Taiwan - Hualien

My next stop in Taiwan was the largest city on the east coast, Hualien.  While Hualien itself is not nearly as hopping as a city like Taipei, it is a jumping off point to one Taiwan’s greatest attractions, Taroko Gorge, as well as several other places along the highway that runs up and down the coast. 

The first night in Hualien, we went to rent two scooters for two days.  The owner of the scooter rental place was not happy we were coming so late to rent scooters.  I felt bad about that, but hey! - we were giving him business.  It was only about $20 for each scooter! 

The next day, we drove our scooters north to Taroko Gorge (about 45 minutes).  What’s cool about the highways in Taiwan is that they have a lane dedicated to scooters (such is the prevalence of scooters in Taiwan), so we never felt in danger riding alongside semis and other much larger vehicles.

When Taroko Gorge was transformed into a national park, they designed it so that one could drive through it and check out most if not all the attractions by simply parking your vehicle on the side of the road or in a parking lot.  That made not only for easy access, but also an amazing ride.

We drove all of the way to the end of the park first, riding through tunnels and along cliffs.  We gradually made our way back while checking out all of the sites.  I won’t bother describing all of the places within Taroko Gorge that we saw, but will rather let the pictures speak for themselves.

The next day, we took our scooters south rather than north.  We drove them about 2 or 2.5 hours to an area called Shitiping (it looks like it’s pronounced “shitty ping”, but in fact, since this is Chinese romanization we’re talking about, it’s pronounced “Sure-tee-ping”.  Despite having full knowledge of the correct pronunciation, we elected to call it the former.)  At this site was a beautiful coast line littered with rocks formed by lava ages ago.  There is nothing I like doing better than just finding an isolated spot along a beach, and just watching the ocean.  I’m not sure if there is a place where I feel more reflective and pensive than I do when faced with the ocean. 

I suppose I should write about the ride itself.  I imagine this coastal highway (Highway 10, to be precise) in Taiwan is remarkably similar to Highway 1 in California.  While you’re driving, you have mountains on one side, and the ocean on the other side.  Not only this, but we had an absolutely perfect day for it: sunny and warm without a cloud in the sky. 

Along the way to Shitiping, we stopped once at lookout point and grabbed some coffee.  We stopped on the way back and went on a mini hike up a coastal crag. 

Overall, the second day was probably one of my favorite days of traveling ever.  It was just so perfect!