Now in Nantou County, Taiwan
A couple weeks back Cathy and I checked out the Hejia Ranch [禾家牧場] on Yinghangshan [銀行山]. The ranch was established twenty years ago and specializes in dairy products such as milk, ice cream, yogurt, and popsicles. Yinghangshan is located on Baguashan [八卦山], making this a popular spot for families and cyclists.
Continue reading ‘Ice Cream at Hejia Ranch’
Riding on Baguashan, looking up.
Described by the fantastic travel website Taiwanese Secrets as Caotun’s Creepy Taoist Temple, Tzude Temple [慈德宮] rests on a high perch overlooking Caotun Township. Occasionally, I’ll ride up the steep hill to this spot for exercise before work or during lunch break. This particular time, I took my recently acquired Nikon FM2 loaded with ISO100 film and gave the area a closer look.
Continue reading ‘Tzude Temple’
I had the great pleasure of heading up to Baguashan [八卦山] this morning to check out the Tung Blossoms on the Wolongpo [臥龍坡步道] and Tengshan Trails [藤山步道]. These trails are two of several scenic areas visitors can flock to for the 2009 Hakka Tung Blossom Festival [2009客家桐花祭]. There were several booths as well as a stage set up in front of Fengtian Temple [鳳天宮] for the event. I arrived before any of the vendors, so there was nothing distracting me from starting my walk down the Wolongpo Trail [臥龍坡步道].
Continue reading ‘Wolongpo and Tengshan Trail Tung Blossoms’
Usually before I go cycling I’ve already decided several days ahead of time where I’ll be going. Today was different. I hadn’t decided where I would be going as I finished breakfast this morning. I got on my bike and headed in the direction of the Pingding Sacred Tree, as there are many choices of routes available once there. I felt a rumbling in my stomach, so turned around to go to the big 7-11 on Zhongzheng Rd. This particular 7-11 rates high in terms of clean restrooms. Had it not been for the unexpected bout of abdominal bloating, I probably would have gone to the Pingding Sacred Tree and come back through Jhongliao like I usually do.
After leaving 7-11 I decided to head in the direction of Baguashan [八卦山]. I entertained the idea of cycling to Changhua and ascending Baguashan from the Giant Buddha Statue one of my six year old students can’t stop talking about.
Continue reading ‘Saturday Cycling – Tung Blossoms and Baguashan’
The farming community of Nanpu [南埔] on the lowlands while the unmistakable Ninety-Nine Peaks [九九峰] are visible in the center-right [View the large edition of the panorama].
Sunday morning’s weather was gray, cloudy, and drizzling. I headed in the direction of Nanpu because the skies over Baguashan [八卦山] looked a little more threatening. The climb up was the same as the previous visit. Instead of turning off the for the steep bike path down, I continued till my first rest stop – the Pingding Sacred Tree [坪頂神木].
Continue reading ‘Sunday Morning in the Hills’
Sunday’s bike trip was a much briefer one than the previous week because I had a mountain of housework I didn’t get done on Saturday. This trip was much like the previous one, however, once I reached Bagua Rd. I turned right instead of left.
Continue reading ‘A brief return to Baguashan’
Taking advantage of a fine day on the eve of Typhoon Jingmi’s arrival I decided to do some cycling on the Chingcing Bikeway [長青自行車道] along Baguashan [八卦山]. The weather was nice and cool when I set out at 6 am on Saturday. After a quick stop at Family Mart and another stop for breakfast I began my journey through Nantou City [南投市]. Along the way, a van was being overtaken by nature:
Continue reading ‘Changcing Bikeway on Baguashan’
Cycling events were held all over Taiwan over the weekend in celebration of the International Car Free Day. David Reid has an excellent report of the events held in Taipei County and Taipei City. This morning I attended the event held in Ershui, Changhua County.
Continue reading ‘Car Free Day 2008 – Ershui’
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