Biking Taiwan's East Rift Valley - Day 1, Hualien to Ruisui

Day 1, Hualien to Ruisui (November 2016)

• Distance traveled: 86 kilometers (53 miles)
• Route: County Highway 193 the entire way. Be sure to follow the signs leaving Hualien -- you want to be sure you cross the bridge towards the East Coast scenic area and not end up on Highway 11丙. (Check out a map here!)

Day 1 got off to a late start since we weren't able to pick up bicycles until the Giant store opened at 9 am. We tested the bikes, loaded up our panniers, and hit the nearest 7-11 to stock up on food and water -- finally getting on the road closer to 10-10:30 am.

Leaving the Hualien giant store and ready to go!

Stocked up on the essentials: Pocari Sweat and 7-11 onigiri! (photo via The Girl who Ate Everything)

We knew we wanted to stick to the East Rift Valley instead of the ocean-side route along Highway 11 -- vehicle traffic was pretty heavy for the first couple miles getting outside of Hualien (including some larger trucks), but the shoulder of the road along the way was plenty wide to get around.

Before long, we found ourselves winding up and down quiet and scenic roads. We heard--we think!--the barking sounds of Formosan rock macaques (a local monkey) but were unsuccessful at spotting any out in the wild.

Along the winding roads of County Road 193

Bring enough food and water leaving Hualien for this leg! There aren't many towns or rest areas to stop in the first part of the Rift Valley. While not too steep, the route was hillier than we anticipated, and we were definitely hungry by the time we started nearing towns again some 30 or so miles in. We detoured over to Guangfu (about three-quarters of the way there) for a late lunch/early dinner, but there wasn't anything to write home about in that town otherwise.

A scenic pit stop en route to Ruisui along County Road 193.

Where to Sleep

We winged it on arrival, looking along what appeared to be the main street of down for anything that looked like a hotel or homestay (look for the symbols 民宿 and accompanying phone numbers). Identifying a place to sleep on arrival appeared to be a popular option among many others who have written about this bike ride, but my partner and I weren't a fan of this approach. (For subsequent nights, we identified a few places online either the night before or in the morning before hitting the road and made advance reservations.)

We ended up taking advantage of access to data (via T-Mobile) to look up a few options and found ourselves at the Golden Paddy Hostel, a spot tucked away about 2 miles from downtown Ruisui. The woman working the reception desk look startled to see some scraggly-looking cyclists roll in, but she told us it wasn't uncommon for other guests to be doing a similar bike tour. We were able to leave our bikes at the hostel's storage shed during our stay.

View from our room at the Golden Paddy Hostel

Fancy private bath with a view (via Hotels.com listing)

This ended up being a "treat yo self" sort of place and the most expensive place we spent the night on our trip. We figured as novices on our first bike tour, we may as well fancy it up and make sure our first stop was in comfort. While not the public bathhouse and hot spring experience Ruisui is more famous for, if budget's not an issue, I'd highly recommend the spot. We got a gorgeous and spacious room, outdoor patio facing a scenic lake, a private bath (also with a scenic view), fast wifi, and a fair bit of privacy from other guests. We definitely weren't ready to leave the next morning -- but more of County Road 193 and golden rice fields awaited us!

Golden Paddy Hostel 
No.16, Aly. 1, Ln. 23, Sec. 1, Wenquan Rd.
+886 3887 2558
4,500 NTD/night (~$150 USD) for a room with private bath
Stay included breakfast. 

Biking Taiwan's East Rift Valley - Preparation in Hualien

Getting Rental Bikes from Giant

Giant has an awesome touring bike rental program available, but we found it challenging to find information in English. For 1500 NTD (approximately $50 USD), you can get a three-day bike rental and accompanying gear. Each extra day costs 200 NTD ($6 USD). The rental comes with:

• Rear rack and a set of two waterproof panniers
• Tail and head lights
• A simple cable lock
• Hex key set
• Spare pump

The store will sell you spare tubes, and we traveled with our own helmets and tire patch kits from home. We were charged the 3-day rental upfront and paid for the extra days at the end of the trip. Taiwan in Cycles has more detailed information and photos.

The rental location in Hualien is conveniently located next to the train station. We didn't have luck contacting them by email, but phone is great (see below for information). Most of the staff we encountered spoke some amount of English, but if you have access to someone who speaks Mandarin, I'd recommend enlisting their help just to be on the safe side. Giant recommends making a reservation at least two weeks in advance.

35 Guoxing 1st St (國聯里國興一街35號)

+886 3 886 3833 6761

giant.d21100@msa.hinet.net

Giant Bike shop by the Hualien train station. Image viaHandsonBike 

Traveling from Taipei to Hualien

Taiwan's train system is fast, timely, affordable, convenient, and comfortable! You can buy tickets from the machine's at the station -- their English language menus are reasonably straightforward to navigate -- and you can also grab train tickets from any 7-11. (7-11s in Asia do everything!)

The Taroko Express is your fastest train option (approximately 2 hours), but you can also choose from the Chu-Kuang Express, Puyuma Line, or Tze-Chiang Limited Express (trips up to 3 hours in length instead). Tickets are 440 NTD (~$15 USD). If you're lucky, you might even get the Hello Kitty train!

Most sites we looked at before our trip suggested purchasing tickets two weeks out -- however, you can't do this online, as the TRA booking system allows you to do so only three days in advance. We were fine buying train tickets less than one week out (upon arrival in Taipei), traveling on a weekday in early November.

All aboard! - Hello Kitty and seagulls

Each car featured a different them. This one had pandas!