Taroko: Walking Through a Marble Wonderland

Taroko Gorge is a must see when traveling to Taiwan. It's Taiwan's number one tourist attraction, but that's for good reason. The enormous caverns, crystal blue river and marble boulders make one feel wonderfully insignificant, and it is unlike a scene that you will see anywhere else. 

You have one of two options when visiting the Taroko National Park. One is the touristy route. This being a tour bus, rental car or scooter or touring taxi. In order to see all of the most popular sights, walking is not an option. The second choice is the more adventurous route. While you need to have a permit to go hiking off the main paths, there are only about 40 people allowed a permit per day so there are never any crowds and I've been told about spectacular views and cliff diving expeditions. We opted for the first choice, taking a taxi tour. It was good for us because our taxi driver knew all of the popular spots and gave us time at each place. Since there were 4 of us we only had to pay 500 NT per person for the tour. And it saved the hassle of navigating the park ourselves.

Cavern tunnels for driving through

Swallow Cave was a fun start. The enormity of the cavern put us in the perfect mindset. I was in utter awe at the size of the cliffs. The sights only got better as we continued into the gorge. The clear turquoise waters sparkled against glaring white marble in its natural form. With such massive incredible beauty it's hard to care about the swarms of Chinese tourists. The highlight of the trip was definitely the second to last stop, at the yellow bridge. While walking over the bridge we spotted a tall pagoda partway up the mountainside.  Lucia, Tobias and I decided to investigate and started to climb the stairs while Faye took a nap in the gondola overlooking the river. Once we reached the pagoda, we found that we could not only climb to the top, but could step out and see some of the most spectacular views of the trip. The final stop was the waterfall. While it is truly breathtaking, this one was marred by the hoards of Chinese tourists packed on the viewing deck so we only stayed long enough to snap a few pictures. 

Taiwan has many rare gems, all of them unique, and Taroko is unlike anything that you will ever see in your life. RThe sights command respect and inspire the truth of how insignificant you are in this world throughout your every fiber. 

Natural marble walls

Hard hats required at swallow caves

The view from the top of the pagoda

Temple and waterfall nestled among the mountains

Taipei: A Suprisingly Diverse Capital City

I hopped on a train from Zhongli to Taipei and was giddy to have successfully made the transfer to the MRT (subway) blue line and then another transfer to the brown line without getting lost. I got off at the Taipei zoo. For only 60 NT I got access to the entire zoo. While the zoo was quite extensive (ranging from tigers to koalas to pheasants), the en-closers are smaller than any zoo I have seen and all of the animals sat in the back corners far away from the people and just seemed so sad. And the giant panda that everyone was going gaga for was asleep without a good view. It didn't seem like the fun zoo visits I used to have in the states, it was much more melancholy.

The bears broke my heart...

I also was super disappointed by the food choices: 7-11 and McDonalds (and they were busier than the actual zoo part). I loved the animal themed fair food in the States and was disappointed to find the only real food was overpriced food that I didn't need to travel halfway around the world for. I still couldn't help but get excited when I saw the tiger and the leopard as I love jungle cats, and the monkeys and elephants still seemed so happy that the entire zoo excursion wasn't lost. While I was entertained, I still wouldn't recommend this trip unless you have children.

These guys loved the attention. They would puff up and fly from tree to tree to wherever the group was the largest.

The tiger kept far away from the people but he was still beautiful.

Elephents and hippos.

Monkeys always seem to be happy.

Next I met up with my friend Daphne outside of the zoo and we hopped on the Maokong Gondola. It flew us in a glass cable car compartment above the mountain to the top. The sights were beautiful and it's still amazing to me that such beautiful rough mountains exist within the capital city itself. Although it is mandatory to share a car if you are not a group of 5 or 6 but it is cozy and friendly. The other couple we shared the car with was friendly and took our picture but we kept to ourselves throughout most of the trip. It's not a long ride, but not too short to wait a half hour in line to get on either. 

Daphne and I.

The view of Taipei from one side...

The view of the mountainside from the other...

The crystal cabins have glass floors as well.

 At the top of the mountain there are a ton of tea shops, a few trails and temples and plenty of food. We wandered around for a bit and ate wild boar sausages. It was dark when we started back down the mountain and got on the MRT to the Da'an park station (we had no idea it was the first night this station was open) and I would recommend if you want to go anywhere in the da'an area,  go to this station and walk from there.

At the top of the mountain.

One of the many mountainside restaurants.

The food is amazing.

The station itself it like a park and it's actually connected to the Da'an park, so the atmosphere is great. We went to the amphitheater in the middle of the park. There was a free traditional drum performance at 7:30 by Utheater (www.utheater.org) and we were dumbfounded to find how big of a deal it was. The mayor of Taipei introduced them and it was a beautiful professional show. There was very little speaking and I was able to follow the storyline fairly well, but luckily my Taiwanese friend Daphne was there to help me along.

