Taiwan 2013 Travelogue: Hualien | Taroko Gorge National Park

When I was planning the itinerary for our Taiwan Trip, I have no idea where is Hualien and what tourist attraction spots it has when my sister mentioned about it. Hualien is the largest county in Taiwan, located at the eastcoast facing the Pacific Ocean. As we all know, people visit Taiwan for its food and to shop but in fact, it has more to offer. There's a reason why Taiwan is formally called as Ilha Formosa which means beautiful island cause this island is indeed a home to amazing and beautiful landscapes. Taroko Gorge is one of them, world famous for its majestic beauty and marble-walled gorge scenery. If you're a first timer to Hualien, it is the top must-go-places. 

We embarked on our journey heading towards Hualien on our first day, taking the 7.30am train. Having only 4 hours of sleep the night before doesn't make me feel any less energetic cause I've been looking forward to Taroko Gorge! 

The TRA station is located in Taipei Main Station which is also where you can board Taiwan HSR and Taiwan MRT. The railway platforms are located on the B2 level, while the B1 level serves as a waiting area. Ticketing services are on the first floor. 

We took Tze-Chiang Limited Express (272) which took us 3 hours and 15 minutes to reach Hualien from Taipei. Note that, the travelling time may differ according to different train class and number. 

The bear is still exhausted and cold, obviously :P 

As always, the train is punctual and waits no one. Make sure you're waiting in front of your car number which is stated on the platform and your ticket as well. 

We arrived on time as well and we were greeted by the minsu owner, Aunty Liu along with the taxi driver who will be bringing us for our Taroko Gorge one day trip that we booked through her. Since we didn't have a proper breakfast earlier, he brought us to have early lunch at a restaurant nearby Taroko.

And off we go exploring Taroko after having our tummy filled.

Group selfie shot at the entrance of Taroko! 

According to our driver, every visitor must take a photo with this stone sculpture and the Taroko Archway on the left in the photo. As the gateway to Taroko Gorge, it makes a perfect introduction to the enthrailing adventure that is about to begin. 

That's Mr.Liu, our driver explaining a brief history of Taroko to us. And I must say the weather was really kind that day, it was all chilly that we get walk around without sweating buckets. This place is way bigger than you expect so be prepared to walk a fair bit, do come with comfortable walking shoes.

Some the scenic spots in Taroko include Swallow Grotto, Tunnel of Nine Turns, Qingshui Cliff, Shakadang Trail, Eternal Spring Shrine and Tian Xiang. The good thing about hiring a driver is that you can have him to drive you from one scenic spots to another which definitely save a lot of time and it's more convenient. He will drop you off for picture taking before moving on to the next spot. Other alternatives would be shuttle bus (not recommended), scooter or bicycle. I've seen quite a lot of foreign youngsters (mostly angmo hehe) going around the place in scooters, I would love to experience that one day too!

| Shakadang Trail 砂卡噹步道 |
The trail itself is 4.5km which will take at least 2 hours to walk to and fro so we decided to skip it as there is nothing much to see except for that stream of Shakadang river. As you head down further, you'll pass by a Truku tribal village and there will be a 3D cabin at the end of the trail. 

| Eternal Spring Shrine (Changchun Shrine) 長春祠 |
This Eternal Spring Shrine was built to commemorate the 226 military veterans who died during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway. There is a mountain tunnel from the bridge which will lead you to the shrine and it takes approximately 20 minutes. If you're up for a challenge, you can walk another 2.2km starting from behind the shrine with stairs to Guanyin Cave, Taroko Tower, and the Bell Tower. We obviously skipped that part too and just stopped by at the carpark to take some photos.

Don't you just find the waterfall so pure and serene?

Before moving on the next spot, Swallow Grotto, we had to drop by this guardhouse to collect safety helmets (free of charge) as this spot is particularly known for rock slides. 

Another mesmerizing sight with this suspension bridge but it's closed. Loving the crisp blue river.

| Swallow Grotto (Yanzikou) 燕子口 |
Due to long-term erosion of Taroko by the Liwu River into an extremely narrow and deep valley, the marble cliff faces were scoured into hundreds of potholes, which have become a natural nesting location for swallows. Thus, that's how the name Swallow Grotto came by. 

Our taxi driver dropped us at the entrance of Swallow Grotto and we were required to walk a half kilometer to JinHeng bridge. The walk is pleasurable cause we get to enjoy the sight of Liwu River and amazing marble-rock formation. I've never felt so close to nature, appreciating every fresh air I breathe in  as I immersed myself in the nature. 

