Published: July 31st 2010February 28th 2010
pagoda
view looking down from the top of the inside
The Final Installment!
The cool, rainy weather forced us to change our east coast surfing plans. We decided to go north from Taitung to the city of Hualian and the Taroko Gorge.
The Taroko Gorge is impressive. It's a 19-mile long canyon near the east coast coast of Taiwan. It features a dramatic elevation gain from the coast to around 3000 meters in about 60 horizontal kilometers. It's also crumbling. We rented scooters and toured the park for the day. The weather was decent with only a slight drizzle hitting us here and there. It was a pleasant alternative to spending a few days surfing.
From there, Marvis caught a train back to Chiayi, while the rest of us hopped a train north to Taipei. In Taipei we met up with one of Steve's friends who had recently moved back to Taiwan after spending several years in San Francisco going to University and working. After a day in Taipei, Claire and I had to head back to Chiayi to continue molding the young minds that will make Taiwan's future bright and glorious!!
As with the previous blogs in this series, the remainder of the story is in the titles and captions of the pictures. We just don't have time to do all the writing we used to. It's not always cohesive because I pulled the pics from two different sources. Sorry.
Well...the next installment will be a smattering of Taiwan pics that we never had time to dedicate a blog to. See ya there!
Brian
There are more photos below
Photos: 38
Displayed: 23
Displayed: 23
We are Claire and Brian. We are awesome. If you know us, a small piece of your heart is forever content. If you do not, there is a yearning deep inside you that will be one day be abated should you be lucky enough to know us.
Anyways, we have been living abroad and teaching English for about fourteen months now (as of June 09). We started in Thailand. Now we are in Taiwan. Read about it if you'd like. We've been lucky with our jobs and the great people we have met along the way. We've had some opportunities to travel. We usually get a blog or two up about our travels. We'll be in Taiwan for... full info
| Joined | March 17th 2008 | Trips | 0 |
| Last Login | October 25th 2011 | Followers | 0 |
| Status | BLOGGER | Follows | 0 |
| Blogs | 27 | Guestbook | 45 |
| Photos | 953 | Forum Posts | 0 |
Blog Options
Taiwan
In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. Taiwan reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established a government using th...more info
Blogged From
TravelBlog Awards
Find Hotels
Guests: | Rooms: |
Claire and Brian
we are adorable
Mah-Jhong
We brought the card version so we could play on the road. The Taiwanese were always impressed that we could play.
Home Hotel
We got hooked up with this house that was a hotel for our night in Hualian. It was cool to stay in a house.
?
Everyone else was taking picture here, so you know we had to as well.
A lil' bridge
the road going through the gorge can be very narrow in places, yet large tour buses are everywhere. Sometimes there's only room for one bus. When they meet...?
Steve and Marvis
After Steve found this mask, he wouldn't take it off. Seriously...for days.
Training
Poor form displayed here
these pictures...
don't do the place justice, but what are ya gonna do?
water
There's a big river that flows through the gorge and empties into the Pacific. I think this was just a tributary.
Sound advice
The place really is crumbling
Sound Advice Taken
I'm wearing full rain gear with all the clothes I have underneath. It was quite chilly on the bikes, and I've been living in extremely hot climates for 17 years now. I get cold like a hairless chihuahua on a snowy January morning.
Tunnels
There are so many tunnels in Taiwan. I suppose it's the most efficient and safest way to get around these steep crumbling mountains.
Claire and Marvis
This was a cool spot. The road has been rerouted from here, but you can still walk around and enjoy.
Nothing was falling, but
I wasn't wearing my helmet!
Comments
Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved
The text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (CEBandBA). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (CEBandBA). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Tot: 0.054s; Tpl: 0.005s; cc: 14; qc: 39; dbt: 0.0308s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.61.183); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.5mb
Elise
non-member comment
What a wonderful adventure!
Claire and Brian, Thanks so much for sharing all these wonderful photos and tales of your adventure - it has been a PLEASURE to travel vicariously with you. Realizing that this is your last installment of the blog, please stay in touch (whether by blog or otherwise) and keep us posted on the next chapter. I wish you continued happiness and safe travels. Sincerely, Elise Colson
From Blog: 太魯閣 - Around the Island for Chinese New Year (Part 3 of 3)