Typical Ilan thingies
Showing posts with label Fulong to Suao. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fulong to Suao. Show all posts
Friday, May 9, 2008
Day 12 walk
Day 12: Saturday, March 26, Donggang to Suao. 6.5hrs (With Big Jerry)
After taking the train to Luodong, we got a taxi and managed to explain where we wanted to go. After 10 minutes, we were back where we had emerged from the beach walk on Day 11. As usual, it was difficult to go directly to where we wanted, as there was no dry access to the river mouth without going a long way around So, we did just that, walking beside pleasant canals until we found a bridge to the beach, and then, slightly to Jerry’s annoyance, backtracking to the river mouth to continue my “continuity quest.” There was nothing new on this part of the journey: Grey sand, fisherman and their cars and bikes, the same estuary, although still an interesting environment. We marched on, and as before there was the strip of straight track “bicycle path” separated from the beach by a wall of brush. After a time, the track ended and we were on the beach sands. Not much to notice, really. We saw a number of fishermen who all seemed to like yellow boots, green pants and blue jackets. We saw a factory or utility plant smokestack in the distance, a solitary landmark, and then gradually passed it and left it behind. There were occasional, very vague views of the mountains. It drizzled for most of the day. Eventually, we saw a mountain wall ending the beach, and in time came to it. That was the end of a very, very long beach! There was a pleasant village area, then a tunnel, and then POP! We were in Suao. We found some OK seafood, at a restaurant downtown. It was a tiny little place, with a friendly, noisy loa ban niang. It wasn’t cheap but it was ok. Then we got a couple of beers, and took the train for Luodong to Jerry’s car.
After taking the train to Luodong, we got a taxi and managed to explain where we wanted to go. After 10 minutes, we were back where we had emerged from the beach walk on Day 11. As usual, it was difficult to go directly to where we wanted, as there was no dry access to the river mouth without going a long way around So, we did just that, walking beside pleasant canals until we found a bridge to the beach, and then, slightly to Jerry’s annoyance, backtracking to the river mouth to continue my “continuity quest.” There was nothing new on this part of the journey: Grey sand, fisherman and their cars and bikes, the same estuary, although still an interesting environment. We marched on, and as before there was the strip of straight track “bicycle path” separated from the beach by a wall of brush. After a time, the track ended and we were on the beach sands. Not much to notice, really. We saw a number of fishermen who all seemed to like yellow boots, green pants and blue jackets. We saw a factory or utility plant smokestack in the distance, a solitary landmark, and then gradually passed it and left it behind. There were occasional, very vague views of the mountains. It drizzled for most of the day. Eventually, we saw a mountain wall ending the beach, and in time came to it. That was the end of a very, very long beach! There was a pleasant village area, then a tunnel, and then POP! We were in Suao. We found some OK seafood, at a restaurant downtown. It was a tiny little place, with a friendly, noisy loa ban niang. It wasn’t cheap but it was ok. Then we got a couple of beers, and took the train for Luodong to Jerry’s car.
More Day 11 images
Seaside bike trail
Long, grey beach
Fishers' shelters near Longyang River estuary
Day 11 walk
Day 11: Toucheng to Donggang. Sunday March 10th. 7 hours.
This was another hike with my good friend Jerry. We drove from Taipei to Toucheng in the morning, going through the Shuehshan Tunnel, a big long one through Taipei County and Ilan. We parked near the Toucheng train station and took a cab to Wushe Port. It was a lovely sunny day. There were lots of fisherman and boat workers about, doing things with nets. We walked around the port area for a while, and then hit the beach, the one big huge beach in Ilan that stretches for about 30km. It’s a gray beach, completely undeveloped for tourism throughout most of it’s length, although there are some breakwaters, as well as pipes leading seawater into the many aquaculture establishments near the coast. The first bit of the walk was rocky, and then the true beach resumed. After checking out a little park by the sea, that Safani and I had actually found years ago, we walked along to the mouth of a largish river. Alas! When we got to the river mouth we found that there was no connection to the road corridor, as the land between the beach area and the road corridor was swampy and filled with canals! We had to backtrack about 4km. Shit! Oh well, Ilan’s coastline is quite flat in that area, allowing bizarre shapes for river flow. We trudged onwards and found our way to the other side. We then got back to the seaside, and found an interesting and convenient feature: A narrow paved lane, with signs saying bicycles only, but used by many locals as a scooter track. The origin of this track was probably military, as the beach would doubtless make a good invasion spot. Along this we walked, me struggling to keep up with Jerry frantic pace. In the four years I’ve known him, Jerry has morphed into a total exercise freak. We made good time. However, it did become a bit monotonous, as did the beach itself when we followed it. There were a few points of interest: fishermen, short breakwaters pointing out to sea made of rock, probably designed as sand traps; and one brave lonely surfer. There was also a military artillery range, not being used on that day. As we neared the mouth of the Donggang river, we came across a kind of “tent city” where the local fishers would store stuff or get out of the weather for a bit. These areas were usually a bit garbeachy.
