Kenting to Taitung

Kenting to Taitung.

Leaving the southern most point of Taiwan behind me there was only one way to ride, North. I was sticking to the East coast, the sky was grey as was the ocean off my right shoulder. I felt a little saddened that my journey was in it's final stages, so much had happened in the few days since leaving home to set out on the road. I was calm on the comfy seat of the big scooter, suspension adjusted to take the weight and a fairly simple ride to my next and familiar stop. Just one night in Chishang Township. 

Chishang Township is a small town just north of Taitung, it is famous for it's paddyfields and also Mr. Browns avenue. The avenue was made famous from a TV advert and then a tree got blown down in a typhoon. This caused a bit of a todo in Taiwan and soon the tree was lifted, replanted and furnished with plenty of support. It has turned the area into a bit of a tourist hot spot, some would say this has ruined the place, but I have never known it any other way. Coming from a city like London, I would not call  it busy there, I find it relaxing and tranquil.

One of the best things in Chishang is to get up early and grab some soybean milk skin for breakfast, it is really delicious and a favourite of mine when I am in this little town.

Of course before I got to the township I had to make the ride up the coast, I didn't bother to stop and make pictures as the sky was so grey. However I was sitting at a junction figuring out a way to go when a fellow scooter tour rider stopped to ask me directions. She was surprised to find out that I was a foreigner, but I had a working satnav now and so pointed her in the right direction. It's always good to meet a friendly fellow traveller on the road, nice to meet you Pappa Jane..

What a ray of sunshine on a grey road. Pressing on I made enough time to take a slightly different route up into the mountains before travelling down to the B&B. The clouds made the the light interesting, finding a good view I waited for the sun to set and light the valley below me.

On a sunny morning the paddy fields around Chishang Township can look so amazing in the early morning light.

This image was made on a previous visit and shot on my fabulous Fujifilm X-Pro2. On the actual morning I arose on my scooter tour, the clouds were low in the valley and the weather looked ominous. I had a very long ride all the way up the coast, past Hualien and on to Yilan. So this was not the greeting I wanted from the weather...

That's the tree by the way, just in case you were wondering.

It was time to go, the longest single ride of my whole trip and the penultimate leg of the journey. You can find out about that bit next time and then we are almost at the end of this story. Hopefully you have been enjoying it, sorry the posts aren't super regular I am not the greatest blogger in the world, but I do hope it has been of some interest.

Until then, check out my Website, Instagram , Tumblr, Twitter and Linkedin. Remember to LIKE COMMENT, SHARE and FOLLOW.

Feel free to get in touch, if you have any questions, bookings, assignments etcetera, I am always interested to hear from you (contact me).

Love to all...