It was great to get out of Taipei for a couple days during the break from class and work. On Friday, Cathy and I took an early train from Taipei to Hualian. Although we had to stand on the train, it was not as busy as I had expected. I have been on busier trains on trips from Taichung and back. The views from the train were great when I made the effort to contort my body to unnatural positions to look out the window.
When we got off the train, we had met the owner of the hotel we were staying at, he drove us up a mountain trail to a small stream where we met another group staying at the hotel for barbeque.
The water was cool and the first clean river I have seen in Taiwan:
There were all sorts of critters to catch. Here we netted a couple of fish:
There were a lot of crabs in the water too, this one was quickly returned after we had noticed that it was actually giving birth in the net:
Catherine takes a break to pose for the camera:
I could try, but my camera simply could not capture how gorgeous this place is:
This gentleman was taking a group on a hiking tour up the river. He gave me a piece of jade he found in the river and took a picture with me. I am the only person in Taiwan to wear a Detroit Tigers shirt during their series with the Yankees:
The next day we toured some of Taroko National Park’s offerings. Our first stop was the Shakadang Trail which follows the Shakadang River:
The trail is only one way, so after about 45 minutes of walking in one direction we decided to turn around to meet our driver to go to our next destination, the Eternal Spring Shrine:
The site was built in 1958 to honor those who died during the dangerous construction of the Central Cross Island Highway:
These holes in the rocks used to be homes for swallows… however, I only saw one bird in this entire section of the trail:
This picture was taken while we were stuck in traffic because sections of the road are not wide enough to accommodate tour buses driving past each other:
A few shots taken at Tiansiang Temple:
The Tunnel of Nine Turns overlooks the beautiful Liwu River:
There are very interesting natural formations in the rocks, here we have a face:
That was the best I could do in two days. Maybe on a return trip I’ll get to see more.
Gorgeous!
Great pics Todd! I must go back there again sometime.
What a beautiful area. I went to Hualian once, but I didn’t see any scenery that nice. I guess I’ll have to go back when there isn’t a Typhoon.
Thanks guys!
Mark – I was very happy to have nice weather, this was the third attempt to go to Hualian, the previous two had to be cancelled due to Typhoons.
I love the picture of the stone lion, the composition gives the depth of the view.