Gorging Ourselves

After getting our feet wet in the north, we took a train southeast to Hualien. We visited a night market, perused the Engrish t-shirts, ate tasty snacks, and mingled with the locals.

We stayed at Hotel Bayview, which was a nice hotel with with scenic ocean views. Adam and I enjoyed a windy morning stroll and fish museum tour before our van of travelers headed into the main area attraction: the Taroko Gorge.

Upon entering the breathtaking national park, I felt like it was something straight from the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Lush green vegetation covered the dramatic mountains that disappeared into a veil of fog. Absolutely amazing.

We hiked around to see highlights including the Eternal Spring Shrine, the Taroko Bell Tower, the Changuang Temple Zen monastery, and the Cimu Bridge (above). We had lunch in Tianxiang before heading back out of the gorge.

We spent the afternoon cruising the gorgeous coastline. The water was an amazing blue-green. Every once in a while we stopped to stretch our legs along the way and take in the natural beauty.

We made it all the way to a chili pepper museum, which looked like a popular tour bus stop in the middle of nowhere. I enjoyed some chili ice cream and left the hotter, spicier offerings to the men.

For our final night in Hualien we went to another night market. I enjoyed watching the preparation of our tasty milk tea almost as much as I enjoyed slurping it down from a plastic bag.

Emily sated her craving for cong you bing. In an exchange of culture and currency, Alex made some friends who got a big kick out of our whiteness and American accents.