Working holiday in Taiwan's B&B by Sally_5

AT FLOWER PALACE_TAROKO GORGE NATIONAL PARK (太魯閣國家公園)

»-(¯`·.·´¯)->Taroko National Park<-(¯`·.·´¯)-«

Kate, from England, one of the guest at Errantry Lodge. Alone travelling to "Flower Palace" ...cycling around the estate and explored. Really cool and adventurous.

I was so fortunate that I could travel with her to Taroko National Parktogether (as I was off). Hired Ms. Ho (cabby lady cum mandarin speaker tour guide) picked us up at 9am. At here we began out adventure trip. Kate, is able to understand simple mandarin however I could assist on the translation. So she can understand Taroko better!

Arrived at Taroko around 10am (estimate an hour ride from Errantry Lodge).
During our ride, Ms.Ho introduced some sightseeing places. Very well detailed. We began our trip starting from Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑步道) . The scenery is pretty awesome. Fresh and cosy air and high mountains. Kate and I walked pretty fast and we managed to track quite a distance (an hour for round trip). Due to time curfews, we did not manage to finish the whole track. We covered some major scenic spots such as Shakadang Trail, Eternal Spring Shrine, Buluowan, Swallow Grotto, Tunnel of Nine Turns, Tianxiang..and some which I could not recall (so sorry) (✖╭╮✖)
We really enjoyed our trip very much (all thanks Ms. Ho, her professionalism had made us avoid the super duper crowd). Alot of China/Korea tour buses (unbelievable). Estimated 20 and above..gosh {{{(>_<)}}}

I suggest if anyone who wish to go to Taroko National Park, you can hire Ms. Ho. She is very professional and plan your route smoothly in order to avoid the super duper crowd. Beside that, she will also provide detailed information of each scenic spots ❤

Below is Ms. Ho information and trip fare (2-way)
Name: Ms. Ho Jia Ling (何佳凌)
Mobile: +886 932 651 572
License cab plate number: 916-XQ
2-way trip fare: NT 2,500 (excludes lunch at Buluowan Service Station)

Some Scenic spots details:
Taroko National Park is also known as Marble Gorge. It is one of the world heritage and it is famous for it spectacular mountains and marble canyon created by erosion process few thousand years ago. Situated 15km north of the city of Hualien. It has 19km long marble and granite canyon craved by the Liwu River that is one of the deepest in the world.

Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑步道) known as Mysterious Valley. It has natural scenic beauty and offers the deep blue marble water flowing in the first curve of the trail. Originating from Shakadang River nearby Siaosing Mountain, Shakadang River Valley stretches towards the Liwu River near Taroko. With a total length of 16.65km. It used to be an important venue along Shakadang River where the Taroko people held their traditional activities. Shakadang trail was established by the Japanese in the later phase for the construction of Liwu Power Plant. This trail goes through Wujianwu and Sanjianwu which were formerly part of the Huhus tribe. Shakadang trail runs for 4.5km and takes about 4 hours (round trip by walking). This is the best route to explore the living past of Taroko people. The best time to visit is the month of May when the Tung tree flowers bloom making the trail with flowers the air like snow flakes. The Shakadang River's flow is both fast and unpredictable thus swimming is prohibited. Need to watch out for falling rocks and farm vehicles too.

Shakadang River

Buluowan - Eternal Springs Shrine (Changchun Trail) was built to commemorate 212 personnel military veterans who died during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway. The trail winds along the cliff face. The ground rock is unstable in this area and it is susceptible to rocks falls. The track length around 2.03km. The stairs are steep and slippery...so must be extra careful.

   

Eternal Springs Shrine (Changchun Trail)

Swallow Grotto known as Yanzhikou (燕子口). It offers you a great spot of gorge wall and magnificent blue water. However the weather (rainy and windy) had caused the water to be brownish. Need to be extra careful when turning into narrow snake turn (if you are driving). Both Kate and I took a leisure walk along the Swallow Grotto and enjoy the gorge scenery. Swallow Grotto is consider as part of Taroko Gorge and overall the spot was composed of marble cliff faces covered with small holes. The track length covers 0.6km. The forest along the trail is verdant, giving you a short forest bath. The beautiful colors painted naturally on the rocks in Swallow Grotto. The natural erosion by Liwu river and ground water created the wonderful shape on the Gorge cliff. There're alot of holes among the gorge cliff of Swallow Grotto and you should be able to locate swallow nest inside.

Swallow Grotto

Cimu Bridge (慈母桥) known as frog bridge. There's a gigantic frog sitting beneath the bridge. The name of Cimu came from a tale story where a mother was washed away while tried to save her child. The pavilion / frog's crown was built by former president, Chiang Kai-shek in the memory of his mother.

Cimu Bridge

Tianxiang (天祥) is the site of an old Atayal village at the confluence of the Liwu and Dasha Rivers. Its name commemorates Wen Tianxiang, who lived in the 13th century and was the last prime minister of the Song Dynasty. Scenic spots at Tianxiang include Xiangde Temple, Tianfeng Pagoda, a suspension bridge, the Wen Tian-siang Memorial Garden, the Plum Garden, and Tianxiang Church. In winter each year the Plum Garden blooms forth, forming a sea of white blossoms stretching from the highway to Xiangde Temple. Shanyue Village at Bulowan, another old tribal settlement in the gorge, offers a new and unique type of accommodation for the area. The air around Tianxiang is fresh and I felt the peaceful wind blowing into my face. The area around Tianxiang was just silence enough to have good medication.

Xiangde Temple

Yue Fei Pavilion (岳王亭) is situated at 173km on the Central Cross-Island Highway, between the Tzumu Bridge and the Houliu camping ground. The Yue Fei Pavilion is an excellent place to watch the waterfalls on the opposite side of the Liwu River. The pavilion, built early on during the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway, is named after the folk hero of ancient China, Yue Fei. There is a suspension bridge across the river that leads to roads that were used to access the forests of some major mountains in the part of Gorge-the main peak of Liwu Mountain, Panshi Mountain and Chilai Mountain. The east access point leads to one of the park's Ecological Protection Areas, entry to which is not allowed expect with a permit. The bridge is closed to general access and can be dangerous.

Yue Fei Pavilion

Kehen (刻痕) a reaching sky-steep cliff. This cliff is called Zhuilu Cliff extends eastward from Liufang Bridge to Jincheng Bridge. With width 1200m and height 1100m. Zhuilu Cliff is the widow and highest precipice in Taroko Gorge. Right beneath the cliff, you can see lay heck on the deck viewing changes in clouds and lights of the Gorge.

Kehen

More information of Taroko National Park Homepage Link

More pictures Link

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