(This is a copy of the blog written for Taiwan Youth Travel Agency who sponsored this trip)
East Coast of Taiwan offers many beautiful sceneries and unique traveling spots for travellers. Among them are the top destinations like Taroko Gorge and Green Island. Taroko gorge is accepted as the No.1 tourist destination in Taiwan. It was one of the places I was planning to visit during my stay in Taiwan. I fell in love with Green island when I read about it from the travel books. Thanks to the sponsorship by Taiwan Youth Travel, I finally had a chance to visit these two places last weekend.
Part 1: Taroko Gorge
On early Saturday morning I was on my feet ready to start the trip I have been waiting for so long. Backed with my Taiwan Lonely Planet book, some printouts about destinations, some maps and, of course, English-Chinese translator book, I headed towards Taipei Bus Terminal near the Taipei Main station. I was planning to take a bus to Hualien with transit at Suao, and the main reason was the Suao-Hualien highway that offers astonishing view of the coast (see the picture below) and the Chengshui cliff.
What a disappointment it was, when, after a lengthy trials to communicate with ticket booths personnel about the bus to Hualien, I learned that there are no more buses to Hualien from Taipei. The other options were to take a train or a plane. Without losing much time, I went to train station and bought a ticket for the earliest train to Hualien. This train would travel north then take a route along the coast till Hualien, so it still was to offer me some east coast view. Indeed, train journey was fun, I had a chance to view how country-side looks like in Taiwan, some nice views of the coast around Fulong area, and the rest of the trip were passing through many tunnels. After 3-4 hours I reached Hualien. Hualien train station was well-decorated with east coast scenery pictures. The bus station for the buses to Taroko was just outside of the station on the right side. Saleswoman didn’t understand English, so with the help of pen and paper I managed to buy a ticket to Taroko. It looked like the language will really be a problem away from Taipei. Just at that moment, a woman approached me and asked if I needed information about Taroko Gorge and directed me to hualien visitor info center.
Staff was very helpful there, as they gave me latest brochures about the place and the bus schedule(!) as the bus schedule info in my travel guide was old. There was a guy who could speak good English, and he helped me to plan with the buses as I was going there for only 2 days and 1 night. After nearly 1 hour bus trip, I was in Taroko. Taroko is a small village along the liwu river and entrance/gate to Taroko Gorge is located at the other end.
Taroko National Park headquarters was on the other side of the river. You need to cross from the bridge and take left turn and go up the hill a bit. I could see a lot of aborigines there, some of them dressed in traditional clothes for daily aborigine shows. Besides the information center, there is a small food/snacks shop and a souvenir shop there. As it was late afternoon, the visitor center was just closed (it operates between 08:30-16:45). After a quick lunch, I still had time to explore nearby trails before it gets dark and I went for it.
But then it started to rain. I forgot my umbrella and rain jacket. But there is always a solution and plastic rain coats were being sold at the shop nearby. They say car or motorcycle is the best transport to explore Taroko Gorge, and I clearly understood it there. As there are only few local buses there and trails are in certain distances from each other, one should either take a bus, drop by at the point, then after completing the trail, wait for the next bus or should have own transportaton. Walking is not suggested.
Not having anything to ride, I walked to the nearest trails which are Shakadang (Mysterious valley) and Eternal spring shrine. But it was through 1 km long tunnel, which was the first signal of my mistake not to have a transportation. First I went to Eternal Spring shrine. It was on the bottom of the mountain with a waterfall and was the end part of the whole trail (one of the most dangerous ones) which was closed now.
There was a sign which says the trail was closed due to falling rocks. But it seemed like people were still entering it and going to the shrine. As it was getting late, noone was around. I went through small dark tunnels and reached the shrine. The shrine was beautiful, and the place was very relaxing under the sound of falling water.
I was enough excited to complete the trail but it was getting dark, noone was around, and considering that it was the Ghost Month(!), I decided to go back before it gets too dark.Well, it would be a crazy thing to do to risk because in case something happens the probability that I survive was too low and there was no human life nearby to expect help.
