Taiwan Trip, Day 8

I woke up the next morning energized and ready for one last day of sightseeing. I had a quick convenience store breakfast and then headed on over to tourist center in front of the train station, where I caught my bus with no problems. There were a variety of different people on the bus, many of whom were foreigners. However, there were only a few other Caucasians, and I think they were European.

I ended up meeting a few really cool people, including two mainlander Chinese guys who were living in Japan and somehow got a visa for Taiwan. I also met an entire family of second generation Taiwanese—again, they were all talking to each other in Chinese and then some of them started talking to me in California-girl English! There were a number of girls about my age and we chatted a bit—I guess they have a family reunion in Taiwan every year, with some people living in various spots in America and some still in Taiwan. The tour guide put them in charge of me because he didn’t really speak English at all—just kind of grunted and pointed. He didn’t want me to miss the bus, so he would tell them to tell me the important information. They were all really nice, and I particularly enjoyed talking to the cute Chinese boys!

The bus tour was actually really enjoyable—just kind of laid back and easy-going. We would arrive at each spot, disembark, and the bus driver would tell us when the bus would leave. We could look around each spot by ourselves and at our leisure—we weren’t following some girl in a uniform with a flag. There were some Chinese language information videos and announcements, I believe, but I just ignored them for the most part.

Our first stop was the Visitors Center, for a brief look around. This is at the entrance to the park, but the looming cliffs in the background begin to look very impressive already. I took a bunch of pictures outside, enjoying the clean, fresh air, and then had a look around the visitor’s center. It was a nicely put together little place, with a variety of exhibits and information about the gorge. Next, we stopped at a little park that had some nice views—I particularly like the brutal honesty of this particular sign.



It was quite accurate, too.



The flowers were beautiful there—in particular, poinsettias were growing everywhere, in big bushes, and the leaves were a deep, beautiful red. I don’t think I had ever before seen a poinsettia growing wild in a natural setting before, so it was really interesting. I had no idea how big they could get!



Our next stop was the Atayal Cutural Center—which was basically just a visitor’s center and brief monument for a particular aboriginal tribe that lived/lives in the area. There was an interesting exhibit about the crafts native to the area, and even some old ladies doing weaving and basket making inside. Again, there was a beautiful view, so that was nice. We then piled back into a bus and headed to another location to do a short walk. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was a nice enough walk—probably just half an hour or so, but some nice views of a river and some interesting marble rock formations.



Our bus picked us up on the other side of the walk, and after working up a nice appetite on the hike, we headed to lunch.

Lunch was included in the price and it was a buffet at the Grand Formosa Hotel, which is in the middle of the park.



There is also a Catholic hostel of some sort nearby. It was definitely worth the price! I was actually quite impressed—I didn`t expect much, since the cost of the tour was really quite low, but the buffet had a lot of different foods—Western, Chinese, and even some dishes inspired by the various aboriginal tribes, and using ingredients grown in the Taroko Gorge park. As well, there were a wide variety of appetizers, drinks, and desserts. I sat with the cute Chinese boys and the American-Taiwanese girls and had a good time. After stuffing ourselves at the buffet, we headed out again, this time some of the more lovely sites.

Our first stop was the Eternal Spring Shrine, a lovely sight nestled in the mountains above the river.



Although it looks quite mystical and old, I believe it is actually a fairly modern shrine in honor of all the workers who died constructing a highway across Taiwan. It looks very far away, but it was actually a fairly short walk--the shrine is actually very small. The mountains are also all much more impressive in real life...

Our last stop was an especially scenic spot known as "Swallow Gorge and Tunnel of Nine Turns." Our bus dropped us off again and we walked through the gorge and the aforementioned tunnel. It was really quite extraordinary and none of my pictures, unfortunately, do it any justice at all.







We then piled back in the bus and headed back to the city. We made an obligatory stop at a marble store--some very impressive stuff, huge statues, etc., but out of my price range and a bit of a hard sell (clearly dependent on tour buses.)

Back in Hualien, I said a sad goodbye to the Chinese boys and headed out to look for dinner again, with an equal lack of success. I was also running out of money by this point--something which would be haunting the remaining days of my trip. So I ended up at an internet cafe (very cheap in Taiwan) and ate some junk food.

As it happened, that night was New Year's Eve. I was too far from the city to go out and do any celebrating, and I had no money in any case. I thought about going back to Taipei a day early, since I would have had time, but I had already paid for the hotel, and, as I said, no money--and no way of getting more. So I sat in my rather sad hotel room--that nonetheless got English language movie channels, so cheers for that--and listened to the sound of firecrackers and people celebrating the New Year's. It was a little lonely but not necessarily in a bad way. I fell asleep early again that night.