The mayor is the one in the white shirt, kicking off the show.

These guys were phenomenal!

The lead role.

Before heading home we stopped by the Shida nightmarket not far away (although we took a taxi partway there) to get some fire and ice bread and milk tea and browse the shops. Fire and ice bread is perfect for the foreigner who is homesick. It is a large warm bun filled with a cold custard that tastes like butter. It's just like grandmas dinner rolls. This night market is awesome. It is indoor botiques that line the tidy brick alleyways in a European fashion with the food carts placed throughout. It is highly organized and spacious and a nice walk, even if you aren't in the mood to buy.

Although I've been to Taipei many times already this is the first time that I have made a trip out of it and am happy to have found that it is a very diverse city. From the jade market to the flower market to the gay bar district to the vastly different nightmarkets and the mountains with hiking trails located within the metropolis, it is a place that you cannot make just one trip out of; there is always something new to find!

Wooo! Wuuulaiii!

It's been about 3 months since I landed in Taiwan and I finally feel somewhat grounded now that my paperwork has made me a legal resident of Taiwan, so it's time to get this blog started!

 My first trip was to Wulai Falls. We took the train from the small suburb (still about the size of my college town) of Neili to the massive capital city of Taipei and from there the 4 of us split a cab to get to the top of the mountain (not the very top, but close). Located in Taipei County and nestled in the jungle just outside of Wulai Hots springs village, this massive waterfall made me feel my true insignificant size in nature.

Directly across the viewing platform for the waterfall are a few aboriginal shops. The beautiful trinkets and breathtaking jade carvings were worth the half hour stop on our way down the mountain.  Ella, Fae and I decided to get jade bracelets to remember our trip togeth

er while Jameson opted for a tribal bag instead (I don't think the bracelets were his color).

Our jade bracelets

We found these guys in aboriginal clothes standing outside one of the shops.

Jade carving

Incredible ornate jade carving

Wood carving

I fell in love with the Jade frogs in Taiwan. They are so adorably ugly! It will definitely be something that I bring back to the States!

We couldn't have gone on a more perfect day. It was a drizzly Sunday and so that deterred the Chinese tourists from visiting and we were virtually alone on the mountain. The sprinkles didn't ruin our day--on the contrary--it made the colors more vibrant! A tropical storm had just come through only a few days before and so the waterfall swelled and water gushed from every crevice of the mountain. During our walk down the mountain we found miniature waterfalls every 5 minutes.

Jameson's picture of the gorgeous town of Wulai

This waterfall is not normally there when there hasn't been as much rain

Water gushing under a staircase

Water pouring down the mountain next to a house

I don't think any of us regretted the hike down the mountain that we opted for instead of a taxi--the views were incredible!

Even the power plant is beautiful here!

Once making it partway down the mountain we decided it was time for some natural hot spring action in the village. There are two ways to get there. One is to walk down the side of the river. The other is to walk across the bridge and float down the river to them. Ella and Fae decided to take the road. Jamison and I decided to take the river (keep in mind the gushing river from the storm). Jamison made it, but once I got up to my hips and felt the current tugging me I knew there was no way I would make it across unscathed. So I dragged myself out and walked to meet the trio on the other side.

The town of Wulai Springs

Jameson after he made it across the river. Apparently the locals had been watching out endeavor because once we reached the other side they said that he was a hero and I was a chicken!

Once we were finally in the hot springs it was scalding and we had to alternate between jumping into the cold river and jumping into the hot springs before finally deciding it was time for a new spring at a better temperature (and not so many creepy old men who wanted to serenade me with English songs).

Jameson and I are outside the hot spring because it was tooo hot!

This hot spring was juuust right!

A small collection of the many hot springs on the side of the mountain

Since Jamison and I were the only two to bring our bathing suits it wasn't long before we trudged on to find some grub--literally! Enter fried bees!

Fried bees!

Taiya Popo is one of my favorite places encountered in Taiwan as of yet. It is a quaint little restaurant empty but for us four with amazing aboriginal dishes and interior walls made all of bamboo to complete the feel. And a bonus--the menu is both in Chinese and English! Our dinner consisted of sticky rice cooked inside bamboo, mountain greens and dried fish, sweet gooey balls (the name escapes me), and the highlight, deep fried bees! They actually taste like popcorn!

Mountain greens and dried fish

Mushroom sticky rice in bamboo

Sweet gooey pastry balls

Fried Bees!

After our delicious meal it was time to hike through the town to the bus station and past all of the delicious smelling street food. If you want authentic food in this country, eat the street food. While I have eaten some questionable things (chicken feet, blagh), for the most part the food is delicious and cheap and the vendors are super excited to serve you.

This will not be my last trip to Wulai, there are many more trails to discover and a natural water slide that I can't wait to try when there hasn't been quite as much rain. As for this trip to the falls, it was the perfect first adventure in Taiwan!