Anyways, it took me 45 minutes to reach here from Taroko, and now it would take same time back too, and I was shocked when I saw that there are no lights on the road and in the tunnel! I had a small flashlight which could just light 1 meter in fron of me. And I started to walk through the full dark tunnel, and I can tell you, it is not the best feeling. Few cars passed by, but my attempt to hitchhike didn’t give any results. But the next one a small truck carrying construction workers and to my surprise they picked me and drove till Taroko. It rescued me from an unpleasent walk through dark tunnels.
For a place to stay for night, there were only 2-3 options. Book suggests to stay in the Liwu hostel. It was near the entrance, and after some bargaining they gave me a double room for 600 NTD (they asked 1000 NTD first). Room was decent, with TV.
For dinner, it would be expensive to order, so I got some canned fish, sandwich bread, chips and drinks from 7-11 store near the hotel. Taiwan is famous with its convenient stores which are really convenient! I was so tired that I didn’t wait much before I was in deep sleep.
The next day in the morning I went Taroko Nat. Park HQ to get more information about the trails in Taroko. The staff were kind and helpful, and they haelped me to plan my trip to see as much as possibe before I leave to Taitung that evening. So after a breakfast (as it was too early nothing was ready, so I went for instant noodles, not the best breakfast), I started with Shakadang(Mysterious valley) trail. It is about 1 km from that place. It starts near the Shakadang bridge and continues deep into the valley.
People usually go there to watch birds, insects, butterflies or just to have a relaxing walk in nature. Also blue river water gives amazing view, but in my case, water was dark due to recent rains.
For me this was the first time I walked on the road/trail carved on the cliffs with rocks hanging on top. Indeed, very dangerous, especially after typhoons/rains, rockfall is very possible. I think I chose a bit wrong time to visit Taroko gorge.
I liked this trail a lot because the valley was beautiful and kept its wildness, and trail carved on the mountain gave me huge excitement. It really had the mysterious atmosphere. Although it is forbidden, I saw some people swimming in the river. Maybe if the water was more clean, I wouldn’t pass this place without swimming too. How lucky those people who live near to these places as they can take a motorcycle to come here and enjoy this relaxing and mysterious place anytime they want. There are some benches on the way to sit and relax, and only one thing I wish there was the 7-11 store to buy a cold drink J. I’d suggest travellers to take drink with them. The fact that river water was not clean was a disappointment, so I decided to come to this place again to catch true beauty of this Shakadang trail. Still I manged to take some nice photos of the nature there.
Anyways, as I was in a rush, I completed it in 2 hours, and then ran to the junction to catch the bus to Tienhsiang. If I missed that I would wait for another 2 hours. But I was on time. The highway here was indeed human perfection. Human being is really smart enough to build a road in these kind of places; roads were either carved on the cliff or were the tunnels through mountains. It is sad to know that many lives were lost while building this highway.
Our bus driver was a bit crazy to drive in full speed in this narrow road with many zig-zags. Few times we almost had an accident. Smallest mistake may give you a unique view of the valley from flying bus. On the way, I had a chance to see some part of the Tunnels of Nine Turn and Swallow Grotto (if I visit again, I will spend more time to explore these 2 places too). Finally, we arrived at Tienhsiang. It is a small town deep inside the valley, popular destination for travellers. There are many trails nearby and Wenshan Hot springs (it was closed due to accident happened last year where a falling rock killed someone).
I started with Buiyang waterfall trail. Actually I was going to Wenshan hot springs (despite the fact it was closed, I wanted to see how possible it was to get there), but on the way I saw a small tunnel and people were entering/coming out of it. I checked the map and it was the beginning of the Buiyang waterfall trail. Why not to take it?! The tunnel was half a kilometer long, no lights, and again my small flashlight was in use. For those who are reading this blog, I strongly recommend to bring a good flashlight as these places are full of tunnels.
Buiyang waterfall trail was my favourite trail in overall trip. I liked it because the river water was clean and blue here, I explored waterfalls and caves with water curtains inside, and I had a chance to meet with 5 nice ladies. The trail was full of warning signs of poisonous snakes and killer bees. It took about 35 minutes to reach the waterfall.
