From the Northernmost part of Taiwan to the Southernmost tip, we will be covering about 350KM today, onto Taiwan's little Hawaii beach, also known as Kenting!
With a mix of mountain and coastal roads, we're definitely looking forward to what the second day of our ride has to offer!
06:15 AM
Who loves waking up and stuffing their hands and legs into squishy damp gloves and boots?
NO ONE!
My gloves and boots are waterproof, but.. it's the user problem that caused the gears to get wet hahaha. Gloves - As explained yesterday. Boots - Well if you noticed the end of my jeans goes inside the boots, leading water directly into it. Besides, it really rained for damn long.
So now, I have to wear plastic bag over my socks to prevent it from getting soaked by the dampess of my inner boots. I think I should invest in a good pair of Gortex socks. Heard it's good.
Checked out of the hotel and we were greeted with a beautiful... are-you-kidding-me-it's-still-raining weather!
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| PC: tumblr |
The stamina of this rain is really..
Okay okay, how about cheering ourselves up with some 7-Eleven breakfast? Haha oh you know when it comes to hotel bookings, I sometimes exclude the breakfast option because I'd prefer to sleep more than wake up early to eat :p
After minimally filling our tummies with some coffee and sandwiches, we dived right into Taroko Gorge National Park!
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| PC: inspirationseek |
Entry into the park is Free.
Formed millions of years ago by the collision of the Philippine and Eurasian Plates that caused thick layers of limestone rock to rise over 3,000 metres high, the walls of Taroko Gorge are still rising till this day, at about 0.5cm per year, as the river basin sink deeper and deeper in depth.
The tectonic compression between the collision of the Plates supplied such a high pressure that metamorphosed the limestones into..
an abundance of marble.
Adding on the erosive power of the Liwu River constantly piercing through the marble rocks, forming the gorge valley we are standing in today.
Swallow Grotto Trail
If it's your first time here, I'd recommend you to go on a guided tour where your guide will walk you through the park, showing you the key points of interest and the history behind every one of it.
Having visited this park before (years back), we decided to ride through the gorges instead, occasionally stopping by the side to snap some pictures of the magnificent landscape around us and
pausing for a moment to take it all in.
Due to the evident danger, many have lost their lives paving a road through the mountains like that for our enjoyment today. Even now, if you're walking through areas like that, you're required to wear a safety helmet to avoid getting injured from falling rocks that can happen anytime, anywhere.
Now if you arrive at the Swallow Grotto Trail in the late morning, there's a chance you might catch swallow birds hovering around, picking food for their babies.. which I thought I saw, so I excitedly shouted out to the boys.
David hurriedly looked up and saw that it was...
actually a tiny plastic bag flying past... #truestory
(very far off, I know)
My career as a tour guide officially ended here.
Moral of the story is, don't litter guys!
Ok better run before I get a scolding.
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| PC: tripadvisor |
Don't miss this place if you wanna catch a unique sight of this cave that stretches about 2KM. Be sure to bring a torchlight along as it gets pitch dark at certain areas, unless you want to play Hide & Seek here!
Looks like a nice place to shower in tho.. like those rain showers.
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| PC: diamondtour888 |
Qingshui Cliff
If you have time, do pop by this iconic spot of Taroko Gorge National Park where you can grab a breathtaking vast view of the grand Pacific Ocean lying adjacent to the steep cliffs of Taroko.... which we totally missed LOL.
Nevertheless, we caught multiple similar views as the road from Hualien to Kenting lies parallel along the Pacific Ocean which was extremely scenic.
Till this point, it was still drizzling but the weather is starting to clear up abit. But due to traveling on wet roads and going through countless of muddy puddles so far, our bikes looked terribly dirty.. and thinking back, this is just Day 2 of the ride. Wonder how our bikes will look on the last day.
Out of Taroko Gorge with big smiles on our faces after being awed by its beauty, we now officially begin our 300KM journey to Kenting... LOL.
Say hooray to poor time management! Hahahaha we're so gonna reach Kenting after sunset.
Doesn't help that we're killing more time taking photos and videos because it has finally stopped raining!
I mean it's not easy making time and going on a holiday together, so better capture more moments and relive it when it's over right :p
From tackling the mountainous curves on tarmacs as smooth as butter,
to being captivated by the gorgeous views like that as we made our way down South,
catching crepuscular sun rays beaming out from the dark clouds,
before taking a short power nap after re-fueling.
When you're tired like that, you can sleep anywhere, anytime. We are now at sea level and the weather is nice and warm, compared to how it was wet and chilly just couple of hours ago in the mountains.
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| PC: agoda |
Kenting Hostel - Da Wan
No. 108 Dawan Road, Kenting St, Kenting, Taiwan 94644
屏東縣恆春鎮大灣路108號, 墾丁大街, 墾丁, 台灣 94644
4 Bedder Private Room With Shower
Cost per night: SGD $88
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| PC: booking.com |
After 10 hours+ on the road, completing over 350 KM, and experiencing an 8 degrees temperature increase and climate change from the mountains to the sea, we have arrived at Kenting.
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| PC: agoda |
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| PC: agoda |
The hotel's location was very good; nestled in a quiet area directly facing the beach yet just 2 minutes walk away to Kenting Night Market, one of the biggest night market in Southern Taiwan.
As usual, our tummies were starving by this time and we headed right out to hunt for food.
There's just this thing about night markets. All the street food stalls just makes everything look so appetizing!
It makes you feel like munching on something even if you're not hungry.
And if you're already hungry to begin with,
this place will make you go crazy, like our friend above. Crazy over all the food we saw.
Apart from mouth-watering food, the night market has loads to offer! From souvenirs, to mini beach bars and stalls selling beach apparels, surfing gears etc. There are tons of hotels here too, so you don't need to be afraid of not finding accommodation here even if you didn't book in advance.
Done stuffing ourselves with all the sinful foods and ready to hit the sack!
Off to falling asleep to the sound of the gentle waves, before we prepare ourselves for the ascend of up to over 2,000 metres in altitude for the next day's ride to Alishan and.. unexpectedly getting into a little trouble with the POLICE! :o
[Singapore. Taipei.Yilan.Hualien.Kenting]
[Mileage Clocked: 570KM]
[Weather/Temperature: 16°C/Drizzle/24°C/Cloudy]
Next stop: Alishan