Taiwan Walk - Day 2 - Walking South Along The Pacific Coast, Fengbin Township To Shitping Township

Taiwan Walk - Day 2 - Walking South Along the Pacific Coast, Fengbin to Shitping

We had breakfast in our beautiful B&B.
We heated up two kinds of soy milk, one made of black soybeans and the other regular.

We also pan fried a scallion pancake, which is a Taiwanese specially that reminds me of a Yemeni dish, “Mallawah,” that is often eaten in Israel.
It a very good dish, and I also mixed my hot soy milk with instant buckwheat and oatmeal and drizzled it with a little bit of local honey to make a tasty porridge.

After breakfast we all gathered outside to pose for a drone photo together.
Joseph had brought his new drone and was excitedly learning how to use it and land it safely.

After expressing our sincere gratitude and saying goodbye to our hosts, we started walking south along the coast.
They agreed to deliver our backpacks to the next hotel, and their dog accompanied us a few kilometers down the road, until we entered the territory of other dogs, who chased him away.
He looked at us longingly, unsure if we would be returning home with him, and looked almost sad as we disappeared from his view.

It is election time very soon in Taiwan, and vehicles of politicians were campaigning down the road, making promises and blasting their music and waving their flags.

The coast has many guesthouses, and lovely sculptures are positioned all along the coast that are made by Taiwanese artists.

The area is mostly Christian, and the cemeteries are picturesque, with their small houses and crosses overlooking the ocean.

We passed by a small village and greeted the women who were selling their garden produce.
They smiled at us, revealing red and missing teeth, and quickly closed heir mouths, as we asked if it was OK to take their photos.

Their teeth have been ruined from chewing betel nuts.
Both men and women are addicted to this deadly habit.
Betel nut chewing is a widespread practice in Taiwan.
It is estimated that over a hundred billion New Taiwanese dollars are spent annually on this so-called "Taiwanese chewing gum.”

Frequent users, like the Amis tribe along the eastern coast, are often called the "red-lip clan", since the residue often stains the teeth and gums and slowly decays the internal organs.

Rain started to drizzle as we walked, but it was still a very warm day.
I wasn’t sure if it were best to just get wet, or to be too hot in my rain gear.

The weather along the coast is quite extreme, and that results in a lot of buildings slowly deteriorating from the typhoons, the rains, and the strong, hot sun of the summer.

We walked between the brilliant blue of the ocean and the tall mountains, that are covered in a bright green tropical forest.
Water was abundantly flowing down from the tall mountains in rivulets and small waterfalls.

In a village along the way, we met a female solo traveler who was cycling around Taiwan.
She was from Canada, and she had already cycled for 27 days, with another 16 days to go.
She said she was taking her time, cycling slowly and getting to know and enjoy the places she was visiting.

When the rain intensified, we took shelter in a small cafe at the ocean’s edge.
It belonged to an aboriginal family and the man is a woodcarver, making furniture from local wood.

The rainy breeze was too strong to sit outside, so we sat in his workshop between sawdust and his tools.
Joseph fell in love with one of the beechwood three legged chairs that the man had carved, and decided to buy it.
He paid and arranged for its shipment back to his house.

We left and continued walking along the beautiful coast.
We went down to the beach, to see some sandstone arches and caves, created by the sea, and from there we climbed up to another cafe.

This art gallery cafe displayed an amazing collection of avant-garde sculptures made by one artist from wood, stone and metal.

They served us healthy hot fruit tea with flowers and goji berries, and a cheese toast for Jules.

It was very rainy by the time we arrived at the port of Shitping.
The fishing village has a large and busy port, with big colorful fishing boats.

Our elegant guesthouse for the night, is situated right on the scenic coast, with unique rock formations that we plan to see tomorrow as we continue our walk.

All the rooms face the ocean, and are spacious and comfortable.
We washed our wet clothes by hand and hung them to dry in the bathroom, that had a room heating system.
They were all dry the next morning.

After we took our showers, we went down to enjoy a fabulous dinner.
Wendy had ordered for us a vegetarian meal, and it was superb.

The manager explained that the local tribes in this area viewed the sea as their refrigerator, and the mountains as their pantry.

The ocean provided them with all sorts of seaweed and fish, while in the mountains they gathered greens, mountain potatoes, fruit, berries, and mushrooms, while also hunting for meat.

Our dinner started with a local vinegar drink.
Then we were served a dish of cooked mushrooms and seaweed.
The next dish was a cucumber soup garnished with a date.
Then followed a steamed cabbage leaf wrap, with vegetables and a vegetarian meat filling, served with rice balls of mixed grain rice.
Then came a healthy clear soup of herbs and vegetables.

The main course was a hot pot of fresh greens.
The buffet table was set up with a varieties of green leaves, which we staffed into individual strainers, and cooked in the boiling water in a wooden bowl in the middle of the table.
The wilted greens can be topped with your choice of sauce and toppings.
Dessert was a warm dish of sweet red bean soup.

It was a delicious, wholesome dinner, a perfect end for our wet day of walking.
I am really enjoying my time here in Taiwan, and feel a little sad that it is such a short trip...

With love and blessings,
Tali

Stats:

Daily Steps: 29,104
Daily Kilometers Walked: 21.5 km.
Active Walking: 5 hrs.
Total Walking Time: 7 hrs.

Total walked so far - 45 km.

Accommodation:
The Adagio, Shitping. Fengbin Township.
A beautiful ocean front guesthouse, with well designed rooms and a comfortable lounge area, serving delicious meals prepared with local ingredients to traditional recipes.