Mountains, Gandalf, mountains!!

Yujing to Puli

Yujing to Puli (cont'd.)

The day dawned bright and clear. The long awaited clear blue skies had arrived! It was a potentially long ride today, so after a quick snack, I set off early (9.15am, practically the middle of the night!).

Well away from the sea and into some proper mountains. The road whirled it's way through the landscape like a demented dervish. Rising, falling, twisting and dancing it's way onward. Excellent, excellent fun! These are the days that must happen to you.

I first headed up to Alishan (according to Google maps), although it was the wrong one. But the road was quiet before it linked up with a more major route that rose up to meet the proper Alishan. I got stuck behind tourist coaches a couple of times; but once I was able to overtake them, the road was clear for mile after mile. These road hogs all turned off for the famous mountain, so then I was free to play again.
 

After yesterday's success, I tried a thumbs up to another group of passing bikers. Nothing. Just blank, slightly confused stares. OK then, not doing that again! Later on, I passed a monkey by the side of the road who watched me as I rode past; it had the exact same expression on it's face.

 

The road surface was mostly very good, just one small landslide section. It was easy to see how much the roads were at the mercy of the slightest earth movement. I rode with half an eye on the towering cliffs in places, hoping nothing would fall on me.

Beautiful day!

On my way to my already late lunch stop (not a lot of 7-Elevens in the mountains!), a road block halted my progress. The guy manning the blockade said the road would re-open in an hour. OK then. A few cars and some other bikes gradually pulled up to wait. The people in the car behind me gave me some doughnuts and the workman offered me water. Nice people the Taiwanese. The bikers ignored me though 😂

Once the road reopened, it was a race to the lunch spot; the doughnuts only sating my stomach for so long. Then the leisurely run into Puli, where I had booked 2 nights. Planning for a partial rest day.

Puli is the geographic centre of Taiwan. It is a nice enough town, surrounded by mountains but not a lot to keep you entertained of an evening. Cocktail bars seem very popular here. Not really my thing. I tried one bar which only sold 2 beers, a 0% alcohol effort and some weird tasting craft beer otherwise it was all pretentious concoctions which didn't appeal. Oh well, a couple more days of enforced sobriety is probably no bad thing. 

Soundtrack: "Vicarious" - Tool

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The next day was an ill planned "rest day". I'd have preferred to spend it somewhere more exciting! I'd prepaid 2 nights at the hotel, which wasn't cheap. I didn't want to bail on the second night as there was no chance of a refund. Oh well you live and learn (well, I presume "you" do?? "I" never seen to learn!!)

I did go for a leisurely few hours riding to the Sun Moon Lake and the surrounding pretty countryside. Lots of tourists around the lake; easy to escape on a bike!

Another beautiful blue sky day. 

I've pretty much stopped worrying about the speed limits. There are very few speed cameras up in the mountains (and I'm convinced most of those signposted are phantoms) and even fewer listed speed limit signs. I now follow the lead of the locals, mostly. I still obey the signs when it says there is a camera. I did see a police speed trap once; so you need to be alert!

They do love a tunnel here.

Otherwise not much to report for the day. A bit of chilling out, a bit of laundry and a bit of planning the next move. Had a nice and very cheap Vietnamese Bun Cha Ha Noi for my tea.

Soundtrack: "Haven't Made It" - Levellers