There's so many beautiful areas of Taiwan I'm kind of disappointed we didn't spend more time sight seeing. However, the one place that we did end up going to was amazing. We had to wake up at 5 a.m in order to catch a two hour train ride to Hua Lien which is on the outskirts of Taiwan. From there we attempted to rent scooters - which should have been very simple because everyone else seems to be able to rent them w/o any licenses or anything - but for some strange reason she wouldn't let us. I was extremely disappointed because I was looking forward to riding the scooters the entire time. We ended up settling for this mini tour around the countryside which ended up being a great idea. It was a short drive to Taroko National Park which is where most of the pictures come from. The first area we stopped at which was the Shakadang trail was probably the most impressive. We hiked for a little over an hour and as you can see from the pictures its a narrow trail that takes you along the ledge of the river. We got a little adventurous and decided to hop over the rail and climb down to the river to take pictures. That was probably the highlight of the trip.
If you look closely at the middle of this picture, there is a face of an Indian guy. The moss is his tribal hat. |
We stopped at several other areas inside the park and walked around but nothing too special. The driver took us to this beautiful beach at the end of the day. It was a much needed rest for all of us as we just sat there and watched the waves crash onto the shore.
It was a great trip. Although we didnt get to go to as many places as I wanted to, we were able to do a little bit of everything and get a taste of Taiwanese culture. It really is an amazing place with great people and even greater food.