Day 2 walk

Day 2: Nov. 26: Sanzhih to Fuji fishport: 4hrs

As usual for this entire Danshui to Keelung route, I took the MRT to Danshui and got a bus along the main road. I found my last ending point no problem. I started walking at around 2pm this time, still a tad later than I had hoped, though it was a fine day. Along the highway I plodded, occasionally bursting into a slow jog, coming into the a little town after less than an hour. The waterfront of the town was surprisingly nice, touristy but tasteful. The beach, Cienshuiwan, was nice but unfortunately, swimming was prohibited. [I believe it is allowed now.] Soon I made a pleasant discovery: a proper bicycle path! The path led down past a working aquaculture area: a couple of ponds separated from the sea by concrete walls, a few corrugated aluminum buildings from which machine noises emerged, and some purposeful but vaguely mysterious human activity. Past the blue truck and some snarling dogs [chained, but at other times I’ve passed by there and they weren’t] was a nice boardwalk path by a rocky beach. A few guys were fishing in the ocean. The path wasn’t too long though, and soon it wound back through a small group of farm and residential buildings. Coming out of that, I was suddenly on a beautiful little country road, running past fields and old farmhouses. The road was crossed occasionally by others like it, but luckily my route onwards was marked by a big white stripe denoting the bike path. This bike route guided me throughout the day, occasionally turning down side streets that seemed like dead-ends but were actually the optimal onward route. For hours I wandered through lovely countryside, until I came once more to the seaside. There was a sandy beach, but the ocean there was full of flat slabs of rock, sometimes with sharp edges, and the water was shallow and full of seaweed. This is the area right next to the Baishawan Sailing Cooperative (PSC) and the property where the Canada D’eh party is usually held. Along this little stretch of coastline there was another excellent boardwalk trail leading to a small fish port. On the other side of this was the western end of the trail that led around Linsanbi Cape to Baishawan beach. It’s a cute little trail, with some interesting rock formations. Soon I was at Baishawan, which is a fine-looking kilometer long arc of white sand, just as the sun was starting to approach the horizon. I crossed the beach, admiring the big waves, and watching groups of teenagers fooling around and having fun. I could see a point of land past the beach, with a radar station on it, and a lighthouse at the tip. After the beach, there was a bit of a stretch where I had to walk along the road. I took an overpass and ended up at Fuji fish port, which was near the lighthouse. I grabbed a beer and found the path to the lighthouse, which is past all the seafood restaurants. I got there just in time to enjoy my beer in the sunset, watching small fishing boats setting out along the coast. Ahhh!

[As with Day 1, I missed some of the coast, but I did make up for it. See Related rambles]