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.....
-

-

-

-

-

-

Elyssa finishing everything in her bowl. She even said "Nice"!

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

-End of Day 5 -

Taiwan Holiday - Day 4 & 5 (Hotel)

At the Taroko National Park, we stayed in Leader Village Taroko Hotel which used to be part of a tribal village for the Taroko aborigines. It was more expensive than staying in Hualien town but definitely well worth the experience. Just priceless to be able to wake up IN the beautiful National Park.


Photos -

2 beds in the cabin-style accomodation

Another view of the room
The view outside the window was beautiful
Veranda

Tribal Set Dinner at the Hotel
Hubby's dinner - main highlight was the Wild Boar Ribs! The dinner set came with glutinous rice cooked in bamboo, wild mushrooms, stir fried forest ferns, a chunk of sweet potato, a meaty bowl of soup plus some other condiments.

My dinner - similar to hubby except mine was fried chicken. The soup and condiments were slightly different.

Included in the dinner set was Rice Wine served in cute little wild boar cups!

The waiter told us the correct way to drink the rice wine was through a small hole at the mouth of the wild boar cup. Ha ha...... hubby looked like he was kissing the wild boar!

After dinner, we watched the nightly cultural performance by the Taroko aborigines. Main stars were the young kids. We enjoyed it immensely! The fact that it was NOT a show by professionals made it even more interesting.

In between the routines, the Taiwanese MC introduced the kids one by one. The kids said their names, he spoke about their background and some points about them. Like how one girl was top in her class, one boy's father was sick and how another little boy always conveniently loses his homework. Very endearing cos it gave each kid its own identity (for the audience).

Tribal Dance

2 young girls performing on traditional musical instruments

Another performance using traditional musical instrument

The adult performers actually work in the hotel too! The guy playing the guitar (who was also co-emcee of the night) was a waiter during dinner. The other guy was the cook. He had us all laughing when he said in a deadpan voice that he was very busy in the kitchen that night, was supposed to be off-duty and didn't even have time to change out of his apron, boots and cap ;)

Elyssa enjoying the show
When the show started (it was almost pitch black and then a boy came running in with a flaming torch) she screamed and said she wanted to go back! She calmed down when the lights were back and I told her to watch the kor-kor & jie-jie's dance. Toward the end of the show, she was clapping away and even went to sit by herself on the front row ;)

The whole performance was about 1.5 hours. I think Elyssa got over-excited cos she woke up screaming around 11pm. Adoi...... I could just imagine the other guests cursing us for spoiling the nice and quiet atmosphere! She only calmed down after about half and hour but slept thru the night after that.

The next morning, we had our breakfast then basically just enjoyed the resort until checkout time at 1pm.

Our breakfast table with a view

The place was absolutely BEAU-TI-FUL !

Walking along a short trail

Elyssa fooling around with a hat in the room

-2nd part of Day 5 in next post. I know I'm being VERY long-winded but I just want to record all the lovely experience! -

Taiwan Holiday - Day 4

Day 4 - Taroko National Park

We took the 6.45am train from Taipei to Hualien. Wanted to take the 8am train but it was fully booked even though I purchased the tickets one week+ in advance.

I expected it to be dark when we left the hotel around 6am but it was totally bright already. Didn't realise that sunrise is earlier compared to M'sia! The train ride itself was about 2 hours 45 minutes. Pleasant journey with comfortable seats and nice scenery outside.

When we arrived at the Hualien train station, our tour guide, Mr Kang (I wanted to engage Mr Lu based on advice from travel forums. Called him about a week before flying off to Taipei. He was busy on the day we wanted but he arranged for his friend to take us instead) was already waiting for us. He took us to pack some lunch then we were on our way to the Taroko National Park.

My goodness.......... the Taroko National Park was absolutely AMAZING !!!! We just loved, loved, loved the place !!! Will just let the photos do the talking but seriously, nothing beats being physically there.

Cingshuei Cliff

Photo of us. Note the 2-tone water on the background

According to the guide, the part where the 2 tones meet represents the best fishing spot

Archway to the Park

We stopped at the Visitor Centre to eat the lunch we packed from Hualien. Yummy!

Nice picnic table to enjoy our lunch

Me enjoying lunch :)

Shakadang Trail

The water was just soooooo clear!

Just beautiful !!

Eternal Spring Shrine

It was so lovely to dip my legs in the coldddd water. So refreshing! If only I could go in for a proper dip.

Our tour guide sewing up our umbrella cos he said the strap was falling out. What a sweet gesture!

Swallow Grotto. Another lovely spot.

Mr Lu with Elyssa

We met up with him at most of the spots cos he was basically bringing his group to the same places as us. It was quite helpful cos he could explain things in basic English. Our own guide doesn't speak a work of English.

Another nice spot. (At this point, I lost track of the names)

See the giant frog like rock? The little pavilion is it's crown!

Hanging bridge

Tunnel of 9 turns.

Supposed to be one of the main attraction but there was a landslide earlier so most of the trail was closed. Only a short portion was accessible and visitors needed to wear hard hats.

We finished sightseeing around 5.30pm. What a fantastic day it was! I have soo many more photos. Had a hard time selecting photos for this post.

After the sightseeing, we checked into the Leader Village resort at Buluowan Recreation Area (within the National Park) and that experience itself will have its own post coming up next :)

- End of Day 4 (part 1) -