Taiwan, Hualien: Taroko Gorge-ous

A great friend of ours from Taipei – Vivian - took the week that we were visiting Taiwan off from work in order to spend time with us and to be our tour guide. Of course, our main reason to visit Taiwan was to see Vivian, and it was a pleasant added bonus that she was so organised and willing to make our week very special, by including as many things to do as possible in the country.

We flew to Taipei from Hong Kong and arrived at the airport at noon on Monday, ready to spend a week with Vivian and to see country number 11 on our trip. Nervous energy was in the air as we weren’t sure we would recognise Vivian amongst the other black-haired people in the crowd outside the airport arrivals hall. Of course, we felt rather silly when we saw her as nothing has changed and she looked the same as when she visited us in London four years ago.

The leaves were sticking out of our mouths, so that we could see who was able to capture the best 'kiss a goat' photo

The truth is, when Vivian saw us – and we really stood out in the airport as we were the only Westerners at that time – she shouted hello, which meant we didn’t have to do any searching through the many faces to find her. Big smiles hit our faces when we greeted her and once she started telling us about the travel and sightseeing plan for the week, we knew we were in for a great time.

This journal entry covers our trip to Hualien, a province three hours south of Taipei on the eastern coast of the island, but our first day in Taiwan was spent in Taipei, primarily around the Taipei 101 area. You will have to read about Taipei 101 and our first day’s activities in the country’s capital city in our next travel journal.

Before we get to Hualien, we should give you a bit of info about Taiwan. The BBC has summarised Taiwan’s position excellently, "Taiwan has one of Asia's few functioning democracies and one of its strongest economies. But for the island's 23 million people, the future is overshadowed by an unresolved dispute with China. China sees the island as a breakaway province which should be reunified, by force, if necessary. Hundreds of Chinese missiles now aim across the Taiwan Strait to bring home the point. Both sides are used to dealing with this fraught relationship, and closer economic ties may eventually make conflict less likely. But until that happens, any flare-up over Taiwan would have much wider implications. Most importantly, it could quickly suck the US into conflict with China, because of US security assurances to Taiwan."

This fragile relationship with China had an impact on our travel plans this year. When originally planning our Asian destinations, we wanted to book a return flight from mainland China to Taiwan. It was only after searching the internet for a while that we found out that no one is allowed to fly directly between the two countries unless (a) they are government officials, and (b) it is Chinese New Year or some other big national holiday when flights have been opened up for that time period.

To combat the lack of direct flights from China to Taiwan, we ended up booking return flights from Hong Kong, which was the closest hub for us to get to Taiwan. This worked out just fine, but we were a little stressed back in February about getting our multiple-entry China visas, which were normally not given out to first-time travellers to China. Our travel journal for Bangkok, Thailand, has more details about this story, so be sure to check it out.

To get to Hualien City, the capital of the Hualien province, Vivian had booked rail tickets for the three hour journey south. The train travelled along the eastern coast and the views were very picturesque. Upon arrival at the rail station, we boarded a local bus to a bed and breakfast on the oceanfront, which Vivian had also booked for us (thanks Vivian!). The bed and breakfast, which was run by a friendly Taiwanese woman named Alice, was absolutely fantastic.

Alice runs the place with her husband and they have many farm animals in their backyard, including two goats and a little kid (that’s referring to a baby goat if anyone doesn’t know), many geese, a couple of rabbits, a couple of ducks and several little ducklings, a dog and two playful cats.

When we arrived at the bed and breakfast, the dog, whose name translates into English as "Ugly" (bless her), saw us get off the bus at the stop across the street, and she started barking at us to show us where the entrance was located. We weren’t exactly sure whether or not we should follow Ugly’s directions, so Vivian called Alice on her mobile phone and before we knew it, Alice was at the gate entrance where Ugly was sitting, looking disgusted at three travellers who did not follow her directions.

It was just after 1pm when we arrived and we went for lunch after checking into the bed and breakfast. Down the road was a famous seafood restaurant, where we could choose our food from a fresh selection of creatures. We opted for tuna, prawn and vegetable dishes, and we enjoyed the meal very much. Picking out the food was not the most pleasant experience, as many of the creatures were still alive in front of us, but the freshness of the dishes was worth it.

