I wake up to a sunny morning, with clear blue skies and a day full of promise. My plans for a scenic ride up Wuling may have been washed out by the rain yesterday but today, I’m going to make up for it. It’s almost all downhill to the plains. I won’t be chilled to the bone, and I’ll make quick work descending the dry road. But first, a bite of Lishan’s famous fruit.
This being Pear Mountain, one doesn’t just breeze in and out without trying one of their luscious juicy pears.
Pear lady very happy to serve her first customer of the day.
Meeting a roadie on the way up to Lishan town.
Before they turn into fruits, this is what pears look like
Everywhere you turn … pear trees
Pear farmers taking a break, as I am, outside a sundry shop.
Video of the fast descent from Lishan. I overcooked a sharp corner at 2:15…phew… Good thing there were no cars driving up at the time …
Beside the shack…it’s what I call the ‘Trans Valley Express’. A seemingly simple contraption to transport people and goods across the valley..
How the ‘Trans Valley Express’ works…you get into the steel cage and away you fly across the chasm below. Beats walking down and then up the other side of the valley
Flying downhill is hard work too… breakfast #2
From here on, it’s nothing but cabbage farms, miles and miles of it
Back on flatlands, with wide roads and 2-wheeler segregated lanes
After 119 kms, mostly downhill, I reach the town of Yilan. Nope, the policeman is not giving me a ticket, he’s giving me directions to the Yilan bus station, from where I’ll take a bus to Taipei.
For the rest of my trip, it looks like posh digs will be the rule, not the exception. Time to keep the tent and cooking stuff in Ying Chang’s place for a while…
wheelosopher 