Traveling down to Hualien, we were lucky enough to meet with Robin's friend Sandra, who works for the park, and get a personal tour around Taroko National Park.  I had been dreading trying to negotiate a taxi to take us, as using the bus shuttle the park has would not allow us to see all of the park in a day.  Sandra met us at the train station and had arranged for a taxi driver to take us around.  The scenery is like a Chinese painting.  Because of falling rocks, the road is often pockmarked and Sandra says that in the past month, a few people have been killed.  On some of the hikes, you walk above the river in the gorge, under the cliff overhang.   It was refreshing to get out and hike.  Sandra knew all the spots to take us and gave us geology and botany lessons.  It was great fun.  At the end of the day, we were tired and hungry (surprise, surprise, Myles most of all).  Sandra took us out for a traditional Taiwanese dinner at a tea house.  Myles said it was the best meal he had! ~K

The gorge was interesting. Allthough it was foggy, Zoë should have got some good pictures but it rained some of the time. In the end, Zoë got some good pictures. Thanks to Sandra, we got a huge tour around the park. She showed us plants, told us plants name and talked about animals. Then, after we were tired and hungry, Sandra took us out to dinner. I got pork spare ribs which were swimming in a very sweet and tasty sauce. Becuase the sauce was so good, I also ate a whole bowl of rice plus half of mom's. I even got boba tea which was also very sweet.  I think it was a good trip. ~MH.




Hualien was interesting. The Taroko Gorgewas pretty.  Hopefully, I got some good pictures (I haven't looked yet). Sandra was a wonderful guide.  She pointed out R.O.I , P.O.I  and B.O.I ( that means rocks of interest, plants of interest and birds of interest). She even let us into some VIP areas. Sandra works for the park.  She has an office job but occasionally took trips out into the park. She took us through Swallow Gorge which is famous for its massive groups of swallows and falling rocks.  We were required to wear helmets.  The swallows were a little out of season. I saw one! After a day at Taroko Gorge Sandra took us to a tea house. Myles ate more than he's willing to admit. After that she dropped us off at our hotel. From our hotel we walked to a night market. The night market wasn't like the ones we've been to. It was all grouped together. It wasn't as much fun as when you had to go looking for shops in the alleys. The next day we found a day market to go to and walked to the beach before catching a train home.

Me,
Out!

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