March 25 - Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園)

We traveled along the Suao-Hualien Highway (蘇花公路 Taiwan Highway 9) to Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園). This is the most famous highway in Taiwan with its beautiful rocky mountain cliffs on one side and Pacific Ocean on the other side. It resembles the highway 1 in California. It was unfortunate that the rain cut down the viewing distance along the way.  

This is a very dangerous highway too. Due to some previous accidents with tourist groups from mainland China, Taiwan government sets a rule to prevent any tourist bus going thru it with mainland China tourists on it, therefore we saw a lot of empty tour buses passing by from the other direction.  We were told that these buses dropped their customers at Hwalien and let them ride the train to Yilan and then get on the bus to continue their trip.  

Before we got on Suao-Hualien Highway (蘇花公路), we stop by Suao (蘇澳) harbor and nearby seafood market.  It is also the starting point of Suao-Hualien Highway, Charles even stopped by one of the Guanine (觀音菩薩) Temple to pray for our safe journey on this highway.

On the way to Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園), we visited Qingshui Cliff (清水斷崖) for photos and we stopped at the entrance point of Central Cross-Island Hightway (中部縱貫公路 - Taiwan Highway 9) for more photos. 

First, we stopped at Tarok Terrace (太魯閣台地).  This is the visitor center of Taroko National Park.  The center of the building is occupied with key exhibition areas, such as Our Environment Hall, Humans in the Environment, Environmental Education Hall and Special Exhibition Room, providing educational and traveling related information. We watched several presentations to learn about the beauty of the park. We also walked nearby trails to just get a feel of the Taroko's hiking trails. 

On the way, we also stopped by the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑步道 ) which is a walking trail along the beautiful Shakadang River (砂卡礑溪). Shakadang Trail is also known as "Mysterious Valley Trail" (神秘谷步道) and was renamed to "Shakadang Trail" in 2001. This trail was built along the river cliff so travelers can easily observe both the rock folds and plant ecosystem in the river valley. 

Then, Charles dropped us at the Swallow Grotto (Yanzikou) Trail (燕子口步道) to let us walk across the most beautiful portion of the Taroko National Park.  At Yanzikou (Swallow Grotto), the rock cliffs of the Liwu River Gorge (立霧溪峽谷) seem to reach to heaven while the river runs its swiftest, and the distance between the gorge walls so narrow that they almost seem to touch each other. Along the Yanzikou (Swallow Grotto) trail which runs about a half kilometer starting from the entrance to Swallow Grotto to the Jinheng Bridge, you can enjoy the sights of the Liwu River from nearly straight above the water, the potholes on the cliff faces, the springs sprinkled along the lower parts of the walls, as well as the famous rock formation "Chieftain's profile rock” (印地安酋長岩). Due to safety concern, everyone is required to wear a hard hat.  Even with the ugly hard hat and the rain, we still enjoyed the wonderful natural beauty along this trail.

Next, we walked through the Jiugudong (tunnel of Nine Turns) Trail (九曲洞步道).  This is the most magnificent part of the Taroko Gorge, where sheer cliffs face each other. During the exploration stage, this is the most difficult and dangerous part to explore. The distance between the cliffs is only around 10-meters wide. 

Next, we visited the Cimu (Motherly Devotion) Bridge (慈母橋). It is a H-Shape hanging bridge with marble stone lions on each ends and with marble lotus stones on two sides. A pavilion was built by late President Chiang Jing-guo, in memory of his mother, during construction of the cross-island highway. 

Then we checked into the Silks Place Taroko (太魯閣晶英酒店). it is a wonderful 5 or 6 stars hotel in the middle of mountains. It was a totally surprise to us to find such a wonderful hotel in this remote location. The facilities and services are first class. The surrounding natural beauty are just breathtaking. It was raining while we stayed there for just one night. But we were truly impressed with the beautiful natural scenery surrounding it, even in a rainy day. It is the best hotel we stayed during this Taiwan trip. After a wonderful dinner, they also provided an aboriginal singing performance.