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B&B north of Fugang

The sky is a swath of grey at 6.00AM when I stroll down to the main road and find the village breakfast shop where I down a couple of glasses of soya milk and a pasty thing that looksd like a pizza. It’ll do.

I ride south towards the junction where a mountain road climbs west over the island’s spine. It is only a few kilometers away. Once there, and after 100 meters or so of pedaling, I get off and push. The concrete route is steep and the heat, even though it's an overcast morning, is enough to get my shirt soaked with sweat.

A few scooters rumble past, presumably the riders going to church. They all nod to me.

I walk all the way up, but it's only a 40-odd-minute stretch of the legs and my watch reads 8 o’clock when I stop at the apex to take a self-timed photo: the view a nice one, with the sky now clear and the distant sea a wonderful matching blue.

Near the top a really step path wiggles up to a weather station. A sign says it is a dangerous road and a few people get off scooters and I follow them for a short distance, to the first hairpin that has to be 25%, and then call it quits, opting instead to ride slowly down to the coast, rounding a series of bends on the single track route with the gentle curve of Dongqing Bay beckoning me - the shallow waters a wonderful tone.

A traditional wooden platform standing on some grass by the road makes me brake and I dry my soaked shirt, cotton cap and cycling mitts in the sun and lie down for a while.

The plan had been to go to Daughter’s Cafe again, but it is still too early. Ann had told me she’d be at church in the morning.

It's still locked up at 10.20 when I arrive, so I buy a cold drink from a nearby shop and sit under another wooden shelter, out of the sweltering sun, and gaze out to sea.

The circumference of the island is only about 28km, and I know the harbor is about an hour’s ride away, max.

My ferry doesn’t leave until 3.30 in the afternoon.

It is hotter than ever by noon; a real brain-fryer of a day.

I stop a few times to take photos, but it is hard work. The sweat pours, droplets ran down my glasses and the sun cream washes away soon after it is applied.

The shelter of a large slab of rocks presents a good photo opportunity and even though I took one the day before, it is nice to be in the shade.

A young woman riding a scooter pulls over and says hello, as she’d done a couple of times before. She’d been tracing my tracks, inevitably as there’s just the one road, and has a DSLR around her neck and kindly offers to take my shot when she sees me with my mini tripod out.

A 20-something nurse in Taipei, Kim is on a week’s holiday and tells me she’ll be on the ferry too later that afternoon.

The simple harbor comes in sight and it is only gone 1:00 when I cruise there. The few cafes on the far side, less than a kilometer away, are really busy, each only having a couple of tables, so I give up waiting and ride back to the small supermarket where I get a blood orange and some crackers, plus more cold water.

The AC inside is nice, but after 20 minutes I opt to go to a sheltered platform just up the road where I may have fallen asleep for a short while, waiting for the ferry to arrive.

The two Germans I'd met the day before chat to me before we board. We sit sheltering from the scorching sun in the shadow of a netted canopy right beside a squat office building on the quay. The thinner one tells me he was sick on the ferry coming over and I suggest sitting on the lower deck, near the back, as there he’ll experience less swaying around.

Once on board, Kim sits in the seat in front of me and shows me a few of her snaps via the camera's LCD. There’s one of me riding my bike. Soon there's nothing to do but gaze out the window and watch the featureless, rolling Pacific splash against the pane.

Dusk is looming when we dock.

It's nice to be off the vibrating craft and within a few minutes my wheels are rolling north on the coastal highway. There's a police station, so I pop in to get the lowdown on B&Bs in the area. The officer tells me there are a few ahead, not too far, so I keep riding.

The first couple I ask at are full, but a man working in one beside Highway 11 in Dulan that is still in the process being decorated tells me a room is available. His daughter Charlotte appears and she speaks English and quotes me NT2,500, which is high, but I’m really knackered and in need a good night’s rest. A bed and AC
would do the trick.

The room ticks both boxes, and is stylish to boot, with a wonderful view out to the Pacific, which I can hear through the large window. I’m the first ever guest at the B&B which has yet to be named.

After a refreshingly cool shower, the family invites me up to the roof terrace for a tradition Moon Festival BBQ. They’ve splashed out on beer, wine, fish and steak. It’s all for free. I tuck in. We chat; Charlotte translates. She did her master's in the USA. The family are from Tainan, on the opposite side of Taiwan and are so friendly.

Dessert is an organic dish made from the seeds of some pod and it is flavored with lemon and has ice and small cubes of jelly floating in it.

The wine soon hits home, however, and tiredess sneaks up on me and by nine I’ve said 'nighty night' and I am between the crisp white bed linen, listening to the gentle sound of the ocean breaking and lapping over pebbles down below. Heaven.

Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 84 km (52 miles)

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