兩日雙北 (Two days, two cross-island highways) (33 items)

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Photos of a two-day bike trip across two of Taiwan's cross-island highways. From 新竹縣 (Hsinchu county) across the central mountain range to 宜蘭縣 (Yilan county) and back via Taipei the next day.

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  • The start of 北橫 (Bei heng), the Northern Cross-Island Highway. Getting there from Hsinchu already took us a slightly over three hours, so we started the difficult part of our trip with over 60 km in our legs.
  • A preview of what I imagine my daughter would look like if I had one: a sixth-grader on a road bike.
  • 北橫之星 (Bei heng zhi xing) is a popular rest stop for cyclists, bikers, and other tourists. The shops there sell 水蜜桃蜜 (Peach honey water) but trying is free.
  • The western part of the highway has a lot of downhill sections - not exactly what you want when you're trying to make your way up to 1,200 m.
  • The view of the mountains still ahead of us.
  • Something in his face seems to say "What am I doing here?" ...
  • The remains of an old dam. It was probably torn down when the 荣华大壩 (Rong hua dam) was built a few hundred meters upstream.
  • The new 巴陵大橋 (Big Ba Ling bridge), built in 2005.
  • And the older 巴陵橋 (Ba Ling bridge), which is now exclusively for pedestrians (and bikers if you don't mind the dark tunnels on both sides).
  • View of the river shortly after the 巴陵橋 (Ba Ling bridge).
  • Just before the fork to 拉拉山 (La la shan). After this point the traffic becomes a lot lighter and the road narrower.
  • There are many misleading road signs in Taiwan, but this is one of the more frustrating ones. The altitude of 1,140 meters is not actually measured at this point but a few kilometers later after a further ascent of over 100 meters!
  • A dyslexic toilet in 四陵 (Si ling). I'd bet good money that the sign was written by the same person who misplaced the "Elevation: 1,140 meters" sign. :-)
  • The closer we got to the top the more the weather started to turn. Taiwan's mountain roads are infamous for quickly turning weather, so we were extremely lucky to stay dry for the duration of the whole trip.
  • Finally, 大同鄉 (Da tong township)! This point is the border between 桃園縣 (Taoyuan county) and 宜蘭縣 (Yilan county).
  • Murals of the local tribe's traditions along the side of the road.
  • Richard and Sonic arriving in 宜蘭縣 (Yilan county). From here to the highest point of 北橫 (Northern Cross-Island Highway) there are still several downhill sections, but lunch is only a few kilometers away ...
  • 台7線, Highway 7 close to 明池 (Ming chi).
  • Our lunch stop for the day: 明池 (Ming chi).
  • The famous old tree next to the 明池山莊 (Ming chi mountain hostel).

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