Taiwan: Hualien and the East Rift Valley

First dinner in Taipei. So far, it

A typical breakfast: Chinese pancakes and iced milk tea.

Passing time until departure, Taipei Main train station. We were weight-conscious and only brought three books for Adam; but one of them was Curious George, and that

A rainy east coast train ride scene

Nice touch in the Airbnb

Near the Pine Garden. There was a whole wooden menagerie there.

Hualien

Hualien at night. Plenty of shopping, including.. a Roots Canada outlet?!

Looking down on Qixingtan

A local family adopted us briefly. Adam wouldn

Photo credit: Adam Maharik

Qixingtan

Taiwanese sausages for lunch, yum! It

Climbing out from Qixingtan. We were surprised to see stairs in a popular and well-known cycling route, but at least they had ramps installed.

Heading back home from the night market

Planning out the day

Sugar apple? Custard apple? Either way, it

Heading out to Liyu Lake

Liyu Lake

Taking a break from cycling in... a paddle boat? We really should have thought that one through.

Our swan-boat. They didn

Liyu Lake

Lunch on the water, from the water.

Adam wouldn

Still at Liyu Lake (Ron insisted). Getting a bit late, but we

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With Esther, our generous host in Fenglin, who also introduced us to papaya milk.

After riding into Fenglin in the dark and pouring rain, the sun came out for the ride down to Ruisui. We took the slower, more scenic Road 193 for the first part of the day.

Rural Taiwan

Little shrines everywhere - this one is adjacent to the Guangfu Sugar Factory. The denomination is usually

Guangfu, Hualien

Guangfu Sugar Factory. The ice cream itself is just okay, but in this setting - resting in the shade above a koi pond after cycling in the sun - it

Lunch break near Dafu Station. We had to wake Adam from an ice-cream-induced comma.

More rural Taiwan

Another roadside shrine

Ruisui

People leave interesting tributes to the gods. The fruit seems appropriate, but what

Ruisui

Ruisui

We came across a local group playing... Croquet, probably? Or is it Woodball?

Ruisui

Bedtime in Ruisui. Curious George again.

Heading to the hot springs

Hoya Spa Hotel, Ruisui

Right next to the mineral pools, a fun spray pool with

Hoya Spa Hotel

Hoya Spa Hotel

Glorious afternoon weather on the way back to town

Ruisui

Ruisui

Ruisui

A pineapple plantation, just behind our guesthouse

Back for more - at the Cocos resort, where for some reason they open the outdoor hot pools only from 18:00 (which is full dark at this time of year).

Fire away!

Cocos Hot Spring Hotel, Ruisui