Blogs from Taroko, Hualien, Taiwan, Asia

Z ubytka vypadnutie nieco po 9.30 smer np taroko. Cs sa cudovala co sme vsetci vcera sli spat tak skoro (o polnoci) Mensie zhrunutie jej vcerajsieho rozhovoru s peknou recepcnou. Obe recepcne studuju na rovnakej skole ako studovala pin. Talian co zobral jednu recepcnu na festival na druhy den zobral recepcneho erica do taroka. Vraj isiel dost rychlo a na spiatocnej ceste mali nehodu. Obiehali auto zprava (normalna vec tu ) to si ich nevsimol a odbocilo vpravo takze bum. Recepcny len oskrenina ale talian vraj aj rozbite koleno. Aby platila poistka recepcny musel povedat, ze on soferoval. Talian nemal vodicak. Zrejme aj preto pozicovne nepozicavaju skutre ludom bez vodicaku. Volaco sa stane a poistka neplati. Nuz nazad na skuter. Zastavka na ranajky. Vsetko cerstvo prichystane, jeden chlapik furt valkal cesto, dalsi to daval do pece ... read more

We had absolutely no problem getting our connection down to Taroko Gorge from Taipei. Vegetables for breakfast again - lots to choose from, usually mixed into rice congee, but we bypass that. We're really enjoying the vegetables - sweet potato seem to be eaten every meal. To me it has a slimy feel in the mouth which i don't like. One of the hotel staff played the violin that morning whilst we ate breakfast. A lovely handwritten note from hotel staff and weather information etc for the gorge as well handed to us as we were waved into the waiting taxi. We only waited a short time for the bus, they left every few minutes with super efficiency - never a second late, all spotlessly clean, very comfortable with onboard wifi! And only AUD $3 each. ... read more

Taroko Gorge is the most popular attraction in Taiwan outside of Taipei, so it is well set-up for tourism: a shuttle bus ferries tourists from site to site within the gorge, and there are queues of coaches along the road. The highest concentration of tour parties is at Eternal Spring Shrine a temple set into the rockface dedicated to the workers whose lives were lost in building the road through the gorge, and away from that everywhere is much less busy. The Gorge is one of those sites where everywhere you look there is stunning scenery. I first followed the Shakadang Trail along the river. There is still an Aboriginal tribe living near the river, and you are asked at various points to respect the environment and the fact that they might be working and causing ... read more

After acclimatising in Taipei for a few days, we are very much looking forward to get out of it. Not that we don't like Taipei, but the hustle and bustle and substantial air pollution is something we can tolerate only in relatively small doses. It takes us about four hours on a local train to get to Hualien. A town of roughly 100,000 inhabitants, Hualien is pretty much synonymous with Taroko Gorge, one of Taiwan's must-see tourist sites. As Chinese New Year is drawing closer and closer, we are more than keen on getting Taroko out of the way before the holiday crowds descend, and then moving on to somewhere less conspicuous. Hualien greets us with a torrential downpour that continues into the night. At the tourist information, we meet a Chinese Malaysian couple, who recommend ... read more

We took off in a train out to Hualian along the Eastern coast of Taiwan. It was quite the beautiful ride containing amazing views of the Pacific Ocean and the countryside. We got to Hualian at about 2 pm and rented 3 scooters between the 5 of us. Needless to say, I had never driven a moped before and the start of our adventure to Taroko Gorge was terrifying, exhilarating and superb. As soon as we got on the highway I felt much more comfortable. You’d be surprised how much power a 125 cc engine has. Hitting a consitant 60 km/h feels about 3 times as fast on a moped. The adrenaline rush was incredible, as we passed by rice fields with the ocean in sight. We started to head up the gorge after about an ... read more