Day 12: Ruisui to Xincheng

Time: 8:55pm

Location: Xincheng, Hualien

Weather: overcast 16

People have kept on telling me that it's possible to sleep/camp at police stations in Taiwan, so I finally tried it yesterday and guess what, they refused! I ended up splurging on an ensuite room at a temple where I slept for 10 hours straight (I guess the wind took a big toll on me). 

The police station here today also wouldn't let me but pointed me to camp at a nearby school, which is where I am now. The overnight staff were kind enough to show me a good place to set up as the kids arrive as early as 7am. The first 10km or so of today was somewhat miserable despite getting so much sleep. Maybe it was the cold but my muscles wouldn't work properly. After stopping to get a steamed sweet potato bun a bit outside of Ruisui and chatting with another cyclist from Hong Kong, I felt normal again and powered onto Guangfu Sugar Factory. It was another area of Japanese style houses and I tried one of their famous popsicles. 

The mountains of the East Rift Valley continued to show off their splendor and the sky was even a little bit blue at some point! My next stop was Liyu Lake, which was a wonderful detour with a little bit of climbing off Highway 9. Being a weekday, there weren't too many people there and a boat ride around the lake was very enticing! 

I descended into Hualien city and stopped for some meatballs, which are very different in different parts of the country but all good, and Bolo (pineapple) bread. There is a upcoming lantern festival so the whole city was decorated with vibrant Chinese lanterns.

With some time in the afternoon, I went to check out Pine Garden, used to be a military command center during the Japanese colonial times, and then rode for the second time along the beautiful Qixingtan. It was a bit spooky riding along Route 193 in the dark through what seemed like a roadside grave yard and with dogs chasing you. At the 7-11 in Xincheng, I reunited with the Shenzhen friend and we made plans to tackle Suhua Highway together tomorrow. Countless people have told me how dangerous that stretch of road is but taking the train has never crossed my mind. I have no doubt tomorrow will be a challenging day but I'm ready.