Taiwan Holiday - Day 5

- Day 5 : continuation from previous post-

We had some time to kill between our 1pm hotel checkout time and our 7pm train back to Taipei.

So decided to take the free shuttle bus up to TianSiang to climb the steps to the Tianfeng Pagoda. (we were too lazy to climb up the previous day).

Photo taken from shuttle bus

Pagoda and giant statue of Bodhisattva from afar
Bridge to the Pagoda

View of Liwu River from the bridge

Phew..... made it to the top.

Elyssa surprised us by walking all the way! (some days, she just wants to be carried all the time)

Taking the shuttle bus up to TianSiang turned out to be a great idea. Although the route was part of the same route we took the previous day, I still couldn't get enough of the breathtaking views. Looking out from a bus has its plus points too cos of the higher seats and bigger windows compared to a cab.

But in a way, some parts were also quite scary cos I realised how close we were to the edge of the cliff ! Took this photo from my seat on the bus -

Buluowan Recreation Area

After the bus trip back to the Buluowan stop, we went to the hotel to collect our luggage. Then it was back to the Buluowan stop to wait for the next free shuttle bus to Hualien. We sat there for about 10 minutes then saw a van from our hotel. The driver asked how come we were sitting there cos the last shuttle bus has left! I confidently pointed to the shuttle bus timetable which showed there were 2 more buses to Hualien that day. Then he pointed me to some chinese characters on the timetable and he said that meant "Weekends Only". Ooopps !!!! Thank goodness he came to get us! We gladly took the hotel van to Hualien (RM20 each).

Ha ha..... little things like that happen when we travel on our own but I guess it makes it even more interesting!

We took the high speed Taroko Express back to Taipei (only 2 hours). When we arrived, I was hungry so we started looking for food. Found an interesting shop and happily ordered the dish below.


Looks good eh? Then we realised that the claypot contents were some pork meat (ok), pork internal organs (I can't stand this), pork blood (can't stand this either) and braised STINKY TOUFU !!!!!! The soup was quite nice as first but after a while, all we could taste was the stinky toufu. Bleah..... one of the most horrible things I've ever tasted. Hubby and I can both tolerate fried stinky toufu but this this soupy version was just awful.

Our unfinished dish.
Mainly eaten by hubby. I just couldn't stand it.

Someone had NO problem with the stinky toufu and the stinky soup though. No prizes for guessing who.....
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Elyssa finishing everything in her bowl. She even said "Nice"!

Elyssa, oh Elyssa....... what WON'T you eat?? ;)

-End of Day 5 -