It was indeed something worth to see. Waterfall starts from the top of the mountain and then it reaches another edge of the mountain and forms second waterfall (see above right photo). The water was clear and blue. There is a hanging bridge to cross the river to the watching area near to waterfall. Then I saw a group of foreigner ladies crossed over the fences and climbed towards the waterfall. Normally it is forbidden, but I think they decided to go closer. I was already astonished with the view and I also decided to go and look at it closer. Well, we reached the end where you need to climb the rock in order to go close to waterfall. It was risky to continue. But on the other side under the waterfall there was an amazing place to swim! Well, we decided to go for it. Only me and another girl called Erica (Canada), whom I met there, managed to climb down there. And there it was, unspoilt pool under the waterfall which you can only see in pictures. I didn’t risk to go under the waterfall, but still swam on the side. That was one of the unforgettable moments. People were looking with interest from the watching tower probably thinking how crazy we are to risk to go there and at the same time with piece of envy. As I left my camera back on the way, only they took the photos and I am waiting them to send me photos from that moment. The others were 2 Karens, Tanya, and Daniel. Tanya is from S. Africa, and the rest are from Canada. It was interesting to talk to them, and we completed the rest of the trail together. We continued further to reach the cave with water curtains. Nothing much about that place, just some water curtains inside the tunnel.
After that we completed the trail by a swim in the river near the entrance tunnel.
Tanya dropped me back to Tienhsiang on her motorcycle (they were on a bicycle/motorcycle trip from Hualien). They were staying in Catholic Church hostel for 300 NTD per night. It was a better deal comparing to the ones in Taroko, and the place was on the hill and looked nice. Definitely, a great option for backpackers! After enjoying Taroko gorge so much I decided to change my plans and stay here for 3 days, but I decided to come here again and go to green Island this time. Before leaving Tienhsiang, I climbed up the hill nearby to the Pagoda.
There was a great view of Tienhisang from top of it.
It was time to catch the last bus. After grabbing my late lunch-in-the-box with me, I took a bus back to Hualien train station. And I was just on time to catch the last train to Taitung. The bus/train schedule that was provided by Hualien Visitor Info center and their suggestions regarding the buses/trains truly helped me to spend more time in Taroko and still reach the train to Taitung. Journey to Taitung were through the tunnels and didn’t offer much to see.
The train reached Taitung late in the evening. Thanks to the kind man sitting near me I could easily arrange taxi to the hotel area. He helped me with communication and directions. Taitung train station is 5 km away from city itself. And in the rest of the trip almost all my money was gone for transportation. I paid 200 NTD for taxi. The hostel I was going was the Gringo hostel and taxi driver knew it. It is a mostly suggested place in travel guides, it offers dormitory bed for 200 NTD for night, truly nice deal! But, to my surprise it was closed, no lights, kind of deserted. Then I checked my list of other hostels and there was Chuan Tai hotel nearby. It is not a dugested in Lonely Planet book due to ints dirty condition. I didn’t have any other choice so I went for it. It showed that Lonely Planet is more than right, place was indeed dirty, same condition in the rooms, just bend and look under the bed and you will explore different world there! J And the lady charged me 500 NTD for that place, can you believe it?!
Part 2: The Green Island
Well, I spent the night without any accident, and in the early morning I took a taxi to Fugang harbour. There were a lot of people waiting for the ferry there, it seems like even in Monday mornings many people go to Green Island. Ferries were departing every 30 minutes and the one-way ticket was 400 NTD (too expensive, especially if you are going there only for 1 day).
It took about 1 hour ride to reach the Green island. Finally, there it was, the long-waited destination!
The Green island is popular with its beautiful scenery, spots for diving and snorkelling, sea-water hot springs, etc. I wanted to see this place for few reasons; to tour around the island and to see its beautiful scenery, to enjoy seawater hot-springs and to swim, if possible. There were some clouds in the sky, and it looks like there wouldn’t be very hot day.Well, I managed to do all these things. But how? In what ways?! Well, not as I was planning…
I never rode a motorcycle, but I was planning to learn to ride (they say it is very easy) in Green Island and then tour the island with motorcycle. When I reached there, there were many places to rent a motorcycle for 500 NTD for whole day. I don’t know why but I asked the renter to teach me how to ride (with the help of some other people who can speak English as the renter was an old man and, of course, didn’t understand me). Then he asked for my driving license, but I never had one. And he didn’t want to rent his motorcycle anymore, but suggested that I could rent a bicycle (!). Lonely Planet says it is possible to rent a bike from which I understood that it is possible to tour the island with a bike. It is 17-km tour along the beach and could be easily completed with a bike too. Well, that’s what I was thinking! So I said “OK” for the bike. It was cheaper, 200 NTD. Luckily the man agreed for me to leave my bags in his garage. First I rode to visitor info center to get a map and some information. My next destination was a lighthouse on the north of the island.
