The Story Of Hualian and the Deep Dark and Dangerous Taroko Gorge

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The Story Of Hualian and the Deep, Dark and Dangerous Taroko Gorge


We arriaved to Hualian 2 days before my birthday. Hualien is a small city on the less populated eastern coast of Taiwan. People from this area wear home-made-yarn embellished purses—hats—belts. These people are direct descendants of the aboriginal Indians that lived in the mountains.
We noticed more BETLE NUT here than any other place we had been. Strangers would smile as they passed by—exposing their BRIGHT RED teeth and gums. Why it turns red in the mouth I have no idea, it is green when you buy it. Look down at the street, and you’ll see red splotches all over the place.
All the people we have talked to about Taroko Gorge complain about how boring the city of Hualian is—that the only reason to go there is because of the gorge. I disagree. I met many interesting people in this city—played dance dance revolution with the locals, spent 2 hours and exchanged numbers with this amazing woman from “Angel Nails”…it was fun.


********************Taroko Gorge*********************
10:00AM we took off on the local bus to Taroko Gorge. As we passed the entrance gate I looked at the time 10:40AM..We finally arrived to the drop off point and it was 11:40….We had to walk from the drop off point to the entrance gate before night fall….and it took 1 hour to drive that distance by bus…sounds like trouble to me!!
There are many trails that veer off this main road, and these trails are the most beautiful/famous spots in the park—so our walk is now not only the 1 hour bus ride distance—but add on any trails we decide to walk down.. Honestly, I am totally freaking out at this point, unsure of how we will make it to that entrance gate by sunset! Bert is convinced that it won’t be a problem—that we will easily cover the distance…so we walk
First stop was this famous waterfall path—we saw a family of monkeys along the way, they were very curious, but wouldn’t take the food we were throwing their way. The air was damp and fresh here.

Every direction you looked in you couldn’t help but notice the MASSIVE marble gorge. The mist in the air made the marble look even more translucent and reflective.
We proceeded towards the entrance gate, went on many trails that were amazing—like something out of a movie. I doubt I will ever see a mountain scape so vivid and rich again. Everything looked like a scene from a Japanese ink painting. REALLY! This is a very accurate description of the scenery!!

Forward we marched—we were the ONLY people walking on the main road—everyone else was riding on a tourist bus, then getting off at the famous trails and walking. As the sun began to descend we saw fewer and fewer tourist busses..we kept walking towards that entrance gate…
Now it is pitch black outside, and we have reached the part of the road laced with tunnels. Some short tunnels, some very very long tunnels. pitch black. No flash lights. No light at the end of the tunnel. Some tunnels didn’t even have a walk way for pedestrians. When cars drove by you felt the air current suck you in..and the exhaust from the cars posed the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning. Not to mention the danger of walking that close to fast moving traffic in a twisting turning pitch black tunnel, on the edge of a gorge..you get the idea…
After 45 minutes of this we came across a particularly large VERY long lit tunnel. About ½ way through I saw graffiti on the wall that said “Don’t Die”—I began to think I was having a bad dream and I would wake any minute. AND THEN out of the blue—an taxi approached us, and delivered us safely to our destination.





Megan Dupuy Relocate Taiwan

Albert Dupuy

Megan Dupuy Relocate Taiwan

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