August 3, 2021
August 3rd
coffee in Danan
It's 9:30 when I get out of bed to find Debbie has already gone to work and after checking my email and having a coffee in 7-Eleven on the corner while reading today's Taipei Times it's about 10:30 by the time I've got my act together.
Today's plan is to ride to the small town of Danan. It's not far. There's a small charity shop there, plus a Louisa Coffee shop right around the corner from it.
The weather is acceptable for August with clouds keeping the heat down.
It's a case of going down Route 114 for about 1.5km, then making a left onto Kanding Road.
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It's good to get off the 114 and also good to only have to cycle a minute or so along Kanding Road before veering off on a small lane that drops down a short hill.
I soon stop at a house that looks like it's empty, but there are a few items of washing drying on hangers hooked to a bamboo pole, plus two scooters parked in the yard. The wooden screen-door on one wing of the house looks pretty much shot.
Back up the lane I see a women walking slowly with her arms wide open and assume it's some kind of exercise, but then a boy aged around 8 or so comes towards her down the hill and they embrace as I take a snap.
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I'd spotted the young boy a couple of minutes before on a side alley, and then the woman walked past me and put her arms out wide and was like that as she went up the hill. I intended to take a photo of her in this pose, but by the time I got my camera out, the two were in a hug.
2 years ago
After the hill, the lane immediately heads into the countryside and there are quite a few poly-tunnels among smallholdings and one or two homes before the lane meets a shallow river and follows it north, downstream. At one point a mother is fishing from the grassy bank with her two young sons.
Where I usually turn right on Route 48 to ride directly into Danan, I instead opt to go straight across a junction because I saw on Google Maps this morning a small road that runs just north of the 48 and it looked like it'd be quieter. It'll at least make a change and just means riding up the busy 51 for a few minutes before getting to a turn-off.
The side road goes past a few industrial units and then a small residential area of just a few blocks, which I explore to see if there are any interesting things to snap. There isn't really. It's then rural.
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The lane bends a lot, but after about 10 minutes takes me right into Danan - just a block away from where I usually arrive via the 48 - and I make my way to the market area where the charity shop is. Hopefully it's reopened.
En route I pause in the busy market as there are a few things that catch my eye and I settle on taking a picture of a woman pushing a BMX bike.
The traditional market seems to be a female domain and many are obviously buying veg to cook for lunch or dinner. I think about getting some fruit, but decide to do that later, on my way back.
The charity shop is open and I go through the rack of men's shirts. There's nothing that grabs me and most of it is cheap and tacky. You just have to be a bit lucky. Yesterday I cycled to the one not far from home and bought eight new Giant orange reflective straps that snap around ankles or whatever. They were only NT$20 each.... about 75 US cents. Bargain.
Louisa Coffee is less than a minute away - around the first corner.
There's no one else in it and only three round tables that have one chair at each so as to comply with current Covid regulations. I get the one next to the window and order a muffin and a hot cappuccino and enjoy the air conditioning while watching a small part of the world go by for 15 minutes or more. It's nice to simply be able to sit down and take off the mask.
A grab-machine arcade across the street is out of service.
I ride around a few blocks in the area and get a bit lost while looking for something that's worth taking a photo of. The homes are not that old and many have been refurbished, so look quite modern and featureless. After a few minutes of wondering where I am the traditional market area appears and a stall selling fruit has baskets of mangoes and the three biggies I pick out collectively cost me about US$2.50.
I ride up Route 48 for a while - until the turnoff beside the river - and it's flat and easy, but not very interesting. Both sides of the road are lined with nondescript shops and industrial units. The other road was better.
Once at the riverside road I take a lane on the opposite bank. Who knows where it'll go, but I recall seeing a footbridge earlier and wonder if it's possible to go across from this side.
The road turns left and right and goes past small factories and isolated homes and freasly planted paddies that have egrets standing apart in them. One farm looks to be a rice propagation and rolls o the young shoots are stacked on a simple conveyor.
There doesn't appear to be a way of reaching the footbridge and after a while I get to a wider road and make a right thinking this will meet up with the road on the other side of the river. There's not much to take photos of, except a recycling yard with a mountain of cardboard.
At a junction I get my bearings and make a left, half certain that it'll take me to a small bridge and sure enough it does and I then start to retrace my route from earlier and head back towards home.
The lane is taking me towards the short hill, but a side lane appears and as there's no rush to get home I make a right and soon pass a poly-tunnel that I notice has some unusual ferns inside and see a sign saying the business is called Jungle Jungle.
The two young guys inside can't speak English well, but tell me their boss can and say he'll come. It seems they don't sell the ferns, but that can't be right.
Their boss is pretty young too and his English is excellent and he shows me inside the second greenhouse and the ferns I noticed are unusual. He imports them from various counties and sells them online - which is just as well, as this place would be hard to find.
He quotes me a price and after counting the paper money in my shorts pocket I just have enough to buy one, which he shows me on his phone has the hard-to-say name drynaria rigidula "Whitei". It goes in my bar-bag.
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2 years ago
The lanes takes me back to Kanding Road and then it's a case of riding along the 114. A couple of side streets tempt me to explore and a caged parrot outside someone's house is making a noise and seems to want some attention and it gets it.
It's only ten minutes to get home and as I do so a young man in a down jacket walks past and it never ceases to amaze me how locals can dress in such clothing during summer when it's so hot. Although the sky is grey, it's still over 30°C right now.
Today's ride: 20 km (12 miles)
Total: 621 km (386 miles)
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Hopefully I'll be able to do some longer rides into the countryside soon, with a bit more variety in terms of scenery. At the moment my photos are mainly of objects and urban scenes.
2 years ago