Then I rode along the beach. It was low tide, so the rocks were on the surface giving a nice scenary to watch.
Further I saw a hill and climbed it. On the other side,there was an amazing place to watch; crystal blue water and the rocks. I couldn’t stop myself from climbing down this high-risk rocks. There were many crabs there who tried to hide as I apprached. It was hot day, and I was burning. Once I was there, why not to swim I thought. It was very risky, full of rocks and there was a current in the water. Another risk to swim in a risky place? Yes! I am not a good swimmer, so I didn’t go away from the rock. I got what I wanted, I swam there, where maybe nobody has swam before :).
As I continued my way, I reached the place where road went up to the hill. That was the last thing I wanted having a bicycle. Being only for 1 day, a person wants to see as much as possible. I rode as far as I can, and the rest was to pull my bicycle up the road. That’s when my relaxing day started to turn into working-ut or being-cooked-under-hot-sun day. That’s when I understood why I am the only one with the bicycle where others are on motorcycles and why that people looking me in a strange way! I realized that my bicycle looks like a “donkey” comapred to motorcycles which were like “horses”. Basicly, I pulled my bicycle till the top of the hill where Little Great Wall was located. There are 2 huts from where there is a great view of north-east coast of the Green Island. By the time I reached there, my legs gave up and were screaming “No way! I will not make any further step!”, and my body was crying “So hot! Let’s go home.”… The Little Great Wall huts were just the right place to rest my body.
The rest of the road seems easy, it was down the hill. But now I didn’t have much time. I lost too much time trying to swim in that place and pulling my bike up the hill. This time it was an amazing feeling flying down the road J, I think I deserved it! After 30 min of ride, finally I reached Zhaori sea water hot springs. Well, you should be crazy to enter the hot springs in the hot summer afternoon, especially after you were on the road and your body was burning. But I was only for 1 day here, and I wanted to “experience” sea water hot spring (there are only 3 places in the world with sea water hot springs!) so much that I decided to enter it. Normally entrance fee is 200 NTD, but the owner didn’t want to take anything when I told him that I am in rush and want to enter only for 15-20 minutes. Well, indeed, it is not the best feeling to enter the hotspring in hot weather. As the owner told me it is best to enter at night and people come there at nights.
Nearby there are some other pools where people could cook eggs as theowner says.
Anyways, 15 minutes were enough to fulfill my interest, and after 5 minute cold shower (to cool down my body) I continued my way. I passed by some beaches. Well, there are no those tropical sand beaches here. Small coral stones/parts and rocky beaches are the majority. Thus not the best place for swimming. But usually people go there for diving and snorkelling and it really looks like a nice place for that (although it can not be compared with Redang island in Malaysia!)
It was almost 3 pm when I reached the whale watching area and I already could see the harbour from here! I was so happy to be near to the end! I toured the island with a bicycle!!! And I don’t suggest it for anyone else J. My “donkey” was getting tired too…
As I had some time, I went for swimming near the harbour to cool down my body and to fulfill my desire to swim. I was just on time to ride back to garage and take my staff. People were very kind to drop me to the ferry terminal with their motorcycle. And I took ferry back to Taitung…
On the boat I met 2 taiwanese girls, divers, and they tod me that there is direct train to Taipei from Taitung once a day and it is fast and doesn’t stop anywhere except Hualien! It would depart Taitung train station at 17:30 and we were just on time to make it. We got the tickets but only till Hualien we had the seats, the rest of the journey we spent siting on our bags. It took only 5 hours to reach Taipei!
Finally I was back in Taipei, back at home! My body was crying, my legs were resisting, and even my tan skin got burned till red! That was a trip I’d never forget. Maybe one day I’d like to visit those places again…
Labels: Green Island, Hualien, Taitung, Taiwan, Taroko Gorge
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November 26, 2008 
