Taiwan

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Blog 12_Japan_2023



April 1 Port of Call: Hualien, Taiwan – Weather: 73°F/23°C – Light rain predicted – Wind 6 mph.



Today we stopped at the island nation known as: Formosa or Taiwan or Republic of

China your choice. Formosa – the original name of the island, given to it by European sailors

means, Beautiful Island.

Today’s excursion, eight hours in length, was entitled: Best of Taroko Gorge National

Park & Hualien. Eleven busloads, approximately 484 guests participated in this excursion.

Fortunately for us our bus was one of the first to leave the port, so we avoided much of the

crowding experienced later in the day. The predicted light rain held off until we boarded the

busses and then it intensified to a downpour. Fortunately, we had purchased ponchos so were

afforded a modicum of rain protection.

The first stop was up in the mountains at the Taroko Gorge National Park. The gorge is a 12-mile-long canyon slicing through marble formations. Here we participated in a walk along the edge of the gorge providing us with a view down into the gorge where the beauty of the underlying marble rock formations were on display. As a safety precaution we were all required to wear safety helmets as protection from falling rocks. Though it was raining quite heavily during our walk and the mountains were shrouded in mist the view was spectacular.

Our next stop along the mountain highway, which serves as the freeway providing access to Taipei, was at a shrine honouring the war dead. Perched high above a natural spring and waterfall the Eternal Spring Shrine was a stunning sight.

Photo stops never seem long enough and the next one provided a quick view of the rugged coastline at Qing Shui Cliff, a 3,300 drop into the Pacific Ocean before our tour guide hustled us back on the bus so that he could maintain his tight timed agenda. We headed off to Hualien where we enjoyed lunch at a local hotel.

After lunch we visited the Kang-Ten temple This temple honours the Goddess of the Sea and is noted for its the two blue dragon towers at the front of the structure. The elaborate towers actually hide stairways to the upper floors of the building. Elaborate ornamentation, striking decorations, vibrant colours are just a few of the adjective phrases that describe this temple. Once again being the first bus on site we avoided being crowded out by our fellow guests and had a good chance to explore the site.

Our last stop of the day was at the Pine Garden so named for the stand of ancient pine trees located there. The site is also famous for being the headquarters of a Kamikaze Unit. The Pine Garden served as the final post for the Kamikaze pilots. They would spend their last night in “The Little Wooden House” at the site preparing themselves for their deadly and fateful missions against the US navy.

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