RTW in dribs and drabs - off-road Ride Report - Iceland, Iraqi border, Korean DMZ, Alaska + beyond!

[jim-500]

No worries Steve, glad you like them ! (thumbs)

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So we decided to venture into the mountains that run through central taiwan, we had been warned that the roads were often damaged or closed but we figured the scooters were light enough to lift over rockslides and headed inland....but first...breakfast!



Then it was up into the hills!





The roads got more and more narrow, passing high above the rivers, there was evidence of rockslides and accidents on almost every corner.







We stopped for a drink and this little dog came bounding down the hill, most of the street dogs we met in Taiwan had been wary of humans and wouldn't allow you to get too close, but this one was all over the scooters/us! We had both left our pets at home when we left in January and after 4 months on the road it was cool to go back to playing fetch for even 15mins!







We said goodbye to our new buddy, gave her a pack of biscuits and set off up the mountain roads, the surface worsened until we eventually hit a small town.





This bridge stretched across into the jungle so we decided to head into the trees to hide from the inevitable rain...





As the jungle tracks became rougher and the weather worsened we pushed on through vines, thick mud and swarms of spiders and flying ants...hoping that the tracks would take us back down the mountain.









Eventually the muddy roads turned to overgrown singletrack and we had to lift and drag the scooters through the greenery...amazingly they kept chugging on and we made it out the otherside!





We left the mountains behind and headed for the ocean-side city of Hualien...



But with a few hours until nightfall we opted to head down to the beach and spend some time crashing out on the sand before navigating the city traffic!











At this point I was beginning to build a really good relationship with my little scooter, this thing had taken us through places many big adventure bikes would struggle with and with a box of beers and all our food under the seat!



Knowing this was probably the last time we'd be in a major city, we stayed out until the early hours ...and took a chance to wash every bit of clothing we still had!






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Next up we head further inland to Nantou County on the epic "number 8 highway"!

[jim-500]

So we woke this morning to an earthquake, this was the first time I've ever felt one and it's a weird experience...as are the little aftershocks that continue for hours. Sadly it turned out that the little quake we felt in Hualien was probably linked to the big one which did some serious damage in southern Japan.

Since we had already called ahead and booked a hostel for the night we had no choice but to head off into the mountains...earthquake or no earthquake!

So we started by crossing an (almost) dry creekbed on the outskirts of the city...



Watersplash pics are always good right?



Until you remember you're riding on tiny slick scooter tyres! :laugh:



So we'd been on the road less than an hour and I was soaked through with mud and diesel-ey water!



Oh well...shit happens and the scooter was absolutely fine so we headed through the gateway to Highway 8 which snaked inland 100 miles and up to almost 10,000 feet!







We crossed rattly suspension bridges and rode in and out of tunnels following the river...









Until we hit a crossroads, where we edged round a little security fencing and headed down this dark tunnel marked "no entry"...





After what must have been 5 minutes of pitch black we emerged onto an uncompleted section of the road and followed the river back towards the main highway!



Adds an idea of scale to the valley/construction work



We passed more cranes and diggers until we eventually linked back up with the huge tunnels running along the cliffside





At this point my scooter seemed unhappy idling so we removed the airfilter, gave it a clean/oil and decided to find some lunch!








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Next up...the mountains get higher and the road gets worse!

[jim-500]

We continued higher up the mountain passing signs marked "3000ft" then "5000ft"









The road was almost empty at this height and continued to wind it's way above the valley.









It wasn't long until we reached some signs of this week's earthquake activity, with whole sections of road washed away and others littered with stones and mud!







I'm not a big fan of heights and some of these road sections were thousands of feet above the valley floor!







Much of the infastructure like bridges and tunnels had been hit pretty hard by falling rocks, but the "clean up" crews had done a great job at keeping the road open...





We passed through the earthquake damaged area and emerged at cloud level just as it started to get cold/dark.






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Next up we head further inland and up to over 10,000 feet!

[jim-500]

So we're now well up above 6000ft and the scooters are down to about 10mph when riding up hill...but well worth it for the views!







The roads up here were also pretty heavily hit by the rockslides and whole sections of the barriers had been washed away...but atleast you could no longer see the ground!







The road cut back through the mountains and out into central taiwan...



Giving us a chance to do some very low speed scooter racing!







And...we made it, all the way to 3000m (we actually headed a little higher until our gps read 10,000ft plus! At this stage the scooters were down to about walking pace on any sort of incline and mine looked like it had been mud-bogging...but what a road!!!





So after one of the best roads of the trip, we made our way down into the ski area through freezing fog and found ourselves somewhere to kip for the night!



