Day 15: Around Taroko and Hualien

With a 6:50 morning call, we were soon boarding onto the bus and heading towards our first destination, the Tunnel of Nine Turns in Taroko National Park, one of the area's most popular trails. The tunnel was previously used for cars, but now a newer and wider tunnel has been built, and the old tunnel has been converted into a walking trail, where one can marvel at the gorge and the Liwu river, as well as the marble found in the rock tunnels.

Tunnel of Nine Turns, Taroko National Park

We adorned helmets in case of falling rocks and walked through the first of the tunnels, but we didn't go too far, as these was some cleanup ahead, and we didn't have much time allotted. A little disappointing (though I've been here before), but since some people were dressed in flimsy shoes, I guess not many people were up for much hiking.

Our next step was Bulouwan, an old settlement of the Atayal tribe, one of the fourteen recognized aboriginal groups of Taiwan. There was a center describing the Aboriginal lifestyle, and we watched a video about Taroko National Park. We had some free time afterwards. We climbed the hill which featured some displays and a restaurant on top, among some beautiful sights of the gorge.

Left: Culture centre among the mountains; Right: a sign we all love to see? =P

Path at the top of the hill.

Our last stop in Taroko National Park was Eternal Spring Shrine, a landmark centered around a waterfall that commemorates those who died in the development of roads and tunnels throughout the area. It was about a ten to fifteen minute walk, over bridges and tunnels to get to the Shrine. There were also trails that went up above the shrine - a friend and I picked one, but the trail seemed to just go up and up and up. Eventually, time ran short, so we took some final pictures before heading back to the bus.

View of the Temple from the Bridge.

View of the bridge from the temple.

Shortly after leaving Taroko National Park, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We sit in assigned tables of ten for convenience, as we frequently stop by these restaurants that serve the same type of meal. Asian-style with around seven dishes, soup, and rice. The room is usually quite simple and undecorated, the tablecloth is plastic and our tableware may be disposable. The food tends to be quite decent though, and we end with fruit. One of the most common fruit served is guava - a fruit that our table seems to love, while other tables don't like so much. So most of the time, we go "guava sampling", walking around to other tables and seeing who has the sweetest guava =P. Lots of fun.

A Typical Meal

After about twenty minutes of driving, we arrived at Chisingtan beach, a pebble beach just North of Hualien. The area is a great example of Taiwan's east coast, with the waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing onto the coast that rises up to become the tall, green mountains of Taiwan. The beach had a "no swimming" rule though, due to strong waves and currents, so we spent our time on the rocks. A few vendors were nearby, selling cold fruits drinks and tsua-bing. Also nearby was an air force base, causing our relatively peaceful beach experience to be interrupted by test flights of low-flying fighter jets. Eventually, after a few really loud booms caused by planes and very hot weather, our one hour stay was shortened to thirty minutes, and we were told we were headed to an air conditioned mall.

Mountains meet Ocean

The mall turned out to be a Carrefour, a French based "hypermarket" chain - essentially a department store and a supermarket stacked on top of each other. Despite initial disappointment, air-conditioning is always welcoming, and we spent about half an hour walking around, sampling foods, and buying some cool drinks.

At around three, we were on our way into Hualien, making a stop at the Mochi factory, an example of Japan's influence on Taiwanese culture. Mochi's are Hualien's specialty, and this store, known in English as JOTA is famous for them. After a small exhibit showing the history and making of the snack, we were shown the kitchen and brought into their store, where they sold all kinds of mochis and related products, including cakes, spices, teas, and dried fruits.

History Exhibit on the Second Floor

Lots of products to sample on the first floor.

We left the factory and headed to our hotel in downtown Hualien (the largest city on Taiwan's east coast), definitely the nicest place we've stayed in since arriving in Taiwan. After dropping our bags in our rooms, we were given the evening to explore the Nan Bing night market in Hualien. Naturally, the area was much less active than the bustling streets at the Shilin Night Market, but it was a unique experience. We bought a grapefruit green tea that was really good though.

Hualien Night Life Experience

As we approach southern Taiwan, there are more and more Taiwanese speakers. Store owners and vendors are more likely to greet you in Taiwanese than Mandarin, personally making me more comfortable shopping here than in Taipei. I didn't buy much, but I did manage to grab a VGA cable and a new pair of headphones to take back home.

I didn't stay out too long, instead opting to come back to the hotel earlier and to take one really refreshing shower after a long day. The internet at the hotel was great, finally giving us an opportunity to catch up with friends, news, and watch youtube =).