After an eventful day at Tapei city, we decided to go out of Taipei city centre for once. Our first stop was Yeliu Geopark, a cape situated in a small town in the middle of no where called Wan Li. Yeliu geopark is located between Taipei and KeeLung, whereby you can catch a bus from Taipei main station itself.
According to wiki, the stratum of yeliu is basically composed of sedimentary rocks; the formation of sea bays is due to the impact of sea erosion on softer rock layers, while those hard and solid ones may therefore turn into sea capes eventually. The total distance measured from the entrance of the Yehliu Geopark to the end of the cape is about 1.7 km; we didn't dare to meet the challenge of finishing the entire landscape simply because its too hot. Peter was basically bathed in his own sweat and we have to go hiding under the shades like every 5 minutes. Well, we cant complain much since its summer time and the picture turned out to be stunning with the cloudless clear blue sky and crystal blue sea.
According to wiki, the stratum of yeliu is basically composed of sedimentary rocks; the formation of sea bays is due to the impact of sea erosion on softer rock layers, while those hard and solid ones may therefore turn into sea capes eventually. The total distance measured from the entrance of the Yehliu Geopark to the end of the cape is about 1.7 km; we didn't dare to meet the challenge of finishing the entire landscape simply because its too hot. Peter was basically bathed in his own sweat and we have to go hiding under the shades like every 5 minutes. Well, we cant complain much since its summer time and the picture turned out to be stunning with the cloudless clear blue sky and crystal blue sea.
We spent around less than an hour at Yeliu Geopark and left like boiled lobsters. We took a local bus back to Kee Long town and then re-routed to our next stop Jiu Fen. This is our second time visiting Jiu Fen. Although the old town still has it charm, but we got a bit bored since there was not much of difference in terms of the scenery and stuffs you can find in the shops compare to our previous visits. Nevertheless, we had a good lunch at one of the local beef noodles shop and the famous taco balls shaved ice.
That pretty much summarized up our short and sweet Taipei trip.
Our next stop was Hua Lien. We had to take a 3 hours Taipei - Hualien train since the journey its quite long. One thing I have to mention is that Taipei main station is MASSIVE, there is a centre court which is so big I wonder why they would waste such a big space. The second floor is floor of eatery place but its slightly more pricey compare to normal restaurant. The train station was jam packed with locals since its summer holiday, but thanks to my good planning, we bought our train ticket online 3 days before we flew to Taiwan. *patting myself at the back*
One of the great highlight of our 3 hour train journey was 台铁便当- taiwanese bento set. The bento set which cost around NT55 have this authentic looks and tasted delicious. I bought the set which came with a big piece of pork chop and some vege. yum yum.
Hua Lian is one of the most beautiful city in Taiwan, the city face the pacific ocean and having the entire stretch of central mountain range at its back. Naturally, the tourist highlight of Hua Lian are the mountains and the seasides.
Once we have checked into a cozy minsu (B&B), we went to visit a local night market named Zi Qiang night market which was famous for their local food. The spread is not as diverse as what Shihlin market in Taipei had, but it was charming in its own way. We had some finger food and one of the highlight was the coffin bread, which is basically a thick piece of deep fried bread stuffed with all sort of ingredients such as mutton, chicken etc.
The next morning we booked a tour guide to bring us to Taroko Gorge. But before heading to the famous tourist spot, our friendly tour guide brought us for a scrumptious breakfast at a local restaurant in Hualien which selling the famous gong zheng pao zi. The queue is super long but am not too impressed with the pao, it tasted like normal pork bun but with thicker and chewy bread dough.
After the satisfying breakfast, we headed towards the Taroko Gorge with much anticipation. The view at Taroko Gorge were simply magnificent, long stretch of mountains, huge and deep rivers, limestones, caves and cliff. Its just great scenery one after another. Because the national park was so huge we have to drive in instead if walking. Its consist of 10 attractions, namely:
- Tunnel of Nine Turns (九曲洞 Jiuqü Dong)
- Eternal Spring Shrine (長春祠 Changchun)
- Swallow Grotto (燕子口)
- Jinheng Park (靳珩公園)
- The Bridge of the Kind Mother (慈母橋)
- Tiansiang (天祥)
- Jhueilu Precipice (錐麓斷崖)
- Lioufang Bridge (流芳橋)
- Hill of Yu the Great (大禹嶺)
- Buluowan (布洛灣)
However, we are only able to visit just 4 spots as some were closed down for maintenance. The tour guide dropped us at each of the attraction spots and wait for us to go in and explore on our own. It was pretty strenuous as we have to walk many kilometers from the main road into the small paths in order to reach each of these attraction. At one point we were climbing up hundreds of staircase which is ascending at 60 degrees up to a temple look alike bell tower. It was so tiring but the panoramic view of the endless stretch of mountains on top of the hill worth all the effort.
There was also this suspension bridge which hanging at least 100 meters above a dangerously looking cliff. If the height is not scary enough, it basically sway from left to right whenever the wind blows. I enjoyed the magnificent view of the cliff which heightened a few folds by the adrenaline rush. But Peter who has problem with the height not even dare to look down while crossing the bridge.
Our second day in Hua Lien ended with the visit to the famous Qi Xing Tan.The beautiful beach was consist of no sand, just tons and tons of smooth little rocks. After a whole day of strenous walking, we just sat on the beach, played with the rocks and watched the beautiful sunset. What a great way to end the day!
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