Potholes on the cliff faces.

Swallow Grotto is also where the river runs at its swiftest as the trail scattered with tunnels and overlooks the narrowest portion of Taroko Gorge. 

Warning signs everywhere reminding visitors to always be cautious. 

Stone sculpture of JinHeng, a chief engineer who was killed in a landslide during the construction of the highway at the JinHeng Park. Thus there is a park and bridge named after him to commemorate him.

Another scenery shot from JinHeng Park. Try to spot the "Chieftain's profile rock" that resembles an Indian chief if you can! 

Close up look of the so-called Chieftain's profile rock which looks more like a lion to me HEH
Well, it really does look like an Indian chief in the original photo shown by our driver but the lower part of the rock which was supposed to be the mouth of the Indian chief was eroded bit by bit these few years.   

Anytime for an ice cream break! Mango and Cranberry ice creams at NTD350 each.
I prefer the mango flavoured one more.  

Then we continued our journey to the next stop. We passed by Tunnel of Nine Turns (Jiuqudong 九曲洞步道) said to be the most magnificent part of Taroko but sadly it was closed due to recent rock slides. 

After passing Jiuqudong, we arrived at Cimu Bridge (Motherly Devotion Bridge) which was built by former President Chiang Jing-guo in dedication of his mother, First Lady Soong May-ling, wife of the late President Chiang Kai-shek. It's pretty impossible to miss this bridge along the way since it's painted in bright red.

Spot the frog? Hint: It's not a small one. 
HAHA yeah, it is this huge rock itself. The pavilion built on this frog rock looks like a crown on the frog. 

Again, stunning marble walled cliff is a common sight. 

Before reaching Tianxiang 天祥風景區, you'll come across this bridge that connects to the Xiangde Temple entrance, the 7 storey Tian Feng Pagoda at the top of the mountain, and the giant statute of the Bodhisattva. We gave it a pass as well and headed to Tianxiang instead which was not far away, reachable by foot. 

Close up of the 7-story high Tian Feng Pagoda and Giant Statute of the Bodhisattva on the terrace. 

You can stop by to have your meal here as they have local food vendors or take a toilet break after the long journey. Some tourists would stay overnight here as well.

Last but not least, the foot bridge at Lushui Trail. I was so excited cause this suspension bridge was not close and I literally raced my way up to this bridge. This bridge can only take a maximum load of 8 persons and visitors are advised not to rock the bridge. Dad even jokingly said that we should take a jumpshot on the bridge HAHA

View from the bridge. It's really high up compared to the photo above. 

Me, on top of the suspension bridge. 

So that concludes our mini adventure exploring Taroko Gorge which takes us around 3 hours in total. If you're a nature lover, I would totally recommend Taroko Gorge in your itinerary or else this trip will totally bore you. It's a really great experience being surrounded by green nature, high sky mountain and enjoying the tranquil atmosphere. The name “Taroko” is based on the tribe language refers to the phrase “magnificent and beautiful” and I felt that it really lives up to its name. I'm really impressed with the effort of the government in conserving this national park and great length they have taken to ensure the safety of the visitors. Mind you, there is no entrance fee charged. I seriously wouldn't mind coming back here again, hiking through the different trails that I didn't get to try this time round. 

P/S: We just realised that the driver didn't bring us to Qingshui Cliff after we got back.

How to get to Taroko Gorge: 

1.) Take a cab from Hualien Train Station which will take around 40 minutes. 

2.) Take a cab or bus from Xincheng Station, which is a station before Hualien Train Station and it's definitely nearer to Taroko. 

Hope you enjoy reading my lengthy post. Next one will be a shorter post on QixingTan, promise! (;  

xx

Taiwan 2013 Travelogue: Prologue | Travel Guide

I keep telling myself that I should probably write something about my recent trip to Taiwan before I lost my mojo. This post will focus more about some basic information that you might need to know as well as some travelling tips to Taiwan especially if it's your first time to Taiwan or if you're travelling free and easy. The reason that I came up with this post is that I have a lot of doubts and inquiries while planning this trip. While doing some research, I came across a lot blogposts that are not much of a help cause it's filled with tons of photos *cough* mostly endless selfies *cough* and with minimal useful details. Lucky me that I have my elder sister to help out and the fact that she's been to Taiwan is definitely a bonus. So I  thought I should come up with a proper blogpost to help those who is experiencing the same problem as me. Research is really necessary so that you'll get a rough idea of what to expect and like they say, a little research goes a long way. It's always good to prepare yourself, no?

