Taiwan Trek, Day 4: Running from the weather

Japanese-style lodgings at the Hualien Sugar Factory

The weather gods taketh away, but they also giveth. The forecast yesterday had warned of impending dangerous heavy rains in Hualien County 花蓮縣 starting at around 11 o'clock this morning. This had then been pushed back to 1300 hours when I checked again following breakfast. If the skies did open up as predicted over Hualien 花蓮, we were long gone by that time, and the only rainfall we experienced today was a few drops as we approached Taitung 台東. The views from our hotel room in Hualien as we awoke this morning:

It would be another hot and humid day this Wednesday, so we bought some cold teas for the road as we prepared to head out of Hualien:

We were soon out of the city and driving south on Highway 9, the inland route that cuts through the East Rift Valley 花東縱谷, with the Central Mountains 中央山脈 on our right and the Coastal Mountain Range 海岸山脈 on the left. My daughter busied herself by taking some photos from the passenger seat:

Our first stop was at the Hualien Sugar Factory 光復糖廠, built in 1921. We had the obligatory ice creams, the thing to do at former sugar factories all over the country:

There was nothing unusual about this carp pond except perhaps the knowledge that it was created from a crater caused by American bombers during World War II:

Sugar dominated the Taiwanese economy up until the 1930's, when it went into a long decline. Another crop that used to make Taiwanese farmers rich is bananas:

The old wooden workers' dormitories have now been repurposed as guesthouses:

At its peak the factory was processing 2600 tons of sugarcane a day. It closed in 2002 and some of the rusting machinery can be examined up close:

The next stop for us was the Fuyuan Forest Recreation Area 富源國家森林遊樂區, home to Taiwan's largest remaining pure camphor forest (camphor was a major Taiwanese export in the late 19th and early 20th centuries). I made sure to be properly kitted out for the walk in the forest in the 34°C (93°F) heat:

This man was spear fishing in the river running next to the trail. I envied him...:

Lunch at the park:

After eating, my daughter borrowed the camera and eagerly pursued the many butterflies flitting about:

Back in the car and continuing along Highway 9. Our last stop en route was at the Tropic of Cancer Monument, with a marker erected at latitude 23.5 degrees north. Even Amber agreed it was a non-event (there's another monument on the opposite side of the country, near Chiayi 嘉義). The view across the road was more interesting:

The monument was our last stop as Highway 9 began to turn into a long slog (we did try to see the "Water Running Up", but when the GPS pulled us off the main road and had us begin climbing up toward the clouds, we turned around and continued on to Taitung). That isn't to say there aren't interesting places to visit along the road, but when you're 12 years old, scenery can only hold your attention for so long (though the giant rice grain man spotted while passing through Chishang 池上 was good for a laugh). Good thing Dad brought along the iPad:

It was around half-past four as we pulled into our hotel in Chihpen 知本, on the outskirts of Taitung. The view from our room at the F Hotel Chihpen:

For dinner we drove into Taitung to eat at Uncle Pete's Pizza, run by a friendly fiddle-playing expat from Tennessee who told me he has lived in Taiwan for 19 years, during the last eight of which he's been operating the restaurant. The pizza and the atmosphere were worth the drive, as was the locally-produced Highway 11 IPA, further evidence that the Taiwan Beer tyranny may finally be ending:

We ended our long day with a stroll over to Seashore Park 海濱公園 , where the ocean was much calmer than it was the previous day in Hualien:

Tomorrow will be spent exploring Taitung. To be continued...