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| Cimu Bridge |
Two years into living in Taipei I finally went to visit Taiwan's most famous geological wonder, Taroko Gorge (太魯閣). With peaks as high as 3,000 meters, this long, narrow gorge is a popular destination for local Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese alike. However the thought of visiting on a crowded weekend with tour buses shooting up and down the Central Cross-Island Highway, which runs through the gorge, was enough to keep me delaying my visit. But through a last minute argument on what to do for the weekend, I managed to score train tickets on a Thursday night for the upcoming weekend (it's definitely better to get tickets much further in advance as weekend trains from Taipei to Hualien usually sell out).
We took an early Saturday morning train from Taipei Main Station, arriving in Hualien (花蓮) around two hours later. The street just outside the train station is lined with scooter rental shops and we asked about the prices at a couple while we made our way to Formosa Backpackers Hostel, which I had booked in advanced. The hostel seemed to be recently renovated with freshly painted walls and a mixture of traditional Taiwanese furnishings and new Ikea furnishings making up the more hostel-related stuff (bedding, lamps, etc.). For an added bit of warmth for a bookworm, they had a large library on the first floor, as well as numerous other books spread about the hostel's various floors and rooms in Chinese, English, and other languages. Our double-bed room was simple and comfortable, and the shared bathroom was clean.
The girl who runs the place keeps watch at the bar downstairs, speaks English well and is helpful with any questions. We rented a scooter through them since it was the same price as the places by the train station, and after filling out the paperwork we waited for it to be dropped off (another perk).
The drive from Hualien to the gorge is about an hour. I definitely recommend renting a scooter over using the buses, since the gorge consists of a long road (one could ride for hours) with scenic spots and short trails dispersed along the way. Walking between these places is not possible and waiting for buses, which didn't seem to run very often at all, would be a hassle. Most people seem to visit the gorge in tour bus groups with their flag waving, mic carrying guides, which I would never recommend. (These groups were also older people and always Chinese-speaking, so not really an option for foreigners anyway.) We also went in January, which in retrospect was off season and a good choice. The hostel was cheaper and the gorge was wonderfully void of the traffic and masses I was anticipating. The only issue is it gets surprisingly cold the further up you go, especially on a scooter, so dress accordingly.
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| Map of Taroko National Park |
Day One:
We started at the much photographed Eternal Spring Shrine. The shrine itself is quite small and is more remarkable from a distance against the backdrop for the gorges' massive walls than to walk through. DO NOT come here around 4p.m. as this is when ALL the tourist buses stop here. (For sunset? I don't know, because it was so overcast we never saw the sun, and the walls of the gorge don't really make that sound reasonable.) Being relatively close to the mouth of the gorge and the park's entrance they create a huge traffic jam, though with a scooter you can weave between the cars and buses to manage a reasonable escape.
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| (Changchun) Eternal Spring Shrine |
Next we drove to Swallow Grotto, named for the birds that make their homes in the rock walls. We parked our scooter and walked the short walkway along the road. We kept our helmets on in case of falling rocks (actually more to keep in fashion with the other walkers than for actual fear of falling rocks, not that helmets aren't recommended).
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| Yanzikou (Swallow Grotto) |
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| Yanzikou (Swallow Grotto) |
We tried to visit the Tunnel of Nine Turns (Jiuqudong) next but it was under construction at the time, so we made our way to Tianxiang, which turned out to be an uneventful parking lot with a few small restaurants and souvenir shops. It mostly attracts people for the nearby picturesque Xingde Temple, which rests higher up the mountain. There's a trail up to reach the temple, but we decided to admire it from below, preferring to make our way to the next place since we were a little worried about both time and weather.
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| Xiangde Temple |
Not too far from Tianxiang is the delightful Baiyang Trail. BRING A FLASHLIGHT and come prepared to get wet. The start of the trail is through a 380m, slightly leaky, pitch dark, cement tunnel. Navigating the darkness is both slightly eerie and slightly exciting. After the tunnel, the trail follows along the side of a mountain, looking down to the river below. There are a few more rock tunnels until you come to an open area to the left, and the way to Water Curtain Cave on your right (everything is well sign posted).
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| Baiyang Trail |
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| entrance to the second tunnel, Baiyang Trail |
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| more caves and tunnels, Baiyang Trail |
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| view of the trail from a lookout point, Baiyang Trail |
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| Water Curtain Cave, Baiyan Trail |
Winter days being shorter, we started to make our way back to Hualien. There's a popular night market in the city but we skipped it, my friend loathing night markets and me having had more than my fill in this country (really, they're all the same, only some more local, while others more touristy in goods). Instead we asked at the hostel and found a nice vegetarian restaurant just up the road called Greenland (143 JianGuo Road).
Click here for Day Two at Taroko National Park.
For more information visit Taroko National Park's very informative website.
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