Booking flight tickets

Thanks to Airasia, now everyone can fly. Since my travelling period falls during the school holiday, I didn't manage to get cheap air tickets despite there is a promotion going on. It was roughly RM1000 for each of us, excluding baggage fees and pre-booked meals. Flight tickets to Taiwan can go as low as RM500 per person during non-peak season. On a side note, I would suggest taking a morning/afternoon flight so that you could apply for the Youth Card and local sim card for your mobile phone at the airport itself upon arrival. I'll elaborate on that more later. As for me, I took the evening flight and by the time I reach, the telco booths are all closed which I have to survive two days with just hotel wifi until I got myself a local sim card.  

Accommodation

This is definitely the hardest decision to make when you have so many hotels and bread & breakfast hostels (more known as minsu 民宿 which many have claim to be a must-try experience) to choose from. My advice is to book directly with the hotel itself , be it by email or dropping them a message on FB page rather than using Agoda or any other related hotel booking websites.

After much consideration, we settled with CityInn Plus Ximending cause of the numerous good reviews that we've read. The fact that it's located in Ximending, just a few steps away from Ximen MRT station 3rd exit makes it convenient for us to travel around too. Apparently certain Taiwan hotels allow you to store your heavy luggage at their premises while you travel somewhere else. For example, we went to Hualien and Taichung during the weekend and then returned to CityInn Plus XMD Hotel to stay for our remaining last four nights. The front desk allowed us to leave our luggage with them while we were away. Super convenient cause we get to pack light for our weekend trip away from Taipei. Some hotels also allow you to leave your luggage with them before the official check-in time. I'll blog about the three different accommodation that we stayed during the one week trip to Taiwan in separate posts.

Transportation
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We would like to experience how the locals travel everyday from one county so we took the trains (TRA and HSR) to Hualien and Taichung respectively.  TRA (Taiwan Railway Administration) is something like our KTM while THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail) is bullet trains.

You can purchase your TRA online 2 weeks in advance to get 10% discount off and secure your seats. Another 10% discount if you purchase return tickets too. You can always check the train schedule at this website. Pay via credit card and have it print out at the nearest 7-11 or Family Mart near your hotels with minimal fee. All you need is your passport number and the booking number. It works for HSR and bus tickets as well.

The printing machine which you can spot in most convenience stores in Taiwan. 

Or you can just collect it on the day of departure, at least 30 minutes before the train leaves. Make sure you get to the train station on time as the trains are super punctual (no Malaysia timing please) and waits for no one. For detailed instructions on how to check, reserve, buy and cancel your TRA tickets online, feel free to check out this excellent guide.

Train tracks at Hualien Station. 

If you wish to travel by HSR, you can either buy them at the counter (at Taipei Main Station) or book them online at the HSR website. The tickets will be slightly expensive as compared to TRA but you can get up to 30% discount if you manage to get the early bird price which requires booking at least 1 month prior to your travelling date. Information on timetable, fares and routes are available at this website.

So it's best to have your itinerary all plan out nicely at least a month or two before your travelling date so that you can secure all these transportation tickets on time and save up on the transportation fee.

Besides TRA and HSR, you can also travel around Taipei with MRT. I'm really impressed with their systematic MRT systems despite having so many different lines making every part of Taipei reachable! Though it looks complicated to me at first but eventually I managed to get used to it. You can get the route from here and it's better to have the route map saved to your phone so that you can refer to it anytime. You can ask for a mini route map from the MRT station ticket counters too.

Travelling by bus is pretty convenient in Taiwan but I wasn't really confident using it (no time to get lost, every minute is valuable HAHA) so we didn't use any bus while we were there expect for that one shuttle bus from Taichung HSR station to Fengchia University.

SimCard on your Mobile Phone
I guess nowadays people couldn't live without mobile internet (which includes me as well) so getting a local simcard is considered one of the essential as well. It can be pretty useful when you need to navigate your way with Google Maps or searching for information online or even reading some tips from 4sq. For my case, I use it for checking in on 4sq as well as updating my Instagram :P Back to the simcard, you can easily buy it from the 3 telco booths at the airport namely: DaGeDa, Far EasTone and Chunghwa. Since they are closed when I reached, I thought I could try my luck at the convenience store but apparently you can only get simcard with 3G connection from telco service stores. Tried our luck again on the third day at Taipei Main Station but most of them ran out of stock for nano sim card. Yes, they have nano sim card readily on sale! Finally after 3 days of being disconnected from the cyberworld, I managed to secure myself with a sim card from DaGeDa in Fengchia, Taichung.

