Day 04 In a dilemma

2／2 Kaosiung to Dawu

Today is just crazy. It's about 6:26 pm right now, and I just checked in at a hotel a few minutes ago. Wait a minute, didn't I leave Kaosiung at 8 in the morning, as usual? So what went wrong?

Yesterday was a reunion with my grandparents and most of the relatives, so I stayed put in my uncle's house the whole day until this morning. Departing at 8 am sharp, I started for Checheng and was hoping to go deeper in the mountains, where I might locate Mudan township and spend the night.

Every thing was pretty smooth in the beginning, except the number of cars and they were being such selfish bullies, pressing into the motorcycle lane and testing my surviving skill, I tried to keep myself to the right. Once my bike even went off road for there was a  big bulge and one of the cars was in my lane, I had no choice but to ride directly into it, which sent me crashing forward to the ground. I really resented that moronic guy who put others' safety at risk, while he just wanted to take over some slow cars in front. And this is totally illegal! Luckily I didn't get injured from the attempt to dodge the idiot.

I reached Checheng and covered about 70 kms at about 11, which was faster than I had planned, so I rode toward Mudan hoping to find a good lodgement over there, gloating with a smile on my face for I was so fast today.

I quickly made my way to Mudan, some kids on the way were so friendly that they kept shouting at me to cheer me up. Great, 100 kms covered just a bit after noon.

Unfortunately, Mudan doesn't own many hotels and it was just a small town in the mountains, out of no option, I forced myself to keep going, persuading my limbs and body that there would be a good place in the front, soon.

The ""soon"" never showed up.

I was exhausted, and out of water. I had rode 100kms and the road was just telling me, the trip in front would be your beginning of a climb. Hey, I didn't have any strength left to do any climbing. 100kms was supposed to be my journey distance per day, and why can't I rest?

However, being stuck in the mountain road left me with only two choices, to go forward, or roll back to Checheng.

The second choice was faster and more tempting, but I wasn't ready to give up all the miles I have covered and come back doing it all again the next day, so I dragged my body and moved forward, up, inch by inch. I was going at it in such a slow pace that some kind-hearted guys even stopped their cars to ask me whether I need any help. Thank them very much for the concern.

Just as I figured that the situation couldn't get any worse, it did. It started to rain, small at first, until big rain drops started smashing into my faces. I turned off the music, cell phone and Gps, covered my luggage with the waterproof canvas and kept moving, feeling more and more resistance in the meantime. I was soaked weight from head to toes by the way.

Eventually a biker came from the behind and took over me, but still at a slow pace, he was the spirit guide in my hardest time today. I followed behind him, and unbelievably, I found that my strength was coming back to me bit by bit. I rode with him to one of the small community, then he bid me goodbye saying that the community was the hometown of his wife so that would be his last stop. Good for him.

My spirit guide was gone, and I was back to my previous state, alone. That's when I started to enter the most difficult path known to all the bikers traveling round Taiwan, Shouka. It was known to be the steepest, with many ups and downs for a long distance. I wasn't suppose to be in touch of this Shouka challenge until tomorrow, when I was all ready and refreshed. I shook the idea out of my head and set off with no regret.

Fog was forming in front of me, getting extremely heavy and dense in the mountain areas. That worried me, this wasn't just about physical strength and durability anymore, but safety issues. I turned on the lights of my bike and began the climbs. Most of the time it was just one steep climb after another, the slopes were never-ending and they were all of big inclinations. I tried two ways that seemed to be having some effect of easing the soreness in muscles while climbing: either clear the mind, or fill up the mind.

By clearing the mind, you don't think, just ride. Try to forget the pain and sore, but just paddle; by filling up the mind, you think about good memories, or something you would love to eat and play, this leaves you with no room to think about the current situation.

After enduring what seemed like a lifelong climb, I got to the peak and took some pictures with joy. There were two female bikers there, who climbed up the mountain from the opposite side. They shared some road information with me and even offered me some chocolate, we gave each other some cheers and set off.

The following trip was smooth, exciting and dangerous.

Most of the time I was going downward but with such a speed with an average of over 30kms per hr. The fog was still very heavy and the roads were packed with cars. I rode fast but with much carefulness, looking out for the handbrakes every second. With such speed, it still took me about half an hour to reach the bottom, that's how high I was.

My final destination was Dawu, some distance from tomorrow's distance Taimali. I had my dinner, another Bendong at Town Daren, and moved out.

I found myself a hotel by the 7-11 after riding to Dawu.

It charged 1000 per night. I didn't even tried to argue about the price for I was so tired and it's still on New Year vacation. The most curious thing was that the female owner of the hotel told me to follow her. She rode her motorcycle and me on my bike. We didn't stop until reaching a mansion a few hundred meters away.

Was she getting the key for me? She said that was her home and she told me to come in. I was scared. Is she going to do something to me? It's good that i over-thought the whole thing. The truth was that she turned her house into another hotel sort of lodge. And I would be staying in one of the rooms. The room had TV and a double-bedded room. I could even park my bike inside. It's just a shame that it was't next to a 711.

And now it's bath time!