Taroko Gorge: Tropical East Coast Taiwan

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Taroko (meaning magnificent and beautiful in the local Truku native language) is one of the seven national parks of Taiwan and proves to be one of the best ways to spend a weekend here in Taiwan. As I did the best to convey with my pictures, Taroko represents ancient Chinese landscape: tall green mountains, deep valleys with clear rivers at the bottom, all eerily framed with a heavy mist. With a temple or two typically poking out from any viewpoint, one can easily get the sense of the spirit of an older China. While the man made trails and bridges may at first give the impression this is an easy park to get around in, nothing could be further from the truth. Given the steepness of the mountains and sheer drop-offs from narrow trails, this park contains some decent adventures. While I’ve only spent one day at Taroko, I’ve already learned it’s one of the essential parts that any person should see when in Taiwan.

Even though on this trip I ended up straining some muscles, going with such a good group of friends in such a majestic area still made the entire trip worthwhile. Getting to Taroko can be a simply awesome drive. If one drives through the mountain ranges to arrive, it’s supposed to be a great drive (as the roads were closed due to typhoons when we went, I’ll have to take the option next time). The other choice is to drive along the coast, and as the pictures show, the majority of the coast side is covered by tall reaching mountains. Thus, the drive is simply stunning. The town itself of Hualin that is nearby Taroko is a fast growing place that is already developing an international community. With the small markets and unique areas, a weekend here was defiantly a good choice. The native cultures have also survived much better in Taiwan here on the East coast as compared to the West coast. More than likely, the East coast being more effected by typhoons makes the land less likely to be fought over. Despite the natural dangers of the East coast, its beauty is undeniable.

As for Taroko, it was first created when Taiwan was under the Japanese Empire, back in 1937. Once Japan lost WW II and its claim to Taiwan, China claimed control of the park and decided to shut it down. With Taiwan’s path towards independence, it gained self-control of the parks and re-opened Taroko back in 1945. Considering the amount of labor that went into cutting the roads and paths through the marble mountains, it seems the only proper justice to such an area. With the Philippine and Eurasian Sea plates crashing together, the mountains were created, making such a park possible. Even today, the plates crash together and the mountains grow in height around .5 cm each year.

In the end, what more can be said about a place that offers natural and majestic beauty? It’s simply an amazing experience to hike through and see what can be created in the natural world. It became quite clear to me how the name of this park came to be from the local natives. While I have around 50 pictures posted, in reality, I took many more that I wanted to post. More so, I was lucky to go with such great friends, it’s certainly one of the best weekends I had thus far. Hopefully the pictures reveal enough though as to why the name of this park is truly befitting.

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Photos

Within Taroko
I wouldn't be surprised to see this view at the beginning of a Bond movie in the future

Hualin views 3
On the beach you can see how the mountains meet the ocean

Coastal view
Along the coastal highway, views like this abound

Driving through the mountain tunnels
This did have a nice futurastic feel, as this tunnel was over 5 miles

Taiwan Wal-Mart
Though I despise the American Wal-Mart with all of my heart, I feel the exact opposite about this Taiwanese Wal-Mart.

Comments

[Donna]

phenomenal.

[Madison E Bryant]

Brothers
Yeah.What about the two brothers you have here? One is my dad!Wow!

[gypsy_teacher]

Ha
Perhaps I should have used the term "Brother from another Mother?" I stand corrected. Take care!