Taroko National Park, Hualien, Taiwan

Taroko National Park, Hualien, Taiwan

From Taipei, we took a long distance train to Hualien, which is located on Taiwan's East Coast. The train ride took several hours and the journey took us through stretches and stretches of beautiful landscapes. At some stretches we could see the panoramic view of the Eastern coast of Taiwan and the Pacific Ocean.

Upon arrival in Hualien, we took a cab to the JV Hostel where we had booked 2 rooms for a two-night stay.

 

This is the front view and entrance of JV Hostel.
It is actually a 3-storey linked house which had been converted into a hostel.
It is located in a quiet residential neighbourhood

The room is very basic but clean. 

No attached bath. 

Lodgers have to share the common bath in the corridor

The second room has two single mattresses placed on a raised platform.
Definitely not five-star standard but it was comfortable

The taxi driver who sent us to the hostel was friendly and he offered to provide transport and act as our tour guide for the duration of our stay in Hualien. After some negotiation, we accepted his service for a guided tour to Taroko National Park and the surrounding tourist attractions along the way. 

Shown below are some of the natural landscapes of the Taroko Gorge.

If you visit Taiwan, you must visit the Taroko National Park.

I have taken many shots of the Taroko Gorge........

  AWESOME!

MAGNIFICENT!

Look closely.....a rock that resembles the head of a wild boar

Up on the mountain along the east coast was this shrine with this statute of a golden Bodhisattva

A statue of  The Goddess of Mercy made of white marble.
Marble is a natural resource found at the Taroko gorge

After touring the  Taroko National Park, the friendly cab driver cum tour guide recommended us a restaurant in town for dinner. He declined to join us for dinner but he came back for us after our dinner to send us back to JV Hostel.  We paid Taiwanese two thousand dollars for the entire day's tour for four persons. It's money well spent. Our guide was very informative and helpful.

Here's what we had for dinner in Hualien......

Stir-fried vegetable with geoduck - very delicious!. Hot and spicy baby bamboo shoots with assorted vegetables - yummy!

Taiwanese hotpot. Looks yummy but not as excellent as the dishes shown above

Two days were not enough.  There are many more places which I would like to visit. We did not have time to visit the commercial area and shops nor the many night markets in and around Hualien. If  only I have known better, I would have spent more days in Hualien and less days in Taipei. 

Hualien is beautiful..