After lunch, we spent at least an hour playing with all of the animals. Things got a little out of hand when we tried feeding leaves to the goats. The leaves were sticking out of our mouths, so that we could see who was able to capture the best "kiss a goat" photo. Dan won! If you look at the photo album, you will see the mama goat with her lips wide open, hoping for some kind of tongue action; however, Dan did not go any further than you see in the photo.

For Kyle, unfortunately, there was a slight bit of lip touching when he tried to feed a goat a really short leaf, and the goat took it quicker from Kyle than he expected. After that, the game ended quite abruptly and we went back to feeding the goats with our hands. Vivian was reluctant to play the game at first, but she got into the swing of things once she saw our great photos. Vivian also seemed to attract the kid, who seemed to be more interested in her than in Kyle or Dan.

Once we had our fun with the animals, we hopped on some of the mountain bikes that the bed and breakfast had, and we cycled north on the beach road towards Hualien City. On the way, we passed a large cemetery, a sea-life centre called "Ocean Park" and many viewpoints of the mountain ridges on the west side of the road as well as the beach and Pacific Ocean on the east side.

Our bike ride ended at the tourist centre area where we enjoyed iced tea and iced coffees that were served with a really tasty Belgian waffle covered with cream. After recharging, we got back on our bikes and cycled back to Alice’s place. Just before we got there, we bought some food for dinner – pot noodles and some peanuts to snack on.

There was a nice deck area in Alice’s backyard, fitted out with comfortable tables, chairs and hammocks. Alice brought out a pitcher of winter melon ice tea with vodka and a bowl of cashew nuts and, not long afterwards, the four of us were enjoying drinks as the sun set and darkness arrived. We taught Vivian and Alice a card game called "King’s in the Corner" that has entertained us a few times on our trip. We can thank a good friend, Spence, for teaching Kyle that game on a three week trip around Europe back in the summer of 1999. You can play for hours and never get bored or tired of the game!

A big day of hiking in Taroko Gorge National Park was in store for us the next day, so we called it a night after the card game. When we woke up the following morning, Alice prepared an excellent gourmet breakfast for us to get us started for the day. Vivian booked a driver for the day and Mr. Lin was waiting for us when we finished eating.

The first stop for the day was on Chingshui Cliff Road, at the viewpoint overlooking the expanse of cliffs along the Pacific Ocean. The view was amazing, despite the cloudy weather. After spending a few minutes admiring the view, we headed into Taroko Gorge National Park to see one of Taiwan’s most beautiful natural landmarks.

At the national park, we stopped and walked around in several different areas. The first view of Taroko Gorge we were given was at an area where the gorge was cut quite wide by the Liwu River running between its two sides. The river was fairly low as the rainy season was just getting started, and much of the ground at the bottom of the gorge was dry. In the parts where the river was flowing, we were able to see how clean the water was, even though it was coloured grey from the rock sediment that was being moved along with the current. In this area, we came upon the Eternal Spring Shrine, which was built to remember the dead workers who excavated the central cross-island highway built to connect Taiwan’s eastern and western coasts. Behind the shrine, a set of steps led up to a temple that was built on the side of the mountain.

After this stop, Mr. Lin drove us to Yanzihgu, "Swallows Grottos", an area where the gorge narrowed on both sides. This area was famous for the many swallows that nested in natural holes in the gorge rock walls; although the number of swallows when we went didn't compare to the thousands that would be there during late spring or early summer, we still spotted a few birds flying around. The views of this part of the gorge were spectacular and it was a quiet, peaceful setting with all of us standing on the edge of the road, admiring the scenery.

Jioucyudong, the "Tunnel of Nine Turns" was next. There, we were able to get out of the car and walk along a path next to the road that was perched on the edge of the gorge. Again, the views were spectacular and the walk was really enjoyable. When we made it to the end of the Tunnel of Nine turns, we visited Cihmu Bridge, a stunning structure in Taroko Gorge National Park that is located where the Liwu and Laosi Rivers meet.

