Taroko National Park (Chinese: 太魯閣國家公園; pinyin: Tàilǔgé gúojiā gōngyuán; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Taroko kok-ka kong-hn̂g) is one of the nine national parks in Taiwan and was named after the Taroko Gorge, the landmark gorge of the park carved by the Liwu River. The park spans Taichung Municipality, Nantou County, and Hualien County. www.wikipidea.com
When we decided to visit the Taroko Gorge we knew that we have to do some intensive research, since me and my friend have never ventured far from Hsinchu County. We have to figure out on how to get there and where to stay. When we did our research it was said that going to Hualien would be a very scenic route since you are passing along the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area. Getting around Taiwan is not that hard when they have train and bus transportation that rounds the island regularly. But getting to Hualien is not that easy, you should buy your ticket in advance since the northeast coast route is very popular and if you would want to travel comfortably since the trip would take up to 4 hours. We visited the www.railway.com.tw website and through there book a round trip ticket. You need to wait for the booking confirmation that the website will provide since you would need this to pay for your ticket in any 7-11 convenient store or the nearest train station. Please be mindful that your reservation is only good for a certain length of time and you have to pay it within that time.
Hsinchu Train Station
After the 4 hour trip we arrived at Hualien Train Station and it was a very beautiful train ride….. I highly recommended it.
Hualien Train Station
Where to Stay
We opted to stay at Sleepingboot Backpackers Hostel (www.sleepingboot.com) for 3 days and 2 nights locating the hostel is very easy since their website provided a direction with photos.
A very welcoming ambiance!!!
Booked a room for 2 people got a room for 4!!! YESSSSS!!!!
We loved our host and the community that they have there. Everyone that we meet are so friendly and very welcoming. The room is very clean and the BED!!!! it is sooooo soft and comfortable!!!! I want to take the bed home with me. It is very important to us to have a very comfy bed since were mostly walking the whole day.
Pine Garden
After an hour of rest we head out and explore the county, we ask our host on where to go and eat. Our first stop is Pine Garden, it served as a command center during the Japanese Colonial Era is now the best-preserved Japanese military structure in Hualien. We were given a map of Hualien and got a recommendation to this place and since bago (newbie) in travelling. We followed the map as in literal…. we decided to walked since it looks to be not that far in the map. After hours of walking under the blistering heat of the sun….. we realized that it was not that near as it looks, remember do a lot of research!!!. We never knew that this building is located on the highest point of Hualien City. So imagine the bucket of sweat that we lost from walking uphill!!!. But nevertheless it is part of the adventure and we just laughed it out.
A view of the Pacific Ocean.
Mandatory Selfie!!!
The place is a very serene place where you could appreciate century-old pine trees and when you look across the east the calm Pacific Ocean will greet you from the distance.
QIXINGTAN BEACH
Located at the north end of Hualien City, Qixingtan Beach is one of the most beautiful beach in Taiwan. The beautiful blue sky meets an endless Pacific expanse, and looking through photo on the net it would be very wrong if we don’t visit it. We tried to navigate using public transportation but after waiting for quite awhile we decided to take a taxi from the Pine Garden to the beach. We had to overcome another hurdle in our trip which is the language…good thing we are good in sign language and thank God for the internet. It is a very beautiful beach but it was just a little cloudy but we still enjoyed it. We relaxed for a while on the shore admiring the waves. We made an arrangement to our taxi driver to pick us up around a certain time since we don’t see buses that passes near the location. Another travel tip: always asked for your taxi driver number. We arrived on our meet –up place and walahhhh!!!! Wala siya….good thing that we asked for his number and he can’t understand us!!!huhuhuhuhu. In situation like this the best thing you can do is DON’T PANIC!!!. We had a hard time understanding him…really tried to speak but to no avail. We were slowly getting frantic and then we saw a parked taxi and asked the driver to talked to our driver and give him our exact location…so reminder always have a lot of data on your phone to make calls not only for internet.
Day 2…
Sleepy Hualien City…early start for Taroko Gorge!!!!
Getting in and around
Public Bus– Getting to the gorge by bus is easy, but you have to make sure you make it on time. The buses leave Hualien station as early as 6:30AM to as late as 1:50PM. Buses finish leaving after this point so make sure you aren’t lying in bed they won’t wait for you. There are usually different stops that you can get off at in the gorge, so plan ahead as to what you want to see. This option is very limited as you can only get off at where the bus stops and are restricted to the bus schedule.
Bus Tour– This option is more expensive but you get more freedom. They will take you to all the good spots in the gorge. The downside is that you feel like cattle that is being herded on from one spot to the other, which takes away the option to truly explore.
Taxi– This is the more expensive option to get around and see the gorge, but this allow you the more freedom to explore. Your taxi driver would also act as your tour guide.
Scooter– This is the most inexpensive way to travel and explore the gorge. Scooter hire shop are everywhere in Hualien, but alas!!!!….we both don’t know how to ride a scooter.
We opted to take the public bus since we are in a budget and we want to explore on our own time and pace.
Taroko visitor center
Be sure you to bring extra memory card and battery. The place is just so photogenic…
The view from the Taroko Visitor Center
Along the ride to Taroko we met a couple from Hongkong and they were very friendly. They asked us if it was our first time going there and if we want to tagged along with them. They were very accommodating especially the husband since he was very well traveled and fluent in English. We also met an older woman from China and she also became a part of our small gang. We were dropped off at the visitor center and you have to wait for another bus that would take up the mountain. You have to prepare a lot of coins if you are taking the bus since you will have to hop on/off the public bus, we advised that you purchased an easy card swipe so will not have to worry about running out of coins.
A view from our bus…no wonder it is called one of the most dangerous roads in the world.
Day 3…
After our two day adventure in Hualien, the words that we could only utter was just WOW…AMAZING…BEAUTIFUL!!!. It was really a great experience and something that I would treasure forever. As we were preparing to check out of our hostel and since our train leaves at 2:00 pm, our hostel host recommended us to do a Whale Watching Tour. It wasn’t part of our plan but since we have still have a lot time to kill we opted to take the tour. And it was very fun…
We didn’t see any whale but seeing the dolphins is enough for me…after that we head back to the hostel and took our bag and headed home. It was a very nice adventure…
Thank you for the memories and experience..
Wandering Nao 