Day 10 - From Beipu To Toufen, The Long Walk South In Taiwan
Day 10 - From Beipu To Toufen, The Long Walk South In Taiwan
Today was a hard day of walking.
The terrain was very hilly, and all day long we climbed up and down steep hills.
Sometimes it was so steep that I had to take small steps in order not to slide down the wet roads.
But I noticed that my own mind had made it more difficult than it was.
I had the opportunity to witness how my mind predicts difficulties when I went to a toilet in a gas station.
It was one of those squat toilets, where you have to squat over a hole in the floor.
I was carrying my heavy backpack, which I never take off when I go to the toilet, unless we are planning to rest anyway.
It was late in the day and I was tired.
My legs were a bit wobbly, and I was overheated from the extreme heat of the day.
So I squatted over the toilet, and as I was peeing, my mind said: “Well, it won’t be easy to get up with my heavy backpack on!”
But as I finished, my body sprang back up to a standing position without any pain, difficulty or discomfort.
I was amazed by the ease that my body performed something that my mind had predicted would be difficult.
We got up in the morning and the owner had already brought our breakfast to our room.
It was a glass of warm soy-milk and a steamed rice pastry topped with fried onions and tofu in a caramelized soy sauce.
Jules didn’t want to eat the breakfast.
His tastebuds do not enjoy mushy steamed food in the best of times, and this early in the morning, I knew that there was no chance that he would eat it.
Luckily, we still had an Onigiri rice ball and nearby, there was a bakery in a rural farmhouse that we thought we might visit and buy bread for lunch.
The bakery was scheduled to open at 9:00 am, but we didn’t want to wait until opening time, because we had a long day scheduled and we wanted an early start.
So we left the guesthouse and walked over to the bakery, hoping they would be there before opening time.
We walked along the rice fields and rural farm temples to the bakery/farmhouse.
The lovely couple were indeed there, and welcomed us warmly.
They spoke good English and explained that the name of the bakery is BK, which stands for Baking and Biking.
The husband, a skinny, tall athletic man, was an avid cyclist who has cycled all around the world.
Some of his adventures included cycling from Turkey to Xinjiang, China, cycling around Argentina, around Chile, and in Cuba.
Pictures on the walls of the bakery showed his overloaded bicycle when he was cycling for six months at a time.
His wife was a beautiful woman with kind eyes.
The bakery is only open two days per week, because the process of making the farm bread takes three days.
They saw our backpacks and invited us in for coffee or tea.
We said that we cannot stay, that we were hoping to get a loaf of bread for lunch.
We could see that the bread was far from being ready.
The delightful couple said that it would be ready in two hours.
They had built a huge brick oven that burns firewood.
But being a cyclist who lives on the road, depending on the hospitality of strangers, they were not about to let us go hungry.
They took some slices of bread from their freezer, heated them in their toaster, and wrapped them in a paper bag, refusing any money. They even gifted us a jar of organic, no sugar added peanut butter to spread on top of their bread.
Their bread is all organic, delicious, made with no oil or eggs, just like I love it.
They told us that they have lived here for twenty years, and that their bakery has been open for sixteen years.
Meeting this lovely, kind, down to earth couple, was probably the highlight of today.
The walk today was the longest we have done so far on this pilgrimage.
It was a pretty walk, through hills and valleys, but the temperatures topped ninety degrees for most of the day, and with the bright sun, the heat index was showing 94 degrees.
The drizzling rain was a welcome relief from the heat, but it didn’t last long.
I don’t think we have ever walked a pilgrimage in such intense heat.
In the past, we only walked for a few days in intense heat, and those days were very difficult indeed.
We took as many brief breaks as we could, all of them in the Seven Eleven and Family Mart convenience stores, which offer tables and chairs, air conditioning, toilets and food and drinks.
I discovered that they also carry unsweetened coconut water from Thailand, which is even better than water for quick hydration.
I was struggling with walking today.
My shoulders and neck hurt, I felt the onset of a blister on one of my toes, and a bright red heat rash had developed on the bottom of my legs.
But I made it to Toufen.
The downtown area of Toufen was quite nicely laid out with an attractive mall, a Starbucks, and quite a few cafes and restaurants. We will be spending an extra day here to sightsee and to walk part of our next day’s long walk.
Our hotel had a bus load of tourists checking in before us, but they all quickly got their rooms and paid in an organized and rapid way.
The room that we got did not match the description on our booking confirmation.
We were quickly upgraded to a family suite with a seating area.
I felt revived after the shower and I nursed my heat rash with a cream and some anti itching powder.
I also rubbed my neck and the back of my shoulders with essential oils, and the nice fragrance lifted my spirit.
I didn’t expect this pilgrimage to feel so difficult.
The terrain we walk on is hilly but not mountainous, and normally we can walk 20-25 km with no difficulty.
But either we are really out of shape, or the intense heat is getting to me.
I should have read something inspirational before bed to uplift my spirit.
But instead, we watch the silly 90 days fiancé show on TLC and watched how couples fall in love, fight, marry, divorce, argue over prenups, religion, relationships and their mismatched ideas of how a family should behave.
With love,
Tali
Today’s Stats:
Steps - 31,459
Daily Distance - 22 km.
Total Distance To Date - 147 km
