My Adventures on Freeway 7, a.k.a. Beibu Road, Part I

A couple of Saturdays ago (I actually thought it was this past Saturday - that's how fast the days and weeks are going by for me) I went to Ilan County on my scooter. I used Freeway 7, or Beibu Road, as it is also called. There is a reservoir and lake that basically divides some of Hsinchu County and Taoyuan County. I should clarify: the lake flows into the reservoir. What I saw this time around was the lake part. It is truly impressive, more clear, more blue, more picturesque than Sun Moon Lake, as I recall. The latter was beautiful, when I visited it, but even then, sometimes there was smog. It was extraordinarily beautiful though, when Sharon and I went, in 2006. Since all the cable cars and compound upon compound of tourists added, with all the extra cars and buses and cramming into hotels which quickly went to "No Vacancy" when we went, I've seen people's photos, and it really isn't that pretty at Sun Moon Lake anymore. Just a tourist trap. Fortunately, there aren't any hotels or such things to trap tourists in the lake-area below. 

The area is on Google Maps, as shown here:

View Larger Map

One of the nice things about leaving at a time when everybody says it's too hot to do anything is that there are...well, almost not people. This was a truly pleasant journey. I left Hsinchu at 2:40, and was in this lake area at about 4:20. 

The air up in the mountains and on the East Coast is cleaner than any I have smell and tasted and felt in years, even in Canada. Basically, most of my life, I've been a city person, living, as I have, in places like Vancouver, Montreal, etc. Yes, Vancouver has a lot of sites, but you have to pay a lot of money to go away to places that are away from busy traffic, something I rarely did, even as a kid. I did a lot more than when I was an adult. In Montreal, we had Parc Mont Royal, which is quite similar to 18 Peaks Mountain, in Hsinchu City. Sure, Hsinchu is more polluted but...there are times in Montreal when the the pollution is really bad, and sometimes gets worse than here. All in all, Hsinchu City reminds me of Montreal, but in many ways, Hsinchu City is livelier, and more convenient. 

Anyway, onto more pictures...

There are even boats on this lake. I'd be curious if they are commercial tours, or private affairs.

Onward and onward I trekked; onward and onward I drove my motorcycle, marvelling at the sights that I had been dying to see all of my life.
At last, the lake tapered off into this pretty valley town in Taoyuan County:

The name of the town is Fuxing. I never actually went through Fuxing, because I was in a hurry to see more of the mountainside, and see how the experience of driving my scooter to Ilan would turn out.

I soon arrived at this bridge. There is a cave and walking bridge adjacent to this bridge, which I will explore in Part II of this blog post about my trip. The scenery, the wide space, and the tourist attraction of the caves and aboriginal art provide blue-truck vendors with the perfect opportunity to lay out a makeshift restaurant right here.

This is the stream below the bridge.  The Taiwanese call these things rivers, but to those of you, like me, who are North Americans, we know really rivers - big rivers. This looks more like what we see a lot of in British Columbia. To me, this is a stream.

 There are some wonderfully big trees up there. I've heard there are much much bigger ones if you go up to Lalu Mountain. I will have to make that detour one day.

The mountain scenery continued to be amazing...

 There are even the odd lonely houses far, up, and away.

Dusk quickly pushed me towards my destination. I had to drive slowly (30 km./hr.) because there were no lights on the road. Fortunately, the drivers were considerate, even the cowboy teenagers on their showy motorcycles who were driving to show off their fancy lights and make a bunch of noise. They gave me lots of space, and didn't freak anybody out. The drive to Ilan was my most pleasant driving experience in Taiwan. I recommend this road on Saturday afternoons. Not in winter, of course, unless you have a car, or don't mind freezing your buns off on a scooter (dress warmly and bring your gloves) and encountering a little snow.