It had been a reasonable hike and, having reached our logical finishing point, we made out way to the road. However, unfortunately there were no 7-11s, bus stops, restaurants, gas stations or anything similar to be seen; nor was there any indication of how to get to the train station. There were just farmhouses and farms. After futilely wandering about various on roads for a while, we decided to follow the river along its anti-flooding embankment, which had a trail on top. Our strategy was to follow this straight route up past Highway 5 up to Highway 9, which ran next to the train route. There we would easily find a train station. This idea worked but took some time: it was maybe another 8km of walking to go to Ergie. Along the way, we enjoyed a fine view of Sangie, famous for it’s green onions, as well as its weird hut-shaped hay-drying piles. The flood zone next to the river was a rich green patchwork of farm plots growing different crops, and here and there, farmers tending them. It was a pleasant and healthy feeling. However, one bizarre thing that happened was when we came across some doghouses on the embankment, to which were chained three huge and highly aggressive Rotweilers. There were going crazy trying to get off their chains, and were extremely intimidating. They look like they would gladly have torn us to pieces. I have no idea what they were doing out there! After much trudging we came to Ergie. Beer and taxi were quickly obtained, and, were soon back in Toucheng. We drove back to Taipei in Jerry’s car, getting in around 7.30pm.
This was another hike with my good friend Jerry. We drove from Taipei to Toucheng in the morning, going through the Shuehshan Tunnel, a big long one through Taipei County and Ilan. We parked near the Toucheng train station and took a cab to Wushe Port. It was a lovely sunny day. There were lots of fisherman and boat workers about, doing things with nets. We walked around the port area for a while, and then hit the beach, the one big huge beach in Ilan that stretches for about 30km. It’s a gray beach, completely undeveloped for tourism throughout most of it’s length, although there are some breakwaters, as well as pipes leading seawater into the many aquaculture establishments near the coast. The first bit of the walk was rocky, and then the true beach resumed. After checking out a little park by the sea, that Safani and I had actually found years ago, we walked along to the mouth of a largish river. Alas! When we got to the river mouth we found that there was no connection to the road corridor, as the land between the beach area and the road corridor was swampy and filled with canals! We had to backtrack about 4km. Shit! Oh well, Ilan’s coastline is quite flat in that area, allowing bizarre shapes for river flow. We trudged onwards and found our way to the other side. We then got back to the seaside, and found an interesting and convenient feature: A narrow paved lane, with signs saying bicycles only, but used by many locals as a scooter track. The origin of this track was probably military, as the beach would doubtless make a good invasion spot. Along this we walked, me struggling to keep up with Jerry frantic pace. In the four years I’ve known him, Jerry has morphed into a total exercise freak. We made good time. However, it did become a bit monotonous, as did the beach itself when we followed it. There were a few points of interest: fishermen, short breakwaters pointing out to sea made of rock, probably designed as sand traps; and one brave lonely surfer. There was also a military artillery range, not being used on that day. As we neared the mouth of the Donggang river, we came across a kind of “tent city” where the local fishers would store stuff or get out of the weather for a bit. These areas were usually a bit garbeachy.
