Day 1: Taipei to Hualien
Incredibly unaffected by jetlag, I was up early and on the road out of Taipei, headed for Hualien. I had been recommended to take "the 106" south to Yilin on the coast. After 40 mins riding across the city in a swarm of scooters, things changed abruptly, into a 2-lane mountain road through the jungle - epic views, serious greenery, Oolongong cha tea plantations. Once I hit the coast, the ride through Yilin was headache-inducing, as I needed to take secondary roads (no scooters on the expressway), and it took me about 45 mins to cross the city. But the next section made it all worth it, a road that ranks amongst the world's best, with some of the most dramatic sights of the stunning East Coast of Taiwan. Here, 3000-meter mountains drop straight to the sea on a road carved on the side of cliff. Having done this route before by car, bus, and train, it was very cool to do it now on a bike (even a 125 Kymco scooter). After a long day of riding I made it to Hualien, booked a room on Agoda, went to the night market for some decent fresh seafood, and called it a day. And I still hadn't decided to ride west across the island via Taroko Gorge and the Cross Island Highway to Taichung, or to head south to Taitung.
Ride: 200 km / 5 hrs
Stay: Li Shin Hotel / $25 / 4/5
East Coast Day 2: Hualien to Taitung, coastal road
After reading that the Cross Island Highway was being periodically closed these days, I decided to head south to Taitung, unchartered territory for me. While the coastline is not as dramatic as north of Hualien, much more flat but with epic high mountains further inland, it was still a beautiful ride along the coast. This area is fairly isolated and rural, so there was little traffic. A highlight was the Tropic of Cancer marker, where sub-tropical becomes tropical, placing Taiwan at the same latitude as Mazatlan. Further along I came to Dulan, a cool little surfing / hipster mecca that is gaining a reputation amongst Taiwanese, expats and travellers - I will be back! Soon after I reached Taitung, my first time visit. It's a nice little city, didn't see a single other caucasian face. Booked a decent room at a really old-school family-run hotel. Like Hualien, Taitung is a major air force base, and jets are screaming by all day. And these were the same days that China made its biggest incursion into Taiwan airspace, and the sentiment in the global news was that an invasion was looming. I rode over to the air force base, and it was a bit jarring to see F-5s in action (along with F-16s). I got an oil change done in Taitung, and the manager kindly shared one of his betel nuts with me, a sign of true southern Taiwan hospitality. A nugget of information: this area of Taiwan is over 30% Aboriginal Taiwanese, and they in turn have been genectically determined to be the forefathers of all Austronesian people (Philippines, Indonesia, more).
Ride: 175 km / 3.5 hrs
Stay: Uni Hotel / $20 / 3/5
East Coast Day 3: Taitung to Hualien, East Rift Valley & Taroko Gorge
One feature of Taiwan geography I was never aware of is the East Rift Valley which runs from Haulien to Taitung (and vice versa!). It's a great option for the ride back north if you don't want to backtrack on the coast road. The ride covers some amazing features of Taiwan, like incredibly huge river beds that must be an amazing sight when raging full, to massive rice fields. This was a great 3-hour ride, perfect roads, and a nice view of Taiwan rural life in a unique setting between two mountain ranges. I made it back to Haulien by noon, checked back into the same hotel and prepped for the next leg of today's journey - Taroko George.
Ride: 175 km / 3.5 hrs
Stay: Li Shin Hotel / $25 / 4/5
Taroko Gorge is the number one tourist attraction in Taiwan, rightfully so as it's a world-class, must-see site. It's a river gorge cutting through high mountain peaks of smoothed marble. Much of the road has been tunneled into the cliffside. It was really great to ride at my own pace and be able to stop and take pic and just take it in. One thing I could not find was a natural hot spring in a cave beside the river, a place I visited more than 25 years ago. After Taroko I rode 45 mins back to Hualien for another bight. I stopped at a small shop where a woman was selling her homemade pork buns, truly off-the-charts delicious.
East Coast Day 4: Hualien to Taipei via Fulong
This involved some backtracking - possibly some of the best in the world. Once out of Haulaien and past the gorge entrance you are back on the cliffside with epic views. One thing I learned was that you sometimes need to ignore Google Maps and avoid tunnels; they have done an amazing job of building the road, but there are some long (like 20km) tunnels that give you the shortest route - and bypass the old road along the coastline. I ended up going into tunnels, riding all the way through (no choice), and then turning back to get to the scenic ride. And it was worth it. Once I hit Yulin, and stayed on the coast road to Fulong, a very nice ride through small surfer towns and with some excellent topographical scenery. Then it was back inland on a very scenic road into Taipei. I went back to the Lio Hotel for 2 nights and more of Taipei, then returned the scooter and flew out to Singapore on EVA Airlines.
Ride: 220 km / 6 hrs
Stay: Lio Hotel / $27 / 4/5
My route
The map below shows rides by day, just click the "window" at top left for details.
More
Mobile: on arrival, I bought a 7-day Chunghwa Telecom SIM card at the airport, NT500
Airport to city: take the high-speed train, it's easy to buy a ticket at the arrival hall
Transit: get an Easycard, you can use it for the metro and payments
Bag storage: there is an excellent luggage storage service at the Taipei main train station, NT70/d per bag
Money: changing money is not easy (my experience); ATMs are everywhere
Eat: make sure to try Nio Rou Mien (Beef Noodle Soup), Dan Ping (pancake++), Pork buns, and lots more
Questions?
Happy to help: sdasia@gmail.com
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