We got to Taitung like at like 10:30 in the morning - couldn't recall exactly - and went directly to the Giant rental bike store just across the street. The two bikes we had rented were already prepared for us. The two guys at the shop were very friendly. They offered themselves to change the pedals for us while we got changed in a changing room. After changing clothes, we distributed our luggage in the four bike bags, checked everything was with the bikes, adjusted saddle height, installed the GPS computers and off we went.
Pic. 1: Our 4-day trip was about to start
It was already like 11:30 or so, but before leaving Taitung, we stopped in a 7-Eleven for some water and food. We finally left Taitung at around 12:00. It was later than initially planned, but not so bad considering the circumstances. We had already prepared the route in our GPS with the Giant store as starting point, so we had no problem whatsoever in getting to the coast and finding the actual route.
Weather was perfect. No signal of typhoon at all. The way along the coast is really nice and peaceful. There's a bike lane pretty much all the time, which makes the ride really convenient and safe. You can ride while enjoying the views without having to worry too much about traffic, which is also quite light traffic anyway.
From time to time there are spots where you can stop to take a rest and enjoy the scenery. Usually you can find other cyclists in theses spots too and share each other's experiences. We chatted with a Taiwanese lady and an American gentleman, who told us about how they usually enjoy these rides during the weekends. We told them our idea was to go up the Taroko two days after, and they were quite sceptical. Now I can understand why. They were eating coconuts, and offered us to have some, which we deeply appreciated. We ate and took some with us for later, and continued our journey.
Pic. 2: The coconuts
Views continued to be impressive, we stopped a few times just to enjoy them and take pictures. Timing was going well. If we kept the pace, we would arrive to the hotel with still a good amount of day light. Kilometres were passing by quite quickly when we realized we had finished all the water we had! "No problem, GPS says there's a small village just a few km ahead". When we got to the village, it was like 3 or 4 houses and that's it. Of course, nowhere to buy anything. "No problem, there's another village a like 5 or 6 km. Let's keep going". Again, nothing. "Ok, this is starting to get serious".
We kept going, there was nothing else we could do. Suddenly, passing through one of these tiny villages, miracle: "look, look, there's like a kind of fridge over there! Let's take a look". It was actually a small shop. The owner was preparing dinner inside. She offered us a couple of chairs to get some rest while drinking water and isotonic (Pocari). Best tasting water ever!
Pic. 3: Yu was in real need when we found the shop
Once hydrated, we continued. Only 15 or 20 km remained to get to Fengbin. We arrived to the hotel and everything was perfect until... we asked about what's on for dinner. To our surprise and dismay, they didn't offer anything. We asked if there was any other place close by where we could go for dinner. They said there was nothing around. "Come on!", we thought, "there must be somewhere where to eat something". "Where's the closest place we can go to?", we asked. "8 km away" they said. We finished registration and went up to our room.
Once in the room, there was a bit of a debate. Yu wanted to have real dinner. I (Irene) was not willing to take the bike again, ride 8 km (who knew really), have dinner and come back again 8 km in the more absolute darkness. We didn't even know if the route was flat, or hilly, if the place would be opened when we arrived, nothing. We had some snacks and I wanted to eat just those and get some rest. "Let's take a shower, clear our minds and we'll decide after".
We took a shower and decided we were going for dinner. With the bikes, of course, but without the luggage, thanks. We had ridden like 1 km when we saw a woman with a cart selling sausages. "I'm staying here and eating sausages!". We stopped there, bought some sausages, and started chatting with the seller. "Where do you come from? What are you doing here? Do you like it here so far?" We told her we were in a 4-day tour by bike and that it was our first day, that we were having a great time so far, but that in the hotel didn't offer us anything for dinner, so went out to find something.
She was concerned about us only having baijiu (白酒) cooked sausages for dinner. She lived in a house right behind where she had the cart, and offered herself to prepare some noodles with eggs for us. 10 minutes later she was back with the most delicious noodles we've ever eaten. I mean, they were really good, but in those circumstances, they tasted even better.
Pic. 4: The cart or however you call that
Pic. 5: The sausages
Pic. 6: The noodles with egg
Together with the sausages and noodles we also bought a mango, a beer and a couple of some drinks. All together was around 12 €.
When we finished having dinner and chatting with the lady it was already pretty dark. Fortunately, we had taken with us the Sigma lights. We rode 1 km back to the hotel and went to bed. First day had been a total success and an adventure!