Lukang – Miaoli - 100km ^47
What an unpleasant day! The wind was howling, and my path led straight into the
unforgiving weather. The best part of the day was meeting two young men
circumnavigating the island on foot, dressed as the Chinese god, Nezha. In Taiwan,
Nezha was an icon who fought and killed the son of the Dragon King of the East
China Sea. Fearing his parents would suffer for his actions, he committed suicide to
prevent his parents from being punished. At the time, over 300 temples were
worshipping Nezha. With his boy-like appearance, he was considered a god especially
good for protecting children.
I battled the wind but felt surprisingly strong and didn’t lose my sense of humour.
The people of Taiwan impressed me: twice, people thoughtfully stopped to offer me
water. Surprisingly enough, I made 100 kilometres. Some days, I could handle the
wind, and other days, I couldn’t.
Miaoli – Xinfeng - 55km
Sadly, the wind didn’t ease or change direction, and it looked even stronger. There’s
nothing one can do but battle onwards - at times it felt downright dangerous as the
wind gusted sideways, practically blowing me off the bike. A kind lady stopped and
offered me a cup of piping hot coffee - wow, how nice was that.
As always, all one had to do was keep going forward, and you will eventually get
there. Nothing stays constant and the wind has to change, sooner or later. I feared it
would merely be once I left Taiwan, but change it had to change; it’s almost the sole
thing in the world one can be sure of.
Reaching Xinfeng, 65 kilometres remained to Taipei and the drizzle provided enough
encouragement to find accommodation.