Weekend Trip

I had last Saturday off of work because of "Tomb Sweeping Day". It's a day where you're supposed to return to your Grandfather's and great grandfather's tombs and clean them, pray and make sure you think about your ancestors. The point being I had a day off from work. So me and a few friends decided to take a little trip down the East coast. We had no real plan but decided to start by taking the train to Hualien. I've been there two times before but this was to be the first time I made it South of Hualien.
http://iguide.travel/Hualien
We headed out of Hualien after getting rental scooters for 400 Tawain dollars per day
And were OFF! South down the coast on Highway number 11. We saw a big buddha from the highway and stopped off at what turned out to be a monastary. We explored around and then were offered lunch in the Monastary. So there we ate with a bunch of Buddhist monks.

Next stop was Jici beach a beautiful beach with black sand a few KMs south of the Monastary. We stayed there for a few minutes then continued on our way.

We ended up at Shitipong. We found a cheap hotel and stayed the night right on the beach overlooking the majestic coral formations that were everywhere along the coast. The next day we headed out with the aim of taking highway 193 (the "scinic" route back to Hualien. First though we stopped off at the Tropic of Cancer marker.

The road back was windy and it started pouring as we were driving. Four foreigners riding rented scooters in the middle of Taiwan (and I mean the middle, just small little towns everywhere) In the pouring rain. Finally made it back to Hualien and back to the hustle and bustle of the city. But it was a great experience...just riding through the countryside seeing baby water buffaloes, villagers and incredible scenery. Obviously this is a very brief synopsis of the trip.....but here are some pictures. There are more details but I think they would be better told over a few beers at a bar. Amazing time though!!!

Pictures are as follows (the blog is being weird)
1. Tropic of Cancer marker
2. down time while scootering
3. Some local traffic
Pics 5-7 East Rift Valley Scenic Area http://www.erv-nsa.gov.tw/user/main.aspx?Lang=2&SNo=

Dinner at random fish restaurant where they just pull the meal out of the tanks in front of you
Pics 9 and 10 Jici Beach
Pics 11-12 Weird trippy place called Cow Mountain Beach, run by a local Aboriginal Family but overpriced and tacky
Last few pictures:
Giant Buddha and Buddhist monastary where we had some good lunch.