My day on Green Island ( Lyudao )
Trip Start
Nov 06, 2006
1
70
99
Trip End
Dec 31, 2008
Lyudao,
Taiwan
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Total Distance: 20 km biking
Altitude up: 250m
Altitude down: 250m
My cooling system is leaking ( refer to yesterday's entry ). When I wake up at 6:00am my left arm feels cold and wet - wow, what is that? I open my eyes and see that my iso-mat is kind of swimming in cold water. One of the ice packs is leaking and the melted ice is covering the floor of my tent.
First things first, warm up my arm, pack my things and spread out my tent in the morning sun. Then I buy breakfast in the breakfast shop and sit in front of the still closed sugar factory coffee shop, reading my newspaper.
At 9:45 I take the bus to Fugang Harbor , a fishing harbor and tour boat harbor. My ship to Green Island leaves at 11:30am. The weather is fine and the waves bearable. I try to stay outside on deck for most of the time. Only two more sensitive travellers share their breakfast with a bucket. After 45 minuts we arrive in Nanliao harbor on Green Island. I am shocked - after so many days in solitude the mass of people/local tourists and motorcycles for rent are overwhelming. On the way a young guy on a scooter comes to me and offers a stay for 1000 NTD. That's too much and I leave. He follows me like a fox terrier dog and he offers 800, the 700. Now we are beginning to talk. I raise the challenge and say 500 NTD is my idea. He says not possible, offers to take me on his scooter, I refuse, despite the heat.
On the ferry boat - look on Coastal Mountain
I tell him that I read about such a tonpu for 500. He makes a few phonecalls and comes back with a smile. I jump on his motorbike and he drives me to a good homestay with a small clean room, shower and cable TV ( handy 0919-514213, home 089- 672771 ).He asks whether I would like a scooter as everyone else. I tell him I would prefer a bike, which I have not seen anywhere. He say he knows a place and off we go on his scooter. I see a tea shop and we stop for a cold milk tea. I want to pay his, but he does not accept. I get the bike for 200 NTD a day. Great service. He just disappears ( anything you want - he can arrange - challenge him: 0919760399 ; if you see an elder lady on scooter, that's his mother ).
After a bit of rest I venture with my bike to the Visitors Center near the domestic Airport, again not far from the harbor town. I then ride my bike the18 km around the island, now that it has cooled down a bit. I am the only one with a bike exept for an old local man, all other tourists ( mostly younger generation, students ) are on scooters , polluting the air, it's a pitty. Don't they have enough of it yet in the big cities? I choose all the quieter spots, and there are plenty beautiful ones. I pass by the new jail, then the former notorious political prisoner jail ( now no more in use ) from the white terror times. On my ride around the island I usually push my bike uphill ( highest120m ) as, although it has more gears than I can count, but only one works.
If you want to stay overnight where the action is, hundrets of hotels and homestays are around the main harbor in Nanliau ( for cheaper options also check out the back alleys, from harbor to beyond the tourist center.
Arriving in Nanliao on Green Island
Other more quiet opportunities are in Jhongliao, Chaikou, Gongguan and Wuncyuan. A beautiful camping place is located in Zinping near the hot spring in a beautiful forest, although no seaview ( please check in at the tourist center ).I go out for dinner in the evening and meet a newly wed American couple sitting in front of a small restaurant with also a young couple as owners. The couple is on their 3 weeks honeymoon in Taiwan. I do not remember to have heard that before - honeymoon in Taiwan. The man is a real genius with, I believe a sky-high IQ. He is an applied mathematition, runs his own small company selling and developing simulation ( Operation Research ) software. He hires students who can earn credits for their studies. He plays piano and wrote all the music for his wedding by himself. He has read the classic literature of many counties. He also speaks a few words German as his mother is from Germany. Beats me! She is very interesting too and still a student. It is a wonderful and interesting evening chatting the evening away.
I feel like I have to get home and catch up with a lot of things - but just forget it and accept my limitations compared to this guy. With this reality check and consequently slightly frustrating thoughts I go to bed.
