Randonautica Cycling Two— Puyan Township
10th June 2024 — Dragon Boat Festival
Once again, I find myself sitting at home with the idea of going on another adventure before I have to return to work the following day. I wanted to go cycling and, just like before, I had no clue where that was going to be. I opened up the Randonautica app and set the radius to 10 km, plenty of distance to explore.
The ping appeared in what looked like the middle of nowhere, on the edges of Puyan Township, south of Changhua City. I did have doubts this time; my legs were more sensitive than the previous day, with a fresh layer of burn over them despite the sunscreen. I opted to wear my embarrassing cycling trousers instead of shorts. I say embarrassing because they don’t leave much to the imagination, if you know what I mean.
The temperature today was a lot cooler; rain had passed over the city earlier that morning. It still felt humid, but it was more bearable. By the time I left my home, the rain had turned into a light drizzle. I navigated my way through the city, passing down roads I hardly go through. I found new little coffee shops that I would like to try at a later date. It wasn’t long before I was on the outskirts, with more greenery and open skies.
I followed one of the small rivers south. It was flowing at speed, most likely because of the morning rain. The navigation had me following down the left side of the river before I had to go over a bridge to the other side a little further down. But, of course, things don’t work out like that. The road was blocked by works, which forced me to go to the other side of the river early, with a major detour through rice fields to get where I wanted to go. I decided to go against this. I saw that the work site had no actual dangers, and with only a few steps, I could be on the other side. I decided to risk it, crossing the barrier, almost slipping on the sloppy mud and squeezing through to the other side. A scooter rider behind me followed suit.
Before long, I was in Xiushui Township, well, the outskirts. Out here, I started to see more abandoned, derelict buildings. Most likely their owners have long passed, and their homes have been left to rot.
I wasn’t going to stop; I wanted to press on, for I had plans later on in the day. But this one building caught my eye, most likely because it had a scooter on its roof. I soon realized that it was a cafe. Seconds later, my throat started clenching for an Americano iced coffee, something to push back against the humidity. The owner was very friendly and started asking me questions about my little adventure. I didn’t go into detail, but I told him I was just exploring the countryside. He also had a pet dog, a cute border collie, that walked up and down the small cafe. He certainly enjoyed the hip rubs. (The dog, not the owner.)
The cafe had soft music playing, with a comfortable sofa and wine bottles decorating the ceiling above. It was a lovely surprise for where it was. If you are ever interested in going, this is the address: 504, Changhua County, Xiushui, Fuxin St, 20號貨櫃屋.
After finishing my coffee and saying my goodbyes, I headed deeper into the countryside, slowly leaving Xiushui behind. I crossed a small beehive area in the trees where someone was collecting honey. I saw a few bees swarming around, but most of them must have been inside creating the sweet honey.
Going down the winding roads, I soon heard the noticeable sound of quacking. Poking my eye through a hole in the wall, I saw geese and chickens. I didn’t stay for long; I could see a car was parked, and I didn’t want the owner coming out and spotting me looking at his birds. Not that I was afraid of a confrontation; Taiwanese people are too friendly for that. I didn’t want to be stuck in a Google Translate conversation when I needed to press on.
I passed through more derelict houses and rice fields, as well as the occasional country folk staring at me as I passed, probably wondering why I was out there.
Crossing over a small river, with Freeway 76 above my head, I finally saw the sign for Puyan Township. This brought a smile to my face. It was definitely a place that I would never have visited; there is no real reason to visit the town. But here I was, because of random coordinates.
Making my way down Highway 19, the relentless traffic raging past me as I avoided being hit by passing cars, the turning to my destination was fast approaching. I pedaled a little faster.
I passed one more rice field section and saw these old houses in the distance. Then my phone informed me that I had reached my destination. Getting off the bike, I had a little look around. It was certainly an interesting little location.
The coordinates took me to a traditional Taiwanese house, still in use and in good condition. Across the road from the house was a duck pond with a small seat and some stools. I believed this to be private because of the small fencing that I could have easily stepped over. A little further down the road, I saw an abandoned house. Though I couldn’t explore a lot of it due to the high shrubbery, I managed to enter two rooms to my right. I believed one of them to be the kitchen, as I saw an old fridge. In the other room, an old television. I was loving the rather large courtyard, a typical architectural design in old Taiwanese homes.
I wondered how long this place had been empty and who used to live here.
The courtyard sounded peaceful, the shrubs growing all around rustled their leaves in the warm breeze. I didn’t stay for long; my bike was parked outside, and I wasn’t sure what the locals would think, seeing a foreigner poking around the place.
I felt happy with the final destination, I wasn’t burnt and I got the chance to explore something interesting. I certainly hoped for more locations like this but I knew that some coordinates would leave me to nothing more than a field with some rice. I wanted to explore more, but I needed to get back, luckily following Highway 19 was going to take me right into the heart of the city, passing near by my home. It was now going to be a race against traffic, but after the ride I had, I didn’t mind.
I wonder where I will be going next?
