Taiwan: Day 2 (The Begining of The Bike Trip)

I swore i would never jabber on about how nice everyone was to me in the country I just visited, but vivian's family deserves some recognition despite the cliche. I had been obsessed with taking a bike trip down the east coast of Taiwan to give Sandra some time with her friend and satisfy my own need to explore the coast. Chinese New years had put a huge damper on my plans. Every hotel or hostel seemed to be booked, no bikes were left to rent, i didn't have a way to rendezvous with Sandra, and it was supposed to rain the entire time. I decided against the trip in the end.

Vivian's father had already called ahead and reserved the last bike in Hualien for me. He mapped out a route for me and made suggestions on what cities to stop in, gave me a ride to the train station, helped me buy my tickets, and activated one of the families phones to call them if i needed anything. He is a police officer and even equipped me with his card and a handwritten note in Mandarin explaining my predicament. Worse case scenario, i could sleep in a cell for the night in one of the local stations.

I took the train into Hualien and got my bike. I immediatly looked for a place to stay but i wasn't able to find much. i was trying to read Mandarin words from my guidebook to the hotel managers, to no avail. I didn't know if they didn't understand me or if they didn't have any rooms available. A guy on a motorcycle stopped and personally inquired about rooms to about a dozen hostels, hotels, and homestays to no avail. During the new year almost everyone heads to the south and no rooms were available.

I rode around the city all day and decided that i would go to the police station after dark. Hualien isn't the most beautiful city in Taiwan, but its a great jumping off point for Taroko Gorge, one of Taiwan's most beautiful landmarks. i rode out to the Gorge and to the beach and ate some amazing food at the market.

After a long day of riding, the police were extremely helpful, and although I had a place to stay at the station, Vivian's dad had once again came through and found me a place outside the city. Her father's friend put my bag on his scooter and i followed him for about five kilometers to a farm. he gave me a beer and placed me in an amazing room with a pond with ducks in my back yard. I found the NBA rookies / sophmores game. I set an alarm for 6am. Tomorrow I was begining my trip down the east coast. I was tired from biking all day and fell asleep watching the dunk contest.