Day 5: Reunited with the City of Love: Kaohsiung!
When I opened my eyes this morning, I saw a beautiful and sunny day welcoming me. I had a small breakfast and got ready for day 5 of the trip. I was already on Taiwan's West Coast and my itinerary would only lead me further north from now on. Today's destination is Kaohsiung, the number two city of Taiwan. The distance from Hengchun to Kaohsiung is only about 120km, but there is a very important reason why Kao will be my final stop for today. It is the same reason why I will even pause my trip and stay there one more day. The reason is that Phoebe lives in Kaohsiung. She just got back from a trip around the USA and she is back home now, so now is perfect for a visit to Kao :-)
I started off on Route 26, that went up until Fenggang 楓港. Fenggang means "windy harbor" and I did feel some wind, but it was not the fierce headwind I have been reading about in the blogs. My speed was still around 27km an hour so I had no reason to complain. The road had some small hills and mini-descents, but nothing compared to what I had experienced in the past four days. Fenggang was about 25km frmo Hengchun and I passed Checheng again, but now from the west side, rather than the east side. At this point the island is not that wide and Checheng lies right in the middle. The island will get wider after I leave Fenggang behind me. The views on this part were not that spectacular. One thing they say is really true. nothing beats Taiwan's east coast. But, the west coast is part of the trip and that is why I will have it, beautiful sights or not. The views were basically the roads and villages and the Taiwan strait on my left side. There was a gentle breeze that kept the temperature down a few degrees.
In Fenggang I had to change to Route 1. Route 1 is the road that will lead to Pingdong 屏東, but I had no intention on following it for that long. Pingdong would be going straight north and I will be hugging the shoreline, with the purpose of circumnavigating the island. I reached Fenggang very easily and the deviation to Route 1 did not pose any problems. From there I headed for Shueidiliao 水底寮 and changed to Route 17. On my way to Shueidiliao I passed the smaller townships of Fangshan 枋山 and Fangliao 枋寮. I don't mean to be disrespectful to anybody, but there was not much to see here. After my transfer at Shueidiliao, a miracle happened: I walked into a 7-11 with a usable pump for road bike tires! I had encountered some stores with pumps but they were not compatible with road bike tires. Because of that, I had been cycling for three full days without adding air. I don't have to explain how happy I was when I filled my baby with air! That would also blow away my concerns about getting a flat tire.
From Shueidiliao it was only about 40km to Kaohsiung City. Route 17 ran by the townships Jiadong 佳冬, Linbian, Donggang, Linyuan and Xiaoyuan. Along the road the distance to Kaohsiung gradually dropped until it was less than five km. I did notice how the environment got more urban and there was more traffic. I decided to turn off my music and keep my eyes on the road. There were scooters flying everywhere around me and the rest of the road was full with trucks and busses. I was experiencing big city life. When I reached Kaohsiung City, I had not reached my final destination yet. I still had to cycle all the way through Kaohsiung, and trust me, Kaohsiung is a BIG city! I cycled past a few industry parks and I saw a lot of trucks. After all, it is a harbor city and one of the biggest in the world, just like Rotterdam in the Netherlands or Antwerp in Belgium. I had contacted Phoebe before and she wanted to meet in the Central Park of the Kaohsiung City Center. She told me it was located near Wu Fu road. That would be useful information when asking people for directions.
I just kept going straight and all of the sudden I remembered where I was. I had visited Kaohsiung once before in 2011, so I had some vague memories of the art district, the love river etc. I even cycled right next to the Kaohsiung international Airport. In Europe it is virtually impossible to cycle within 15 meters of the airport. In Taiwan on the other hand, it is all possible. At a red stop sign I started chatting with an older man on a scooter. He complemented me on my Chinese and gave me some instructions how to get to the Central Park. He told me it was about 7km more. Just seven km! That is what we call "walking distance" :-) In less than 20 minutes I was there. I saw the sign for Wu Fu street and I knew that the cosy green little area was gonna be the Cental Park. When I entered the park, I remember it was exactly twelve o' clock. Phoebe was doing groceries at the time and would meet me at 3 o' clock. I took the opportunity for a good nap in the park. Man, that was so comfortable: my first nap during my entire trip. I love doing this in Taiwan, you just know nobody is gonna steal your bike or bag. It makes you feel so comfortable about sleeping outside. This is one of the aspects of Taiwan I really LOVE! When I woke up I took some lunch in the street and at 3 o' clock she finally showed up... The rest is "non-cycling info" so I will not share this in this blog haha. I stayed in the Tian You (Heaven protects you) hotel for two nights. After my short stay in Kaohsiung, the next stop would be Chiayi.
Fu Jian street, a historical name
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