It had been a reasonable hike and, having reached our logical finishing point, we made out way to the road. However, unfortunately there were no 7-11s, bus stops, restaurants, gas stations or anything similar to be seen; nor was there any indication of how to get to the train station. There were just farmhouses and farms. After futilely wandering about various on roads for a while, we decided to follow the river along its anti-flooding embankment, which had a trail on top. Our strategy was to follow this straight route up past Highway 5 up to Highway 9, which ran next to the train route. There we would easily find a train station. This idea worked but took some time: it was maybe another 8km of walking to go to Ergie. Along the way, we enjoyed a fine view of Sangie, famous for it’s green onions, as well as its weird hut-shaped hay-drying piles. The flood zone next to the river was a rich green patchwork of farm plots growing different crops, and here and there, farmers tending them. It was a pleasant and healthy feeling. However, one bizarre thing that happened was when we came across some doghouses on the embankment, to which were chained three huge and highly aggressive Rotweilers. There were going crazy trying to get off their chains, and were extremely intimidating. They look like they would gladly have torn us to pieces. I have no idea what they were doing out there! After much trudging we came to Ergie. Beer and taxi were quickly obtained, and, were soon back in Toucheng. We drove back to Taipei in Jerry’s car, getting in around 7.30pm.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Day 10 walk
Day 10. Wed, Feb 7th. Shihcheng to Toucheng. 6 hrs.
This was another day of walking with a limited diet, and again I found the effects were only subjective. That is, I felt tired, but made good time. On the painfully slow local train, I ate three sweet potatoes, which were deliciously sticky. Good energy food, if a bit messy. It was a day of mixed sun and cloud, neither warm nor cool. I got to Shihcheng at noon, and spent half an hour checking it out to make up for having been through in the dark two days earlier. At the fish port, there was a funny pair of guys talking. One was repairing a boat, and was super friendly. The other guy, mouth dark red from binlang, was sitting nearby. I said “hi” to both of them, but the binlang guy made a motion of shooting a gun, and said something in Taiwanese. He seemed to be saying he wanted to shoot me! I laughed it off. Then, I started out along the coast: The first point of interest was Dali: I checked out the Tien Gong temple, and noted the entrance to the Ciaoling Historical Trail. Then, another trail head further on, which led to a temple in the hills that I had noticed many times while hiking the Taoyuan Valley trail. It always had very loud Buddhist music emanating from it, which could be heard from kilometers away. It was a peaceful effect from a distance, but what would it be like if you were actually there? Then, on to Dashi. I had been there quite a few times before, but only to go to the beach and train station, usually for a beach party or after hiking the Taoyuan Valley trail, which is a much longer offshoot of the Ciaoling trail and terminates in Dashi.
This time, though, I actually saw the town. Dashi has quite an active fishing port. And on this occasion, I seemed to have arrived at the perfect time: ships and boats were coming in, docking, and hoisting cargoes of chilled seafood onto the quay, where vendors where grabbing them and setting up stalls. Coast guard guys in their trademark orange jumpsuits watched very carefully. Every port I’ve been in, no matter how small, has a coast-guard presence. But the people just ignored them: Buyers bought, people watched, people pushed through; some slipped a bit on the slimy floor. Men and women called out. There was noise and purpose, and an interesting variety of wares, including sharks and shark fins, and some attractive kinds of fish I’d never seen before. Some seafood (squid and something I didn’t recognize) was cooked right away in big pots and sold. A huge ice machine poured ice into the back of a truck. Boats came and went. It was great.
On I went, to the “famous” beach, which is actually no big deal as the sand is gray. It was quite quiet on this cloudy Wednesday afternoon. Around the corner and along the road, after a few km, I came to the Beiguan Tidal Park. I almost didn’t bother going in, as, after about 120 km or shoreline, I’d seen quite enough rocks by the sea, thank you very much. But then I thought “What the hell!” It’s a very pleasant little park, and free. There are some cool rocks, different than others I’d seen on this trip, and some old cannon. It also offers some good views of Turtle Island. Then, onwards: Through the long, stretched-out town of Waiao, at the end of which is a nice gray-sand beach. It’s really a long, safe-looking beach, but is surprisingly undeveloped. At the north end is a mysterious building, with distinctly Muslim architecture. It seems to be some kind of private resort or rich man’s getaway. At the other is the port of Wushe. This is a pretty big port, but not an international one. There were many different kinds of boat in the harbor, including sightseeing and other kinds of commercial craft, as well as the ubiquitous fishing boats. It was getting dark, so I skipped doing a thorough reconnaissance of the area, which, according to my rules of the road, I’d have to do next time.
