The East Rift Rally

The stats

- Days cycling: 3 
- Distance travelled: 206km
- Metres climbed: 1196m 
- Dumpling eaten: 18
- Sunburnt hands: 4
- Punctures: 1
- Nosebleeds: 1 
- Electrical assistance: 0 

The cycling

So it turns out this was just really fun and I didn’t need to freak out about the lack of electricity. For sure my favourite thing we’ve done in Taiwan.

I feel there is some innate ancient human itch in my brain to

1. Climb to the top of shit to see what it looks like from higher up
2. Get somewhere with your own little legs

Both of those were truly scratched. It’s so satisfying to see the miles on the road signs tick down from 200 to 0. Carrying all your shit with you makes it feel even more old school quest vibes. Like classic spotted bundle on a stick energy.

Our route took us through the East Rift Valley - created by two tectonic plates meeting in eastern Taiwan. We meandered through rice paddies, forests and wound around the valley until we met the sea in Hualien - all framed by huge mountain ranges on each side. Dreamy.

I’ve not cycled outside of getting from A to B for a long time - perhaps because Lycra gives me the ick. This totally changed my vibe on it, cycling for funzies is so sick (and it turns out Lycra is optional). I kept thinking that going up and down hills was like if my fave spin class exclusively played wicked tunes, was sunny, and had insane views. Honestly fucking euphoric. Perhaps less so for George who had the 2nd headphone to my curated spin playlist and a continuous earful of me singing.

The vibes were really helped by a few things that deserve a shout out:

• Buttery roads
  • I know I keep saying this but I can’t describe how smooth all the roads and pavements are here
  • This is such a weird thing to go on about. But genuinely it’s wild. Cycling is so easy when everything feels like fresh fresh tarmac and there’s no random potholes.
• People are literally so cute
  • It’s quite vibes for your ego when random people keep giving you thumbs up wherever you go. I love to have fans especially when they punch the air for you when you’re going up a long hill. Most people are on motorbikes so I think they probably just think you’re insane.
• Going the right way
  • Isn’t it so nice to travel with someone who has a good sense of direction and a map. Blessed that my lack of geographical awareness does not run in the family - shoutout to George for a great route.

There were a few things that sucked too that it would be unbalanced to not mention:

1. Bringing an inner tube would have been smart
   • 40 mins walk to a bike repair shop 15km from the end of day 3 was truly not the one
2. It just really hurts your ass okay
   • So it turns out my legs were entirely fine and the actual problem was many, many hours of sitting in a saddle. Sore one.

The stuff that wasn’t cycling

So whilst the cycling itself was wicked, but I think my favourite part is that it takes you to places we wouldn’t have otherwise gone, and meant we saw a load of wacky/cool/beautiful shit that we otherwise wouldn’t have encountered.

1. Being outside
   • The nature smelt so GOOD. I think I induced my hay fever by sniffing so much, but everything was just so fresh. Most of our route went through forests or fields of rice, sweet potatoes and pumpkins which all attract endless butterflies and birds.

2. Spooky homestay
   • Our second night was spent in this remote homestay at the top of a (long and sweaty) hill. We were the only guests there - it was giving extremely scenic slasher horror movie. Not helped by the bats flying around inside. In the end we had a many hour conversation with the owner exclusively via google translate, whilst sharing his Kaoliang (a 53% spirit made from Sorghum). He said you have to sip it slowly so it vibrates your monkey head (he probably didn’t say that but google translate did and we just nodded). He also kept laughing at me with his wife because he thought I was drunk (maybe I was). They made us my fave breakfast of the trip to send us off - pork and chive dumplings, pumpkin milk, and sweet potatoes - gorg.

3. Roadside snacks
   • To quote my Grandad on my previous posts, “it’s a mystery how you can eat so much”. Strap in, because cycling really gave us endless opportunities to refuel. Standouts were:
   • Taiwanese Guava (more crunchy and apple vibes than tropical Guava, so fresh)

• Salted watermelon ice lolly on a hot morning, ooft
• Budweiser supreme. I’m not a hater but I’ve never craved a can of bud until now. What a lager.

• More winter melon - every winter melon drink I have is so good. I just googled it and it’s apparently like a courgette. I can’t describe the taste apart from that it’s better than a courgette.

4. Geographical phenomena

   • We crossed the fault line between the Eurasian and Philippine tectonic plates (honestly it didn’t really look like anything, I thought maybe there would be a cool crack in the earth). Also the Tropic of Cancer (after reading the sign I still didn’t know what this actually is but it’s something about the sun and shadows). Either way, some noteable globe shit.

5. Chinese foot medicine

   • So after seeing all the bros getting their feet done in Taipei I decided we had to lock in. After rolling up to Hualien we decided to enter the local massage parlour. It’s literally consistently filled with mostly middle aged dudes getting their feet massaged. We decided to try it out. Turns out the minimum foot massage length in Taiwan is 40 mins. A long time to have your feet touched, particularly as someone who is freaked out by that at best of times. Honestly though it slapped. The lady doing it kept pissing herself laughing at how tight my calves were. Too much pedalling I guess.

Taiwan complete

That’s it! We made it to the end of leg 1. We spent our final afternoon back in Taipei eating mango shaved ice (dreamy) and this goose spot (weirdly we both thought this tasted exactly like ham my grandma used to make).

I’ve loved Taiwan - it’s been super chill, the people are lovely, and I’ve loved all the nature we’ve been in. 10/10 entry into the sabbatical, shoutout to my lil brother for doing it with me - a great trip partner.

Next up is Hong Kong and China with Max which I’m so mad excited about. See ya there