Day 5 - 1st June 2012 - Hualien

Finally the sky was clear on our second day in Hualien. We headed to our minsu dining area for our breakfast and was offered with a english themed breakfast. The salad was nicely prepared, and the boys love to do their own toast. We got a seat which overlook to the pond section of the minsu (so ambience suits me).

The boys love making their own toast

Simple english breakfast, very appetising

Ethan and Caden couldn't wait to finish their breakfast so as to admire the fishes in the pond outside the dining area.

They got the fish feed from our minsu owner and find alot of joy feeding

Taiwan has a new rule which requires all passengers to buckle up

The ride to Taroko Gorge was indeed an adventurous one. The road is so narrow and yet it is supposed to cater to 2-way traffic. So if a travel coach was to be on the lane, the car from the opposite direction will have to give way (automatically) for the coach to pass first before moving in the direction against it. We were told by our taxi driver that there were falling rocks from the mountains 3 days ago from the heavy rain. So I gathered that actually we are subject to falling rocks as well at any point in time since we were driving along the cliff.

In Taroko Gorge, there were many trails which a tourist can cover.

We first did a short walk on the Shakadang Trail, also known as "Mysterious Valley Trail" and was renamed to "Shakadang Trail" in 2001. This trail is built along the river cliff so travelers can easily observe both the rock folds and plant ecosystem beside in the river valley. This is quite safe but some parts of the path were quite wet from the rain which happened the day before. And somehow, the mountains have residual water drops which was continuously dripping so we put on our caps. As we were on a higher aptitude, the temperature in Taroko Gorge seemed fairly low. This trail is actually a 4.5km route but we only cover approximately less than a km because our driver told us that we have many other areas to cover for today.

The boys were providing support for each other during the trail walk

Nature - that's what we are here for

Some parts of the trail can be quite narrow

We were next sent to this place call the Swallow's Grotto (Yan Zi Kou 燕子口步道). Our taxi driver collected helmets for us at the checkpoint and asked each of us to wear it. Then I saw this signboard

Beautiful natural landscape behind

Inside the Swallow's cave lookout

Love the valley, reminds me of New Zealand

When I was there, I thought these holes
represents the home of the swallows

The YanZiKou Trail got its name from the many potholes that puncture the cliff's face, making it resemble a swallow's nest. 

After passing Jiu Qu Dong (Tunnel of Nine Turns), our taxi driver dropped us at this CiMu Bridge
(Motherly Devotion Bridge), which is an H-Shape hanging bridge with marble stone lions on each end and with marble lotus stones on two sides. This was built by late President Chiang Jing-guo, in memory of his mother, during construction of the road.
               
CiMu Bridge 慈母桥

The driver dropped us at TianXiang for lunch, we were also shown to the famous 5 star hotel Silks Place Taroko which is near our lunch venue

Posing at Tianxiang

After lunch, our driver asked us to do a walk again - this time round, he said it's a 2km walk and he would wait for us at the end of the trail. It was only later that we got to know we were doing the Baiyang trail walk, and actually, part of the trail was really steep and required climbing with the help of their iron chains! Throughout the trail, there were signboards to ask us to be careful with falling rocks. And halfway through the trail, we had to walk through a complete darkness tunnel - lucky Brian's iphone has the touchlight application which really helped! Thinking back now, it's quite an experience.

       

 We had to walk through this suspension bridge (my greatest phobia)..

the width of the trail pave

Ethan still going strong with the walk

Most dangerous spot to take pictures!

Another suspension bridge!!

Ethan ventured right into the middle of the bridge

I have stayed out of suspension bridge

 We finally completed the 2km walk in about 1 hour. Our driver continued to drive us out of Taroko Gorge and head towards Chi Shing Tan.

If I don't remember wrongly, this is the Qing Shui Cliff. Situated between Heren and Chongde on the Su-Hua Highway, Qingshui Cliff is a big formed by Chongde, Qingshui and Heping mountain coastal cliffs. Creating a magnificent scene, it stretches more than 21km and rises vertically from the Pacific Ocean, with an average height of over 800m. This section of cliff is composed of gneiss and marble. It has risen straight up on the eastern coast of Taiwan for thousands of years. The route along the Qingshui Cliff is the only coastal road in Taroko National Park. The site of the Qingshui Cliff was designated in 1953 by the Taiwan government as one of the island's "Eight Wonders.". I heard from our taxi driver that this route is a dangerous path for drive-through as rocks may fall during adverse weather conditions.

Chi Shing Tan (Seven Star Beach) 七星潭

At Chi Shing Tan, we rented bikes to admire the beach which is filled with stones, instead of sand.

The best activity of the day for these 2 boys

My country-style bike

Our satisfied faces after a complete workout with a bike ride and the full day walk

Back in Hualien town - we have asked to be dropped off at the night market once again since this is our last night.

This is one of my favorites - Di Gua Qiu - simple veg balls

Eating the barbaque food and oden (yong tau foo like)

 The boys get to play at the games station

 After all the activties, we were dead tired and retired back at our minsu for an early night rest..

In Taiwan, we were so hooked on this yakult like beverage found in all 7-eleven stores which is very addictive - costs about NTD 28 (S$1+), provides lots of fibre and helps the digestive system. We drink a bottle of this every day during our day in TW!