February 6th

February 6, 2022

last day of the vacation

It's basically all over. Debbie will be back at work tomorrow.

Sadly the rain didn't really stop for a few days and we've been stuck at home, but it's sunny today and we opt to get out for a bit. It's now or never.

Debbie is worried about the virus, with our district having some of the highest reported Covid case numbers, but as long as we stay away from crowded places I don't see a big problem. Riding into town via the two rivers seems OK to me and that's what we agree on.

Although the rain has finally stopped and the sun is out in fits and starts, the temperature has remained relatively low and we don down jackets and gloves, and I pack a rain jacket and hat. In our place it's quite cool, but it's hard to know what it'll be like outside.

We get air in our tyres thanks to the local scooter repair shop's pneumatic hose before setting off down the wide main road, then veer to the old military compound that's just fives minutes' ride from home. Debbie likes the idea of looking around for a while.

While the area is now called something like an 'art village', it's mainly crafts that are on sale. There are a few places serving food and drinks, and one building is a B&B.

The whole place was where Chinese Nationalist soldiers lived after they came over from China in the late 1940s, once Communist forces led by Mao had got the better of them. Simple homes like these were built to accommodate all the soldiers and it's only been in the past decade or so that they have been replaced with new apartments - while many of the soldiers have died, their wives and children still get taken care of by the government.

We leave our bikes near the gated entrance and walk around, as cycling is not allowed.

There are a few shops selling hand-made gifts and knickknacks, and one shop has some locally made beer that I've not seen before, but the small bottles are priced at about US$6 each.

In the end I pick a couple of embroidered patches thinking they're just over a buck, but the number written on them is a reference and not the price, and it turns out they're about US$4 each.

As we wander around the whole place, we find one building that's now an information centre/museum. There's not a lot to see and the house is something of a warren. It's hard to know what some rooms were used for, as they interconnect and are quite small with only one or two pieces of isolated furniture. It doesn't feel like a real home.

A man is hanging around and he looks to be in his eighties. He's highly likely to be an old soldier and for some reason he mentions to Debbie that 'antiques' have to be 100 years old.

The low winter sun sporadically breaks through the fast moving clouds and casts stark shadows.

Banyan tree - with roof tiles set in the soil enhancing the roots

Taiwan Beer patches - Ho da la means 'bottoms up'

We cross Route 112 and ride to the small river and head downstream towards the ring road, but I soon stop at a temple as the paintwork looks fresh and vibrant, and I take a snap of a column typically decorated with a dragon and stylized clouds.

My down jacket comes off as the wind is behind us and my camera bag keeps sliding off my shoulder what with the material being smooth. It's aggravating having to keep moving the strap up onto my shoulder.

We go along the busy ring road then reach the other river and I look around for a wall that I like, but realise it's downstream a couple of blocks.

We eventually get to the wall. It's in sunshine for a brief moments as clouds sweep across the sky and I take a few shots before we decide to stick to the road and ride to a Cuban place to eat as it's about lunch time. It's only a minute away.

There's just one table out front and we get that and order warm sandwiches which turn out to be very filling. While waiting I balance my camera on top of a traffic cone because I didn't bring a tripod and worry it's going to fall off as it takes a self-timed shot of us both.

We watch traffic drift by in front of the fire station and I manage to snap a women riding a hefty tricycle who has strapped a plastic stool to its back. Maybe she's a street vendor. When I look at the image on the camera's screen it's clear her front tyre is almost totally flat and she did seem to find riding hard work, but the wind is blowing from her back. It's making it feel cool sat here and our cups of once hot tea are barely lukewarm now.

We cruise along the bike path and across a couple of intersections before turning where the road goes directly towards town and soon stop at a Cama shop to get coffees.

There's just one small table inside, as this company seems to focus on takeaway orders and that's what the half dozen customers get while we sit and enjoy ours.

It feels nice to take our masks off and my camera gets placed on a shelf opposite to where we sit to takes a timed snap. The goal is to get an evocation of our day.

There's a short bench outside, but it's too windy out there today.

We decide to ride home instead of cruising anywhere else, as Debbie is concerned about catching the virus. Taiwan is still pretty safe and case numbers are comparatively minuscule in comparison to most of the world.

I know these streets well and doubt there'll be anything to stop and photograph and this turns out to be true. It's only when we get a block from home that I decide to snap a fairly new 21-storey apartment building that's in sunshine. While it may not add very much to the photo-journal, it partly captures the day's blue sky and the windy weather.

I add some black sheets of plastic behind the salvaged window on the balcony

Today's ride: 8 km (5 miles)
Total: 1,361 km (845 miles)

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