In the light snowfall, we pedaled to Fukuoka airport with the bike boxes on the luggage rack. As if we had never undertaken a longer journey before, we realized there that the cardboard boxes were not stable enough for our bike bags. We had to reinforce them with foil, which tested the old man at the wrapping machine with his rheumatic joints to the limit. This was because the luggage was too heavy and we later had to pay for four sinfully expensive kilos of excess baggage. At least we had spent the last yen and didn’t need to change any money😉.

We were not particularly welcome at the airport in Taipei. After an hour’s work, security staff asked us not to put our bikes together at baggage reclaim. That would be illegal here and we would have to go through customs first, who were showing no interest in us, our luggage or the bicycles. An incidental remark from the security guard made us wonder. He asked us how we would get from the airport to the city! There was only the highway and cycling was forbidden on it. How could that be possible as we had just landed in the middle of the city? Or maybe not?
A look at the GPS showed that we were at Taoyuan International Airport, which is 40 km outside of Taipei. How embarrassing! With a strong headwind and drizzling rain, there was no way we were going to make it to the city center that evening. We had to cancel our Warmshowers host and find a pragmatic solution.

First of all, we had to ride out of the airport (illegally?) and deposit the bike boxes for three weeks at a nearby bicycle store. Once we had mastered both tasks, we went to the next mini-market where we had WiFi and coffee to plan next steps. There was a nearby fishing port with public toilets and a place to spend the night. A persistent headwind and rain forcast in the capital were good reasons to start cycling around the island in an anti-clockwise direction the next day and save the stay in Taipei for the end.

Anyone looking for information about cycling tours in Taiwan on the Internet will quickly come across route no. 1, which circumnavigates the island in 10 days and 950 km. A specific travel guide with information on places of interest and places to stop for refreshments can be downloaded free of charge. Handy advice on shifting gears, braking and riding uphill are included, e.g. that a climb is easier in the lowest gear😀. The route runs along signposted cycle paths and the many police stations serve as rest stops where you can fill up with water. We used this promising infrastructure as a supporting program, which gave us time for detours into the interior of the country.

At first, the route led us south through desolate industrial areas next to or under the highway. On the very first day, we left the original route and drove a little further inland. The scenery here was much more pleasant and the crowds of motorcyclists at the weekend were quite amusing. Although Christmas is not a public holiday in Buddhist Taiwan, the Old Year’s week was noticeable with more tourists, decorations and dressing up. Skimpy Santa Claus costumes were particularly popular with women on motorbikes😉.

We escaped the crowds in the city of Taichung and at the very popular Sun Moon Lake with a trip to the mountainous tea-growing region around Alishan. The overnight stay on a viewing platform was particularly beautiful, where wafts of mist rose in the evening and mingled with the street lighting. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just harmless fog, but a rain front that accompanied us back to the west coast the next day. Timed perfectly, the clouds lifted in the evening when we arrived at the exclusively photogenic salt fields outside Tainan.

In order to visit a famous night market in a relaxed atmosphere, we had booked accommodation in Tainan, where we left our bicycles. The bustling, cheerful atmosphere around the many clothes, games and food stalls was definitely worth the stay. The only thing we found a little inappropriate was the fact that children were collecting small live fish and turtles from small pools of water.

The next morning, we initially had a lot of fun driving around the city in the throng of scooters. The start after each red light felt like the mass launch at a fun run. The fact that Taiwan has the highest density of scooters (375 scooters per km2) was really noticeable. It is thanks to them that there are often separate scooter/bike lanes, that two-wheelers are allowed to pull up to the traffic lights in a separate lane and that car drivers are very considerate, especially when turning.  The traffic light sprint, which we had thought was funny at the beginning of the day, brought us closer and closer to our frustration threshold the longer it went on… every few hundred meters we had to wait at a red light to get our 40kg bikes back on the road. And because the urban area never stopped that day, we were on the road from morning to night at ⅔ intervals: 2 minutes cycling, 1 minute waiting. There was plenty of time to watch the many men chewing betel nuts and spitting out the red mass. Around 10% of Taiwan’s population (mainly men) are betel nut addicts. The fruits grow on very beautiful palm trees, have a stimulating, numbing effect when chewed and are carcinogenic. Sales stalls, recognizable by their illuminated columns and female sales staff, are almost as common as traffic lights. The red mouths and teeth (if any) of the consumers look repulsive to us.

At the southernmost point of our journey around Taiwan, our mood had reached a low point. We hoped that the east coast would bring an improvement… and it did! The wind was now blowing against us but the less densely populated, wild coast was a feast for the eyes and the noticeably friendlier people waved and greeted us.

On the ascent through the Taroko Gorge, we were recommended a free campsite. Although it was still early, we couldn’t resist the temptation of running water, toilets and showers and called it a day. While setting up the tent, we struck up a conversation with two Taiwanese who were staying in the car in the parking lot. After a cold shower, we sat at their table all evening, were fed and engaged in interesting conversations. This evening was a blessing after a week and a half in crowds but with little interaction!

The next day offered a challenge with an ascent of over 3000m on 70km, which awakened our ambition. We wanted to try to master the ascent in one day and set ourselves a new altitude record😉. A roadworks site with restricted through traffic gave us a hard time on the first half, as we had to pass it in the midday window in order to reach the pass in daylight. We climbed 2000m through dripping clouds until we finally had blue sky above us. The warming sunshine and the wonderful mountain panorama made the onward journey a pleasure. We reached the construction site early enough so that our destination still seemed feasible. Unfortunately for us, not only were our legs getting tired, but the road was also getting steeper. Despite gradients of up to 17%, our stubborn heads only allowed us to turn back when we reached the top of the pass at 3275m😊. The panorama, the atmosphere at sunset and the satisfaction of what we had achieved were well worth the effort! And we had earned ourselves a two-day descent.

This led through impressively terraced orchards and through a huge valley in which only cabbage is cultivated. Once we reached the coast in the north-east, we had almost completed the circumnavigation of the island. Although we really enjoyed the beautiful wild sea, we were happy to take the 3 km shortcut through an old coal tunnel, which has been adapted for cyclists and pedestrians. Several times we took the opportunity to soak our feet in the warm thermal water in public parks and had nice encounters with the locals.

This led through impressively terraced orchards and through a huge valley in which only cabbage is cultivated. Once we reached the coast in the north-east, we had almost completed the circumnavigation of the island. Although we really enjoyed the beautiful wild sea, we were happy to take the 3 km shortcut through an old coal tunnel, which has been adapted for cyclists and pedestrians. Several times we took the opportunity to soak our feet in the warm thermal water in public parks and had nice encounters with the locals.

With the ride out of the city center towards the airport, the circle around Taiwan began to close. Our unvisited Warmshowers host had kindly made sure that the bike boxes were still ready for us to collect. Relieved, we picked them up and rode with them to the harbor, where we were already familiar with the delicious food and the place to spend the night. We also knew that we were not welcome at the airport the next morning with our bicycles. As soon as we entered the building, the security staff came rushing towards us. The bikes had to be packed outside, where a police patrol informed us a little later that the underpass to the airport was forbidden for bikes. Thanks to David’s charming explanation that we had just circumnavigated beautiful Taiwan by bike, our crime was quickly forgiven😊.
Good thing we had carefully prepared for the discussion about excess baggage this time. We were able to confront the friendly, helpful ladies at the counter with the information from their website and persuade them to make the most of their options and save us excessive costs. Luggage checked in and formalities completed, we are now sitting at the terminal and looking forward to flying on to Hanoi…