Alangyi Ancient Trail

Highway 26 runs around most of Taiwan's coast but a gap of some eight kilometres was never built, and the Alangyi trail crosses it: a route along cobble beaches and over a headland that Paiwan people and Dutch and Qing officials used before roads. Proposals to complete the highway were fought off and the section is now protected. Walking it requires a permit and a licensed guide, numbers are capped, and the tide dictates the timing.

What you actually see

• The roadless coast - the last section of Taiwan's shoreline without a highway.
• The cobble beaches - rounded stone shore walked for most of the route.
• The headland climb - the section over Guanyin Nose where the shore is impassable.
• The Pacific - open ocean the whole way with no development in sight.

When to go

October to April is the driest and calmest. Summer typhoons close the route. Timing is set by the tide and by the guide, not by the walker.

Honest expectations

A permit and a licensed guide are both compulsory and numbers are limited daily. The walk is on loose cobble which is hard going. There is no shade, no water and no exit once started.

Nearby

Xuhai is the southern end, and Taitung county begins at the northern end.