I decided to have the Chinese steamed buns at the hotel's breakfast buffet to recharge my carbohydrate cravings. Sam, on the other hand, chose vegetables as his main dish.
This is a somewhat surprising choice for breakfast on a day of strenuous activity.
Sam eats basically anything meat or vegetable, but Taiwan has a large vegetarian and vegan population, and restaurants with vegetarian and vegan menus, even if they are not buffets, are more plentiful than in Japan.

Sam had been riding with all his luggage on his back until yesterday, when the saddlebags he had ordered were picked up at a convenience store near his hotel, and he was able to pack saddlebags for the first time in his life.
This is the first time on this trip to ride a leg of less than 100km, and his flippant pose shows that he is feeling comfortable.

"Fangliao" monument was found on the beach just after the start of the tour. Fangliao is famous for its large catches of tuna. We took a commemorative photo of my TREK, Sam's SCOTT, Tsucchi's Cinelli, bikepacking completed, side by side."

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We left Fangliao and headed south on Route 1 along the coast. We rode for Hengchun, the town where we chose to stop for lunch. As we continued south, the sun and dryness became stronger, so lip balm with sunscreen ingredients is a must in this region.

On our way to Hengchun, we spotted a sign along the road for mango shaved ice. On my last trip to Taiwan, I was very impressed with the shaved ice in Taipei.
Today, the distance is short and we have plenty of time to cool off and take a sweet break.

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I ordered a gorgeous fruit mix shaved ice with mango, watermelon, and dragon fruit on top. Unlike Japanese shaved ice, the ice was flavored as well. The fruits were all sweet and delicious, but the portion was quite large for one person to eat.

After the shaved ice break, we set out again for Hengchun. The crosswind blowing down from the mountain side (inland) to the sea side is strong in this area, and the bicycle is easily buffeted. We proceeded, leaning our bodies against the mountain side.

After riding along National Highway 1, we arrived at the junction with National Highway 9, which goes inland. This is an important point for riders who wish to circumnavigate Taiwan.
If you do not want to go to the southernmost point and want to shorten the distance and itinerary, choose Route 9 or Route 199, which takes a short cut inland at Checheng, to shorten the itinerary by one day.
In this case, we took Route 1 (the rightmost road in the photo), which is the longest route to the southernmost point. This road later became National Highway 26 and leads to the city of Hengchun.

The center of Hengchun, the southernmost town in Taiwan, can be entered through a wall built in the 19th century.
For lunch today, we decided to go to a cafe owned by my friend and Taiwanese cycling YouTuber, Linda.

We arrived at LAUNCHER CLUB, a cute cafe that Linda opened to provide a place for riders in southern Taiwan to relax. The old name of Hengchun, meaning "everlasting spring," was Lang Jiao.
The name "Lang Jiao" is said to have come from the similarity in pronunciation to the launcher of a rocket launcher.
As the name suggests, Hengchun is warm and easy to ride in winter. Linda, who knows Japan well, says it is similar to the climate in Izu.

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The wrap-sandwich I had for lunch was warmed by the heat from the bacon, and the cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes softly wrapped in the bread were warm and chewy, with the crunch of the fresh vegetables adding to the texture.
The casual yet high quality menu was made possible by the fact that it is designed and supervised by a dedicated chef.

While enjoying the cake (which was also delicious), we talked about bicycles and places we wanted to visit in Japan, and before we knew it, we had been there for two hours.

While Kenta-san was enjoying the friendly atmosphere, Sam's bicycle had a mishap. The battery of his electric derailleur had run out of power, probably because he had been using it so much on his bicycle trips over the past few months. Since it would take a long time to recharge the battery, we were unable to do any more guided touring for the rest of the day.

Seeing the group in high spirits, Linda offered to be our support rider to today's lodging.
It was reassuring to have a local rider riding with us! We gratefully accepted and resumed the second half of the day's ride.

First, we rode south from the cafe for about 15 minutes until we reached the bright blue sea.
This is "South Beach (Nanwan Recreation Area)," which Linda recommended. It is a sandy beach in the national park "Kending National Park.
The dazzling brightness of the sand and sea reveals a truly tropical beach, as it is located between Miyako Island and Luzon Island in the Philippines in terms of latitude.

It's been four and a half days since we started in Taipei, and Tsucchi and I have been riding while being constantly trained by Sam's fast pace.
"I'm not as fast as Sam, so don't worry!", promised Linda. I thought we would be able to ride at a leisurely pace, but instead, we had to go as hard and as aggressively as Sam. However, the two of us managed to keep up on the coastline even with its continuous ups and downs.

We arrived at the "Eluanbi Lighthouse" at the southernmost tip of Taiwan. It is located on the grounds of the Eluanbi Lighthouse Park, where the lighthouse is located.
There is a fee to enter the park, (60 yuan for adults/30 yuan for bicycles) and please push your bicycle to the lighthouse.

The Cape Eluanbi Lighthouse was restored after World War II and is now said to have the strongest light in all of Taiwan. We took a commemorative photo with the white lighthouse in the background.
As the southernmost park, it is crowded with tourists on weekends and has vending machines, restrooms, and other facilities that make it a convenient rest stop for rides.

After passing the lighthouse, we turn and enter the east side of Taiwan. From here it is northward.
Linda guided us to the scenic spot "wind-blown sand," which she highly recommends, with only 2 km remaining to today's lodge.

When we arrived there, we saw a sandy cliff at the end of the road.
Looking north, we could see a panoramic view of the mountains to the east, which we would pass through on our way to the tomorrow's accomondation.
This view, which stirred my imagination about the road ahead, was deeply moving because I was in the middle of my round-trip of Taiwan. It was worth to take Route 1 just to get here.

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For the first time on this trip, we arrived at the inn before the sun set. The hotel is white and minimalist in design, built on a site with lawns and the Pacific Ocean. We also said goodbye to Linda here today. Sam had also finished charging the battery in his gearbox and was riding to the hotel ahead of us.

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This time we are renting out a three-story building, with the living and dining room on the first floor, the washroom and bathroom on the second floor, and the bedrooms on the third floor. From the windows you can see the lawn and the sea. Of course, bicycles can be stored inside.

The washroom and bathroom on the second floor are also quite stylish. I was excited to be able to take a bath in the warm water of the bathtub for the first time in a long time.

The third-floor bedroom is also luxuriously furnished with two queen beds in a pure white space.

The café attached to the hotel opens at 5:00 p.m., so we ordered in advance from a pizza place about 1km from here.
This pizza was astonishingly good. The crispy dough is filled with rich cheese. The ingredients were placed right to the edge of the crust.
If you have decided to ride in Taiwan after reading this article, you should definitely try this pizza! But please note that you must make reservations in advance.

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Relaxing in the bathtub for the first time in a long time, enjoying delicious pizza and beer. Chilling on the spacious bed, we prepared for the second half of our trip around Taiwan, which starts tomorrow.