Chapter 2: Cycling around Taiwan

17 Apr, 2026

There are many things I'll remember about Taiwan: the sprawling rice paddies, the mountains veiled in cloud, and - most of all - the distinctive jingle of the rubbish trucks.

Our adventure began in Taipei. We were surprised to learn that Taiwan's indigenous people are the ancestral origin of all Polynesian peoples - including the Māori. Colonised by the Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese before Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China, Taiwan has a layered identity even the Taiwanese find hard to define. Joined by our friends Ahmed, Ant, and Caelie, we explored the local cafe scene, and played countless games of Cambio. After a few days together, we wished Ahmed farewell, and set off on our cycle around Taiwan.

By the end of our trip, we had mastered navigating the train system with our bikes, but it wasn't without its battle scars. We got off to a good start on day one, cycling 80km to Hsinchu, until we hit our first major incline. Tash - unaccustomed to the art of gear selection - quickly burned out, and pulled over to lie down in exasperation. We missed our intended target of 2:30pm, and then missed the 3:30pm train after getting tangled in the ticketing system. With the next train at 5pm, we headed to the sushi train for dinner, lost track of time and missed that one too. We finally boarded a train at 6pm, which involved a scramble, squishing our bikes into a tiny compartment, and quickly learned not all trains were "bicycle-friendly". We were kicked off the train at the next stop. At 7:30pm, five hours and four failed attempts later, we boarded a train to Tianzhong.

We had some interesting experiences with the trains in Taiwan!

We didn't miss any trains after that, though we still had a few close calls. On day seven, we were catching the 7pm train in the midst of a storm. Bikes were only allowed on the first carriage of the train, so the girls braved the wet and walked their bikes to the end of the platform. Ant and I started making our way towards them when Caelie yelled out. The train had pulled up a hundred meters short. We pivoted and sprinted. I looked back to see Tash running with one hand on her handlebars, and the other holding onto her hot chocolate for dear life. Suddenly, her bike started tilting. Tash had a choice to make: bike or hot chocolate? The bike toppled over, taking Tash with it, but crucially, her steaming beverage remained upright. With the train conductor blaring his whistle, Caelie manned the doors, and I sprinted over to help. Moments later, safely aboard with only minor grazes, she was vindicated - contentedly sipping her hot chocolate.

We combatted a series of challenges throughout the cycle, facing harsh winds, cold rain, and the occasional swallowed bug. In addition, Tash managed knee pain and constipation throughout the trip, and she regularly updated us on the status of both! Of course, for every uphill there's a downhill. Unanimously the best downhill section was on day six from Kenting to Dawu. After a long, tiresome battle uphill, and an unforgettable lunch at the aptly named restaurant "I know aboriginal cuisine"¹, we faced a breath-taking descent, with long, winding turns and sweeping views across the mountains. We arrived in Dawu at 3pm, and a young local woman helped us translate at the ticketing office. We discovered that we'd have to wait until 7pm to catch a bicycle-friendly train! We ventured into town for dinner, and at 7-Eleven, we ran into the same woman: she'd bought us all protein bars and energy gels! We continued on for dinner at a Japanese restaurant with a menu consisting of nothing but three types of ramen. With such a narrow focus, and at those prices, it must be good! Our dish consisted of noodles, water, and a flavourless, whole boiled squid - they didn't even have soy sauce! Ant felt adamant we ought to provide constructive feedback, but after I clogged the toilet, we decided that was sufficient commentary, and swiftly left.

Amidst innumerable highlights, the biggest happened in the smallest place. After visiting Houtong - a town where we encountered more cats than people (I would estimate a 3:1 cat-to-human ratio) - we arrived in Sandiaoling. With a population ranging between 20-30 people, Sandiaoling is the smallest village in Taiwan². We searched aimlessly for the mythical tourist bureau, hoping to investigate if we could stay somewhere in town. That was when we met Barry. Barry was a local, who owned a cafe across the road. He informed us that there was no accommodation available in town - our best bet would be cycling to Ruifang - and kindly pointed us towards a restaurant for lunch. We settled down to eat, when Barry burst in. After reflecting, he concluded that our meeting wasn't simply a chance encounter, and decided to offer us board at his house, if we felt so inclined. We did! He sat down with us over lunch, and we were enthralled to hear his stories of growing up in Hong Kong, his involvement in the protests in 2021, the increasing encroachment of the Chinese state, and ultimately his decision to immigrate to Taiwan.

He showed us to our quarters³, before guiding us to the start of a beautiful nearby waterfall trail. We set off for a three-hour hike through lush rainforest, where we crossed a suspended bridge, scaled a hanging wooden ladder, and encountered three beautiful waterfalls. It was quite the adventure! After our hike, we visited a small library belonging to one of Barry's friends, filled with books now banned in Hong Kong; a small act of defiance to preserve stories of the culture and history now obfuscated by the Chinese government.

Our epic hike, including the suspended bridge and a huge waterfall!

Barry became an increasingly curious character as we learned more about him: from meeting his pet tortoise to admiring his intricate sketches, and being blown away by his immense collection of marathon and ultramarathon medals lining the wall. But above all (in my eyes at least), it turned out he was the consummate coffee artisan. He described to me his process of hand-selecting raw coffee beans, hand roasting them in 20-gram micro-batches, manually selecting the roasted beans, grinding them by hand, and brewing with a V60 pour-over. It was a coffee enthusiast's wet dream. We were fortunate enough to sample his coffee the following morning, and it didn't disappoint! Before we left, he led us in a short, sound-bowl meditation as we overlooked the river, entranced in the tranquility of the landscape.

We had a wonderful time with Barry. He's quite the artist as well as a coffee connoisseur!

We were amazed by the kindness, friendliness, and generosity of the people we met along the way. As well as the woman who helped us to translate and then bought us all protein bars, and Barry, who gave up his own bedroom to house the four of us (we paid of course), there were countless other notable interactions. From the beautiful old lady in Kenting who gave us all a bag of snacks, to the lovely couple at the cafe in Ruisui, and the gentleman who gave us a free custard apple after we sheltered from the rain at his fruit stall to fix Caelie's flat tyre; we felt incredibly welcomed everywhere we went, and it made our experience all the more delightful.

Some of the beautiful, friendly people we met along the way.

This trip also reinforced the merits of spontaneous travel. Due to the unpredictability of how far we could cycle each day, our uncertainty navigating the train system, and the availability of accommodation, we often decided to book our accommodation the day before, if not the night of. This flexibility allowed us to discover our route rather than follow an existing plan, and enabled us to branch out as we uncovered exciting adventures off the beaten track. As with our stay with Barry, we've found time and again that it's often the experiences you couldn't have planned for that turn out to be the most memorable.

Finally, we could scarcely have asked for better accompaniment than Ant and Caelie. The four of us had so much fun together, and worked well as a team, whether we were cycling in a peloton, navigating some rather interesting routes, or smashing out the daily Connections. Furthermore, being with people who maintain a positive attitude when things don't go to plan, and greet obstacles with laughter rather than frustration or complaint, makes for a far more enjoyable experience. It's an essential - if not the most essential - attribute for travel partners. Memorable experiences are often as much about who you're with as what you're doing, and we nailed both, ensuring our time in Taiwan will linger for a long time.

Stats

• Punctured tyres: 1
• Flat tyres: 4
• Pharmacy visits: 8
• Choccie milks: 28
• NYT games played: 41
• Games of Cambio/Caboo: 84
• Prunes eaten: 163
• Kilometres cycled: 551
• Kilometres on the train: 577
• 7-Elevens visited: 1,000,000+

Footnotes