Summary: Bike down Taiwan's East Rift Valley. Rivers, mountains, rice paddies, small towns and villages.
Photographs
Logistics: 115 mi (185 km), 3160 ft climb (963 m)
Equipment: We rented from 阿勝單車花蓮台東單車出租, which lets you pick up and drop off in Hualien and Taitung (one way) right by the train stations. Their bikes come fitted with side bags and a bungee for strapping. I heard people rent from Giant too.
Route: We went south.
Alternative trips: A 3 day trip, with overnights in Ruisui, Fuli, and Taitung. A 2 day ``highlights'' trip, from Guangfu to Chishang, with a night in Yuli.
Lodging: We booked homestays; I can recommend 隱田小屋農家體驗營 which is has a small farm/garden, a courtyard, and really nice hosts. You have to call to book; you may be able to do so in English. Generally, if you are not doing this on a weekend or some busy vacation time, you can probably forego advance booking, which gives you flexibility. The train stations also give you plenty of opportunity to cheat in case of bad weather or fatigue.
Hot springs: Ruisui has two hot springs: Ruisui (northeast of the river) and Hongye (紅葉) (southwest). The Ruisui springs have high iron and salt content, which is very bad for people with eczema or other skin conditions (don't believe the tourism bureau, or generally, claims that hot springs are "good" for you in any way -- just do it if you like it). According to the internet, Hongye has sodium bicarbonite (baking soda). There are other hot springs on the way: Antong (安通) which is a little bit up the hill between Yuli and Dongli (東里), which the internet says is a mild sulfur spring. Just south of Luye is the wild hot spring Hongye Red Bridge (紅葉紅橋), not to be confused with the Hongye spring in Ruisui.
Future: Would like to attempt the (partially) gravel County Road 197 between Chishang and Taitung someday. It's 64 km, and going south it's 840m up and 1000m down, so substantially harder (though pretty much all of the hard stuff is south of the turnoff in Ruihe). Might be interesting to redo the section from Shoufeng to Guangfu, maybe going County Road 193 all the way from Taitung (which is not so bad). These can be single day trips.
Photographs
Logistics: 115 mi (185 km), 3160 ft climb (963 m)
Equipment: We rented from 阿勝單車花蓮台東單車出租, which lets you pick up and drop off in Hualien and Taitung (one way) right by the train stations. Their bikes come fitted with side bags and a bungee for strapping. I heard people rent from Giant too.
Route: We went south.
- Day 1: Highway 9 from Hualien (花蓮) Shoufeng (壽豐), half day, 13 mi (20 km), 200 ft (60 m) up, 140 ft (42 m) down. Also possible to just take County Road 193 out of Hualien but it will be longer at 16.5 mi (26.5 km) and more hilly at 355 ft (108 m) and 280 m (86 m) down.
- Day 2: County Road 193 to Ruisui (瑞穗), 30 mi (47.5 km), 720 ft (220 m) up, 505 ft (154 m) down. The section from Shoufeng to Guangfu (光復) is rather hilly; it's a pleasant road but it doesn't have a lot of views.
- Day 3: County Road 193 to Yuli (玉里), then Highway 9 to Fuli (富里), 30 mi (44 km), 700 ft (214 m) up, 285 ft (87 m) down. Note that coming out of Yuli (from the train station) there is a bike path until Dongli (東里) which is more pleasant to bike on than the road. County Road 193 route is actually flatter than Highway 9, which climbs coming out of Ruisui.
- Day 4: Highway 9 to Taitung (臺東), 36 mi (59 km), 690 ft (210 m) up, 1300 ft (400 m) down. From Chishang (池上) it is possible to take County Road 197 until the bridge in near Ruihe Station (瑞和車站), but this will be a little more hilly, a 935 ft (285 m) up and 1540 ft (470 m) down. Note that Chishang (池上) is the high point of the valley; from there going south it is mostly downhill.
Alternative trips: A 3 day trip, with overnights in Ruisui, Fuli, and Taitung. A 2 day ``highlights'' trip, from Guangfu to Chishang, with a night in Yuli.
Lodging: We booked homestays; I can recommend 隱田小屋農家體驗營 which is has a small farm/garden, a courtyard, and really nice hosts. You have to call to book; you may be able to do so in English. Generally, if you are not doing this on a weekend or some busy vacation time, you can probably forego advance booking, which gives you flexibility. The train stations also give you plenty of opportunity to cheat in case of bad weather or fatigue.
Hot springs: Ruisui has two hot springs: Ruisui (northeast of the river) and Hongye (紅葉) (southwest). The Ruisui springs have high iron and salt content, which is very bad for people with eczema or other skin conditions (don't believe the tourism bureau, or generally, claims that hot springs are "good" for you in any way -- just do it if you like it). According to the internet, Hongye has sodium bicarbonite (baking soda). There are other hot springs on the way: Antong (安通) which is a little bit up the hill between Yuli and Dongli (東里), which the internet says is a mild sulfur spring. Just south of Luye is the wild hot spring Hongye Red Bridge (紅葉紅橋), not to be confused with the Hongye spring in Ruisui.
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| Backroad connecting Highway 9 and County Road 193 in Shoufeng. |
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| County Road 193 just south of Shoufeng on a rainy day. |
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| Reflections in rice paddies just south of Ruisui. |
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| Mature rice paddies between Ruisui and Yuli. |
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| Crossing the bridge into Yuli over a mostly dry winter riverbed. |
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| Rainbow after rain breaks in the morning, just south of Fuli. |
Future: Would like to attempt the (partially) gravel County Road 197 between Chishang and Taitung someday. It's 64 km, and going south it's 840m up and 1000m down, so substantially harder (though pretty much all of the hard stuff is south of the turnoff in Ruihe). Might be interesting to redo the section from Shoufeng to Guangfu, maybe going County Road 193 all the way from Taitung (which is not so bad). These can be single day trips.
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