An interesting thing about this area is that it marks a geographical transition. From Wushe to near Suao, the land is flat, as the mountains recede inland for a bit. It looks like the entire fertile area of Ilan is some kind of alluvial fan. As spectacular as the mountains and rocky coastlines had been, I was actually grateful to see the flat lands ahead. It was something different for a change. After a quick zip through Wushe, I slogged up the road to Toucheng, which is the main town in the township area. After asking about a bit, I found the train station, which thankfully was an important one with fast trains. Soon I was zooming back to Taipei, having walked about 20km, virtually the entire scenic area within Toucheng township
This was another day of walking with a limited diet, and again I found the effects were only subjective. That is, I felt tired, but made good time. On the painfully slow local train, I ate three sweet potatoes, which were deliciously sticky. Good energy food, if a bit messy. It was a day of mixed sun and cloud, neither warm nor cool. I got to Shihcheng at noon, and spent half an hour checking it out to make up for having been through in the dark two days earlier. At the fish port, there was a funny pair of guys talking. One was repairing a boat, and was super friendly. The other guy, mouth dark red from binlang, was sitting nearby. I said “hi” to both of them, but the binlang guy made a motion of shooting a gun, and said something in Taiwanese. He seemed to be saying he wanted to shoot me! I laughed it off. Then, I started out along the coast: The first point of interest was Dali: I checked out the Tien Gong temple, and noted the entrance to the Ciaoling Historical Trail. Then, another trail head further on, which led to a temple in the hills that I had noticed many times while hiking the Taoyuan Valley trail. It always had very loud Buddhist music emanating from it, which could be heard from kilometers away. It was a peaceful effect from a distance, but what would it be like if you were actually there? Then, on to Dashi. I had been there quite a few times before, but only to go to the beach and train station, usually for a beach party or after hiking the Taoyuan Valley trail, which is a much longer offshoot of the Ciaoling trail and terminates in Dashi.
This time, though, I actually saw the town. Dashi has quite an active fishing port. And on this occasion, I seemed to have arrived at the perfect time: ships and boats were coming in, docking, and hoisting cargoes of chilled seafood onto the quay, where vendors where grabbing them and setting up stalls. Coast guard guys in their trademark orange jumpsuits watched very carefully. Every port I’ve been in, no matter how small, has a coast-guard presence. But the people just ignored them: Buyers bought, people watched, people pushed through; some slipped a bit on the slimy floor. Men and women called out. There was noise and purpose, and an interesting variety of wares, including sharks and shark fins, and some attractive kinds of fish I’d never seen before. Some seafood (squid and something I didn’t recognize) was cooked right away in big pots and sold. A huge ice machine poured ice into the back of a truck. Boats came and went. It was great.
On I went, to the “famous” beach, which is actually no big deal as the sand is gray. It was quite quiet on this cloudy Wednesday afternoon. Around the corner and along the road, after a few km, I came to the Beiguan Tidal Park. I almost didn’t bother going in, as, after about 120 km or shoreline, I’d seen quite enough rocks by the sea, thank you very much. But then I thought “What the hell!” It’s a very pleasant little park, and free. There are some cool rocks, different than others I’d seen on this trip, and some old cannon. It also offers some good views of Turtle Island. Then, onwards: Through the long, stretched-out town of Waiao, at the end of which is a nice gray-sand beach. It’s really a long, safe-looking beach, but is surprisingly undeveloped. At the north end is a mysterious building, with distinctly Muslim architecture. It seems to be some kind of private resort or rich man’s getaway. At the other is the port of Wushe. This is a pretty big port, but not an international one. There were many different kinds of boat in the harbor, including sightseeing and other kinds of commercial craft, as well as the ubiquitous fishing boats. It was getting dark, so I skipped doing a thorough reconnaissance of the area, which, according to my rules of the road, I’d have to do next time.
An interesting thing about this area is that it marks a geographical transition. From Wushe to near Suao, the land is flat, as the mountains recede inland for a bit. It looks like the entire fertile area of Ilan is some kind of alluvial fan. As spectacular as the mountains and rocky coastlines had been, I was actually grateful to see the flat lands ahead. It was something different for a change. After a quick zip through Wushe, I slogged up the road to Toucheng, which is the main town in the township area. After asking about a bit, I found the train station, which thankfully was an important one with fast trains. Soon I was zooming back to Taipei, having walked about 20km, virtually the entire scenic area within Toucheng township
Day 9 images
Near Aodi
Monument to resistance against Japan
4th Nuclear Power Plant, under construction
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)