By this point, we had been taking in the different views of Taroko Gorge for nearly two hours and then we went to the Tiansiang area of the national park. The grand Formosa Hotel was located there and we climbed many steps to the top of a small mountain to view the hotel and its surrounding area. Atop the mountain, we saw a giant statue of a female goddess and a seven-storey high pagoda (Pudu Temple) that stood above the mountain and surrounding trees.

A rest was needed after a few hours of walking and visiting the gorge, so we stopped at Pulowan, a cultural area set in a valley between a few mountains. Vivian treated us to iced coffees, and she had an iced milk tea as we sat taking in the cool air and surrounding scenery. The area was famous for its lilies but they weren’t in season when we arrived, so we only saw a few of them growing in the grasses of the valley. Apparently, they cover the area during some parts of the year and are quite glorious.

The last thing we did at Taroko Gorge was walk for a couple of hours along the Shakadang Trail, which runs parallel to the Shakadang River. The old name of the trail was "Mysterious Valley Trail" because the people who found the trail kept it a secret from others. Along the trail, we saw many examples of Taiwan’s rich ecology and grand marble rocks lining the crystal clear river, as well as many different insects and spiders. At one point, we walked down to the river and relaxed on some large boulders whilst admiring the multi-coloured marble stone of the mountainside.

After our full day of exploring the national park, we headed to Hualien City to see if there were any films showing that we could see. We had a couple of hours to kill before watching a free aboriginal Taiwanese cultural dance performance that Vivian found out was performed each evening around 8pm. We didn’t see a film in the end, but we made use of our time in other ways, by booking our return rail tickets to Taipei at the Hualien City rail station, and we also enjoyed really tasty wontons at a restaurant in town. Hualien was famous for a particular type of wontons and wonton soup, and even the President of Taiwan has eaten at the restaurant where we enjoyed a meal!

We arrived an hour early to see the dance performance. While we waited for the show to start, we walked around and looked at the various shops selling carved jewelry and other marble trinkets and carvings. There were large mayflies everywhere that seemed to be making their last journey before dying. Lots of frogs started appearing on the sidewalk lining the shops, eating the flies as they dropped to the ground, fluttering the last movements of their wings.

Once the dance performance started, we sat down with some Taiwanese beers and enjoyed the show. Halfway into the show, the performers on stage walked out to the audience and pulled members of the crowd onto the stage to join them in a traditional dance. Kyle was dragged up on stage at that point, with some other people from the crowd, and he had to step and jump, to the rhythm of the music, in and out of a couple of bamboo poles lying on the ground, which were being moved about by the aboriginal dancers as the audience members danced around them.

It was quite amusing, but not quite as amusing as the interviews afterwards, which were given in Chinese. A young travelling religious man was interviewed first (he was probably Mormon or Church of Latter Day Saints); he had been living in Hualien for two years and spoke enough Mandarin Chinese to survive the interview. When it was Kyle's turn to be interviewed next, Vivian rushed to the front of the stage to translate for him, and he took a stab at answering the interview questions based on what he thought the questions would be. Between his guesses and Vivian's translations, the interview went very smoothly. After a few moments, the interview was over and Kyle returned to his seat to watch the rest of the show with Vivian and Dan.

After the performance finished, we went for a late meal at McD's and Mr. Lin picked us up afterwards to take us back to Alice's guesthouse. When we returned to our room, we watched the DVD "Freedom Writers" with Hilary Swank; we all enjoyed the film, which was based on the true story of a teacher's struggle to motivate a multi-racial classroom full of troubled students who seemed to have very little chance of continuing their education in the future, due to poor scholastic achievement and also their problems and hard lives outside of school.

We all were tired after a long day at the national park, and also after a late evening watching the dance performance and DVD back at Alice's, so we slept in a little bit the next morning. We were served another delicious gourmet breakfast before leaving and, just as we said goodbye to Alice and started walking to the bus stop, a large bus zoomed past us in the street. The bus was ten minutes early and we found out shortly after it passed us that it was the bus to Hualien City. As we missed the bus, Vivian quickly made a call on her mobile phone and Mr. Lin arrived twenty minutes later to drive us to town to catch our train back to Taipei. We had just enough time to get to the train station and purchase some lunch (loving the 7-11's in Taiwan!) to eat during the three hour journey.