Taiwan Tour 2014: From Yilan to Taitung

With a long, five hour drive to Taitung staring us in the face, we fit in one more early morning session in Yilan. The wind had calmed down a bit so we had a nice, gentle, offshore breeze.

After stopping to check out the views at Taroko National Park and then again at Central Cross-Island Highway Archway, we broke for lunch in Hualien. We went to a local spot that only makes one dish, pork dumpling soup, and has been doing so for over 70 years. The soup was perfect, light, and warmed our cold bodies, helping us forget about the rain we had been experiencing for a bit. Did we mention we'd been doing most of this drive without a stereo in the bus, too? (thanks to Jaz and Jalian for fixing it!)

After lunch we continued south until we reached Tuitang, where we'd be camping and surfing set camp up camp for the next couple of days.

We woke up the next morning to an epic breakfast prepared by Miya and June. There is no better way to start off a long day of surfing than with a warm, 'camp-cooked' breakfast.

We dropped by the ASP Taiwan Open of Surfing, saying hello to friendly and familiar faces. Surf was picking up a bit just down from the contest, so we hopped in the water for a bit, letting the crew do what they do best. After surfing we settled down for lunch at a local favorite, Low Pressure. The food was delicious here as well.

As the sun began to set, we headed back to Jinzun, a two kilometer stretch of beach just south of the harbor, just as the waves began to fire.

We ended the session with a campfire on the beach where we were joined by fellow surfers and a few locals. We listened to stories about the local surf culture, and we taught the group all about an old western tradition... s'mores.