November 20, 2014
Tainan City
Arriving in the old capital
Today's ride, once we worked our way through several miles of Pingtung, was beautiful. We took a very roundabout route to Tainan City, arching to the east and up against the foothills of the mountains. Weather conditions were about perfect - not much wind, sunny, warm - and once we neared the hills the haze cleared out and we had good visibility.
As in recent days, we passed through agricultural lands with widely varying crops. Bananas and pineapple are important here, as well as what I assume is daikon - in one town it seemed as if every other storefront was piled with bags of it. One of the interesting aspects of this trip has been the changing procession of local specialties - here sugar apples; there, onions; and over there, daikon.
My favorite section of the ride was at its eastern point, at the entryway to Maolin Valley. It is an area with dramatic landscape, scenic rivers, and attractive bridges. I wished we had more time to explore further up into this or other neighboring valleys - if we ever make it back to Taiwan I'm sure we would budget more time for probing into the mountainous interior.
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The ride west toward Tainan City featured a long stretch that rolled over a series of low ridges and passed through the largest stand of timber bamboo we've encountered here. The ride into the city itself featured miles of rush hour motor scooter madness and frayed nerves. We were happy to arrive at our hotel and leave the swarm. After cleaning up, we walked over to the nearby Confucius Temple for a splash of serenity and quiet beauty to round out the day.
For dinner, we ate at our favorite meal so far of the tour at Imma's, an Israeli/middle eastern bakery and restaurant. Terrific.
Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 616 miles (991 km)
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