NTD500 for 1GB of data and NTD400 talktime credit. Once you've exceeded 1GB, you will be charged accordingly. Reload available at all convenience stores. 

All you need is just your passport and they will settle the rest for you, no activation time needed as well :D You can use it right away, how efficient. The speed is pretty fast (compared to DiGi lolol) even in rural areas or up on the hill like Jiufen and compared to some of the wifi is available. Somehow I've read many reviews stated that ChungHwa is better and on a plus note, they provide unlimited data for mobile internet even with the same price I paid for DaGeDa. 

Easy Card 悠遊卡

Easy Card is something like our Touch n' Go, can be used for all buses, MRT and trains in Taipei. You can buy it in any MRT stations or convenience stores. NT500 for adult, with NTD400 of credit and NTD100 deposit. We got ours from Family Mart for NTD100 and throughout the whole week, we used less than NTD300. You can use this Easy Card to buy stuff in their convenience stores, Starbucks and Watsons as well. How cool! Since I had NTD78 left, I used it all up buying junk food in Family Mart and kept the card as a souvenir. Who knows I can still use it on my next trip? Otherwise, you can actually return the card and get refunded for the full balance and deposit with a charge of NTD20 termination fee as long as your card is still in good condition. More details at the Easy Card website, here.

Card design varies from time to time (: 

If you will be taking a lot of public transport, then you might consider getting the Taipei Pass instead where you can take unlimited number of rides on the MRT and buses. Available in  few types; more info here.

Youth Travel Card 台灣青年旅遊卡

The Youth Travel Card is eligible for traveler aged between 15-30. You can apply the card at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Customer Service upon arrival with no application fee. Since I reached the airport late, I had mine done in Taichung's Sun Moon Lake Visitor Information Office instead. With this card, you can enjoy discounts and special gifts from selected stores and restaurants as well as entrance ticket to place of interest. I got to use mine while visiting Taipei Zoo, Taipei 101 as well as Shifen Waterfall and I get discounted price for the entrance fee. 

Currency Exchange

It's best to have all your NTD currency change before you fly off cause there aren't money changer stores in Taiwan around like how you have them everywhere in Malaysia. You can only change your currency in the airport or certain banks, doubt that they will give you better rate either. You can also bring along some USD as they do accept USD, but not Malaysia Ringgit. Credit cards are widely accepted in every decent-sized town, making this a convenient way to cover expenses without exchanging cash. All major credit cards like Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted in most shops, restaurants and hotels.

Language 

Well, it would be a slight disadvantage if you can't read (traditional Chinese to be exact) or converse in Mandarin Chinese cause it is their official language and Taiwanese Hokkien is widely spoken too. Most of their signs in public area are in bilingual, Chinese and English so fret not. But when it comes to menu in the breakfast shops and certain eatery outlets, they are in Chinese and obviously I have a hard time deciding what to eat most of the time. I'll be like "Mum, what is this and what is that" HEH I can't really read but somehow I still manage to survive #sucesskid.jpg

Traveling Etiquette

In Malaysia, we're often encouraged to keep to our left while going up the escalator but in Taiwan, it's the other way round. Always remember to keep to your right. It took me some time to get used to it too. Also, passengers are expected to queue while waiting for trains and the best things is there are even queue strips on the floor to guide people so they won't get in the way of passengers alighting from the trains. Surprisingly, people automatically queue up in Taiwan! Sorry to say, but you don't get that in Malaysia. They will rush into the trains without even letting you out first. They also leave the priority seats empty for the disabled, elderly and pregant women. I'm just amazed by how civic minded they are, needless to say, they are super friendly and polite too. 

Essential to bring along

• Electricity: 110 V (Two flat prongs plug; so bring your universal adapter) 
• Umbrella/Disposable Raincoats
• Recycle Bags (Most of the stores practice no plastic policy. Some charge NTD1 for plastic bag)

I guess that's pretty much it about my so called guide-to-travel and hope you'll find this blogpost helpful :D I'll further edit this post if there is more updates. I'll blog about planning the itinerary in a separate post. Don't hesitate to drop me a comment or you can even email me if you have any further enquiry. I'll be more than happy to help! If you have any additional tips you want to contribute, do feel free to add your comments below too.

Last but not least, enjoy your holiday to Taiwan!

More updates about Taiwan coming up next, so stay tuned.

xx

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