17. Western treasures

The next leg of my journey was to be gloriously restful and unusually sociable as I had company. The donors of my touring equipment - Hengo (bike donor) and Yvonne (tent donor) - had arranged a little excursion for me to Xiaoliuqui off the south-west coast of Taiwan. 

Food was a central theme of the next few days as we typically are out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You have to be quick with your wallet when with Taiwanese and, even then, it’s hard to pay for anything! They just won’t let you. I managed it a couple of times but have a large debt of kindness to pay forward when back in the UK. 💰 

So much good food! When by myself, if I’ve ever struggled to order in restaurants, the staff have sometimes just ordered for me! As happened here. I got good stuff - seafood noodle soup and tuna on rice. 🍚 

When with Hengo and Yvonne, my brain was largely switched off as I let them order food, plan activities, navigate the route etc. 

Sometimes I feel that cycle touring is easy but, in these few days where I could take a break from the usual tasks and thinking, I realised that, on a daily basis, cycle touring keeps you in your toes, requiring you to function at a fairly high level. 🧠 

At the port. ⛴️ 

Cycling to the hostel on Xiaoliuqui. 

The island, like many islands, runs at a slower rhythm than the mainland and felt pleasantly time warped. 🕰️ 

Even the hostel had a yesteryear feel. Hengo, on the right, has a healthy appetite for beer. 🍺 

Few have been the chances to propagate a hangover on this trip; I didn’t pass up the opportunity!

With head cleared by several cups of coffee and a big bowl of rice porridge we headed beach-wards. 🏝️ 

Hengo was the first to take the plunge, donning her snorkelling gear. 🤿 

Put me in the sea and I’m like a fish out of water (?) 🐟 but, when I heard there were sea turtles 🐢 lurking just offshore, I had to get in and have a snorkel. Always out of my comfort zone but I’m always amazed how the snorkelling gear gives you access to an incredible underwater kingdom of sea life. Just metres away at times, the turtles were incredible. 

Ursula Andress, eat your heart out! I don’t know who’s casting the next Bond film but, let me put it out there, for the right price, I am available… 

The turtles are a big draw for Xiaoliuqui so, alongside snorkellers, we saw free divers, drift divers and scuba divers. 🤿 

The little mermaid. 🧜‍♀️ 

Like the mainland, temples are seemingly everywhere on Xiaoliuqui. 🛕 

Before we knew it, our time in the island was up. Back on the mainland, we cycled on to Kiaohsiung. Hengo got the bus back home to Taichung while Yvonne, Kisohsiung born and bred…

…offered to take me round the night market. Lively, crowded and with infinite food and drink options, I was glad to have a guide! 🥤 

Takoyaki, Japanese battered octopus. 🐙 

Doused in wasabi, it had me wincing and Yvonne shedding tears! But very tasty! 😋 

I think there was an element of ‘I dare you’ in Yvonne’s food choice. This bag of delights - deep fried duck ‘stuff’ 🦆, included items like this offering of tongue.👅 

I rose to the challenge, some of it was more palatable than others! I was going to make a joke about it tasting absolutely offal but…

Don’t worry, the streets of Kiaohsiung are safe, I was just posing. (Again, Bond film casters, I am available, willing to do own stunts. Cheaper than Tom Cruise). 

I’d originally planned to do a surreptitious city centre camp in Kiaohsiung but Yvonne’s mum let me stay in her apartment, which I had to myself for the night. 🏠 

The next morning was an absolute beauty so, soaking up the sunshine, I went down to the docks. Highly gentrified - museums, galleries, fancy cafes. ☕️ 

And old rolling stock from the time when Taiwan was a Japanese colony.  🇯🇵 

Lotus Pond and its famous pagodas. 

I had a final lunch with Yvonne then I was back on the road, north to Tainan, by myself again. ☹️ 

Checking the route ahead. 🛣️ 

Damn it, the real motive for my trip is revealed. Typo in final sentence, surely it should read ‘…eat more food but more frequently.’ That’s what I’ve been doing recently.

In Tainan, again, avoiding a city centre camp, I stayed in the apartment of MarkTovell. He was away but left instructions on how to ‘break in’ to his flat and make myself at home. I would have loved to have met Mark as, back in December, in Chiang Mai, I heard him on a podcast talking about his love of cycle touring in Taiwan. He has written an excellent book on the topic. Hearing this podcast was the first step in bringing me to Taiwan. 🇹🇼 

Surrounded by his travel photos from around the world and lots of good books - Italy Calvino, Cormac McCarthy, Herman Hesse - it felt like an enriching and inspiring environment. And I slept very well!

Morning jaunt around Tainan’s docks where the Dutch landed in the 1600s, ruling Taiwan for 260 years. 🇳🇱 

It’s pretty windy at the moment, I had headwinds riding out of Tainan. And, once more, back on the camping trail. The next four nights will be in the tent, night one done! ⛺️ 

I’m hoping that, for the last three nights I have in Taiwan, I can do home stays (through Warm Showers). I had a wonderful three months travelling through SE Asia but, with Warm Showers hosts thin on the ground, it was hard to stay with locals. Having the regular opportunity to meet and stay with Taiwanese has been transformational and meant that, as time passes and my trip becomes a memory, I’m sure my time in Taiwan will prove to be the most cherished leg of my whole tour. Thank you Taiwan 🇹🇼 , thank you all my generous Taiwanese hosts! 🧍‍♀️ 🧍‍♂️