Day 5: Taroko Gorge

5/29
I can't imagine being at Taroko without a scooter. It was so easy for me to zip around the bus traffic and pull over whenever I felt a picturesque moment. On that note, there is no justice in pictures of this place.



I ended my last post romanticizing the relaxing feeling of falling asleep to the sound of water eroding Taroko Gorge only a few meters from my tent. When I woke up, I decided it could have been more relaxing to be woken up by the same sound, with the addition of some chirping of Taroko National Park's wildlife.

(If you're planning on camping at Heliou, somebody came around my tent at 8:30 AM to collect a $200 campsite fee. If you're gone before then, well, it's free.)

Waking up already 17 kilometers deep in Taroko means a lot of things. According to Lonley Planet Taiwan, Taroko is "Taiwan's top tourist destination," so I had a head start on most tourists coming from Hualien (15 km to the south of Taroko's entrance). Furthermore, I was able to do the bulk of my hiking and exploring well before midday, beating out whatever heat the sun may bring.

My first hike was the Lushui-Heliou trail, which as the name suggests, starts/finishes basically at my tent. It was relatively short (2 km), flat, and safe. There were some good overhead views of the water that put me to sleep, a dark tunnel, and a short rope bridge. Pretty ho-hum compared to the trails that followed.

Next up was the Tunnel of Nine Turns. This was one of the only times where I was at a disadvantage by not being part of a tour group; the entrance/exits are 2km apart. To many, this is the bread and butter of Taroko Gorge in the same way that Taipei 101 is to Taipei, or Starbucks The Space Needle is to Seattle. My camera was absolutely useless because I couldn't even get a fraction of the scenery I wanted in one frame. I felt absolutely dwarfed, yet never confined, by the giant marble walls that were on all sides of me, nearly blocking out the sun. [I've since been back to Taroko 2 times, and only 100 meters of the Tunnel of Nine Turns was open.]

Thus far, I had been traveling in the direction of the park entrance, and that's where I found the Eternal Springs Shrine (dedicated to those who died building the highway through Taroko Gorge). In the guide book, it's not listed as a hike, but rather a "sight." I imagine this is because you can see the shrine from the highway. Additionally, it's probably less than 200 meters from the parking lot. However, what's not considered is that it is probably  at least 200 meters higher than the parking lot as well. It's not a long hike either, so the altitude climbs pretty quickly. Once I did make it to the top, the view was pretty rewarding. (I really have to mention that if you are not in decent shape, you shouldn't climb this. Twice my legs cramped in mid-stride and I was almost sent tumbling back down to the starting point.)

The last major stop on my day in Taroko was the Hsiangte Temple, which is deeper into the Park than the  campsite. This temple was built in honor of a Buddhist monk who prayed for the safety of the workers building the highway (I guess the Eternal Spring Shrine was built in spite of this). To some extent, this followed the same outline as the Eternal Springs Shrine; it was easy to see because of it's position on a cliff much higher than the road. It was a little bit easier to access though, and have some great views of the river and highway below.

Here is a video Swallow's Grotto:

The Central Cross-Island Highway, which is the road that goes through the National Park, is at many places barely wide enough for a single car. As I implied my journal excerpt, I was able to make a lot of extra stops at different places along the way, where a tour bus or car wouldn't be able to stop.

I ended my day pretty early (as I had logged some pretty serious miles hiking) and went for dinner at the 7-Eleven just outside the entrance of Taroko. Besides this, I hadn't left the Park the whole day, yet still managed to get another 78 km on my scooter. I spent the rest of the evening relaxing at the campsite and trying to put together a plan for the next day. Here's a bit of foreshadowing for you:

I don't have any solid plans on where I'm sleeping tomorrow night, but with good weather, I can sleep anywhere.


[How I've explored the gorge: The first by myself on my own scooter. The second in a taxi- $1800/4 hours, from Hualien. The third on a rental scooter- $500/day from Hualien.]