Sleep in the cabin was good. I woke up early, 7am, and started packing. I had an orange and some tea left over from the night before. I think it was wintermelon tea (冬瓜茶). I had a chat with Norman before I left and he gave me some breakfast. There was lots of milk tea and sandwiches uneaten by some tour group. I headed south on Rt. 9 and my first stop was Guangfu Sugar Factory in Hualien County (花蓮縣光復糖厰). They don’t make sugar there anymore but everyone stops there as they go by to eat ice cream. I had coconut milk flavor (椰奶冰淇淋). It hit the spot. The break was well needed. It was so hot that day. From the sugar factory I went to Hongyeh Hot Springs (紅葉溫泉) near Rueisuei (瑞穗). There’s an old Japanese hot spring hotel that I wanted to see. I had to keep it moving so I didn’t stay long. Near the Tropic of Cancer landmark there is a prehistoric site to be seen. It’s the Saoba Stone Pillar (掃叭石柱). It has a history of 3,000 years and stands as a relic of the Beinan Megalithic Culture. Across from the pillar there were fields of pomelo trees or Chinese grapefruit (柚子).

The next stop was to buy fruit and rest. There are lots of stands or trucks selling fruit along the side of the road in the East Rift Valley. This time I bought some juicy watermelon. The owner seemed busy but I chatted with one of the workers. He was nice. His name was 官先生 (Mr. Guan) and he told me to call me if I had trouble when in the area. He left and went around back to the farm while I continued eating my watermelon. After I finished, I wandered around back and found Mr. Guan gathering and weighing watermelons as someone came to buy a truckload. It was really hot that day. You can see in the photo album. My pen came in handy when it was time to do the math. I like how the two casually did their business. Mr. Guan did the math on the spot with his cellphone.

I made it to Antong Hot Springs (安通溫泉) for a bath. I was the only one there at first. It cost 150NT. It was a nice place. The water there is good for external skin wounds. That was good because I still had a cut on my ankle from when my motorcycle almost hit the ground and I saved it with my leg in between. A good chunk of skin was scraped off. That was a few days before I left for my trip. My experiment at the hot spring with shooting pictures from behind the waterfall didn’t turn out well. That’s because the photos weren’t worth the price of water getting in my camera. I didn’t think that much got in there but it was enough. Till this day my camera doesn’t work right. Aaah!

I went up Mt. Sixty Stone (六十石山) but the sun was hidden behind the clouds by the time I got to the top, or had it already set. In August there are blooming daylilies all over the hills. I got a glimpse of a few. They were really pretty. I was a little too early, a week or two later and it the whole hillside would have been orange with flowers.

I made it to Chihshang (池上) and ate dinner. I had a bowl of lǔ ròu fàn (魯肉飯) or stewed beef rice, sweet potato leaves (地瓜業) and bàobīng (刨冰) or shaved ice snack for dessert. I found a guesthouse (民宿) for 500NT ($15). I was in my room drafting these notes at 8:34pm that night.