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Tomorrow...it rains, like really rains!!!!

[jim-500]

So we woke to a serious thunder storm at around 4am and it continued to rain the rest of the morning!





But by the time we had downed some noodles and cleaned yesterdays mud off the bikes...things were looking a little better!



So we headed off into the valleys to explore Nenggao mountain.





This turned into one of those days where everything just gets soaked, your gloves fill with water, your inner pockets fill with condensation, you're sitting in a pool full of water etc... but with the weather not really looking like improving we decided to keep going and still had some fun on the tiny mountain tracks!







The little slick tyres on our scooters made some of these climbs pretty skethchy ...at points we were riding through inches of water flowing in the opposite direction!





We reached the bottom of the valley...





And found that the roads up the otherside were just as damp!





But hey, these bikes are built for these conditions right!





No more pics as the camera got full of water, but we made our way to the next guesthouse and used the bathroom as we usually do...a drying room for mountains of kit!



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Next up...it rains A LOT more and the roads get worse!

[jim-500]

So we set off the next day with our kit still pretty damp but atleast the sun was shining



It had continued to rain through the night and we'd been told there had been road closures and land slips in the north of the island...this was pretty evident as we headed towards the mountain roads...





But overall the roads weren't too bad and we made good progress through the morning, the scooters still not missing a beat after a week of riding!





As we headed higher into the hills the fallout from the recent weather started to show!







But by this point we had got pretty good at riding these little bikes through puddles and mud and we were already soaked through anyway!





At times it even felt like being home in Wales! :p





And hey, the scooters are looking clean - right!



Then it was the usual dry everything in our hotel room type evening...



...

...the bikes needed some spannering so tomorrow we decided to change the tyres and do an oil change before heading back into the valleys!

[jim-500]

So we started the day with our spanners out to fix a slow puncture on the silver scooter, we also gave both scoots an oil change and filter clean in preparation for a long ride back towards the north of the island. As always in Taiwan there were dogs interested in what we were doing!





We then headed towards "highway 7", we had been told this was one of the most picturesque roads in the north of the island...and for once it wasn't raining!







Although there was still plenty of damage caused by last weeks weather











We ended up crossing this bridge...



and decided to ride down the old highway that used to run in the valley below







We spent an hour or so crossing the river than ran along the base of the valley, something you don't really expect of Taiwan is that it feels vast in places...just huge open areas of jungle or riverbed to ride through!









Lot's of signs of old factories and bits of the old road to explore!







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Later we try to make our way back...through the jungle!

[jim-500]

So we continued riding the old highway until we reached this!



With no way of doing major river crossings we rode downstream until we found a bridge that was still standing...



Sadly we were told the scooters were not allowed to cross it, so we found this one instead!



The road continued north, winding along the side of the mountains...





Until, eventually we decided to take a shortcut and headed down a muddy track that looked like it might join up with the small township we hoped to stay at that evening.



After a few miles we came across these guys clearing fallen trees from the road!





They confirmed that the track did lead to the township, but also that it got muddier, not wanting to turn around we headed on into the jungle!





Not too many pics of this part as it was getting dark and the place was crawling with bugs ...but we spent the next hour riding a very muddy/humid track until we finally reached our guesthouse and fell asleep dead! :p







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Next up...our final day in Taiwan sees us heading out of the jungle and back to Taipei!

[jim-500]

So today was our last full day in Taiwan and we had to ride from a tiny village in the Fuxing district back to Taipei.

We kitted up early and found some breakfast near this shrine...





Then it was back into the jungle to find oursevles a main road!





As always the roads got worse before they got better...







These scooters had cost us less than 5 quid per day, and had taken us everywhere...I honestly don't think there would have been a better bike for Taiwan, being able to ride where the locals do, filter in and out of the scooter lanes in Taipei, find parts at every gas station we came to made them perfect!

And they were pretty capable even when the jungle tracks got really muddy!







Eventually the trees parted and we rode out from the jungle...



And crossed this giant pink bridge heading back towards the capital...







We made it to the city limits and decided to give the scooters one last clean!





And while we waited for them to dry!...Go Karting ofcourse!!!!








So that was it for Taiwan, I think probably the country we were most unsure about before leaving, we just had no idea what sort of riding there would be, whether we could get by on a bit of broken chinese and english, if our cards/licences would work...but it turned out to be one of my favourite places on the trip...food was amazing, roads were incredible and the scooters were shit hot! So a big thumbs up for Taiwan!

[jim-500]

Next up...Canada!!!!!!

B)