This day, we will be going to Taroko (太鲁格) in Hualien (花莲) province. Ivy and I, taking photos while waiting for our train to arrive.
There's our train!
We were a bit worried about the weather as there were some raindrops when we were on the train. The sky looked quite cloudy too. Lucky for us, there was no rain when we reaced Taroko.
On the train, Sindy and I jumped in when we saw them taking photos.
And we reached Hualien train station! On our way to the exit to meet our guide, we passed through a tunnel with lots of beautiful photos of Taroko.
We engaged a guide at NT4500 (around SGD225) to drive us around Hualien and Taroko. Split between the 8 of us, the cost turned out to be quite reasonable, especially since it saved us lots of travelling time.
Our guide drives a quite new 9-seater car. The 6 of us sat at the back while the couple sat in the front with the driver, who was also our guide.
It was almost lunch time when we reached Hualien so our guide drove us to buy packaged lunch first. That's Alan, waiting for our lunch boxes to be ready.
And we bought bubbletea too. The bubbletea there is very cheap! And the pearls they gave was almost half cup full!
That's the car our guide drove.
We developed a 'custom' of taunting one another with this hand gesture when that person expressed tiredness or when he/she failed to complete a task. Lousy~~~
Another classic - the stairs... I think someone stood at the wrong step. Shouldn't you like, erm, go and stand at the front (so I wouldn't have to bend)? Hahaha... Oops... :b
A photo taken at the risks of our lives. Luckily, there weren't a lot of vehicles passing by then.
Alan, who sat in front, took this photo. It looked like the driver was going at a very high speed. We, at the back, had no idea...
Our first trail of the day...
Another group photo, this time taken at the edge of the cliff.
Oh wow... Didn't know there were staples this big! Haha...
Reaching for the top...
See the rock wall behind us? That's what we saw most of the time throughout the whole Taroko tour.
Our guide brought us down a very rocky path to this place where the water was very clear. He kept asking us to drink some of the spring water to prove how clear it is.
After shrieking my way down the rocky path, I attempted to just sit down on this very safe big rock and wait for my friends to finish exploring.
We developed a 'custom' of taunting one another with this hand gesture when that person expressed tiredness or when he/she failed to complete a task. Lousy~~~
Another classic - the stairs... I think someone stood at the wrong step. Shouldn't you like, erm, go and stand at the front (so I wouldn't have to bend)? Hahaha... Oops... :b
A photo taken at the risks of our lives. Luckily, there weren't a lot of vehicles passing by then.
Alan, who sat in front, took this photo. It looked like the driver was going at a very high speed. We, at the back, had no idea...
Our first trail of the day...
Another group photo, this time taken at the edge of the cliff.
Oh wow... Didn't know there were staples this big! Haha...
Reaching for the top...
See the rock wall behind us? That's what we saw most of the time throughout the whole Taroko tour.
Our guide brought us down a very rocky path to this place where the water was very clear. He kept asking us to drink some of the spring water to prove how clear it is.
After shrieking my way down the rocky path, I attempted to just sit down on this very safe big rock and wait for my friends to finish exploring.
And of course, my friends wouldn't hear of it. They tried coaxing, taunting and even attempted to pull me off the rock.
See, that's why friends are important. They know they have to try and change your mind when you are making silly decisions. And they will try all ways and means to help you when you get stuck, intentionally or unintentionally. Thanks guys!
Finally decided to move my butt from that rock and do a bit of exploring myself. I did try a sip of the spring water because I was really thirsty from all the walking. And I have to say, the water did taste quite refreshing.
One advice, don't drink too much though. Our tender, spoilt Singapore stomach might not be able to endure the unfiltered water.
One of my favourite group photo... I think it looks like some jeans advertisement poster. XXX denim shop, the place where you can find the perfect jeans for any figure. Haha... It would have been perfect if I struck a natural pose instead of doing that big hand gesture.
Slightly better but the enlarged photo is a bit blur though.
Then, we walked back to where we came from and our guide drove us to another scenic spot, Swallow Grotto (燕子口). Those holes were the homes of swallows.
Someone asked how the holes were formed. The guide was not around so I tried to convince them that the swallows pecked at the rock wall until holes were formed. No one believed me though... Why???
And finally, we stopped to have lunch. Our guide even helped us to package soup from the eating place. So nice of him...
Our package lunch... It tasted quite nice too.
Another trail...
I'm really glad we got the guide to drive us around so we can 'cheat' a bit. I simply cannot imagine walking on foot from one trail to the other.
Lots of greenery to see along the way. I almost got dizzy from seeing so much green...
That's the next spot we were going to. We had to walk quite a fair distance to the Cave of Water Curtains. Sounds like fun!
Lots of similar signage throughout Taroko to warn tourist about the falling rocks. And whenever I see one of that signage, I'll pull up the hood of my jacket and speed through that area. Not like the thin material of my hood provided any protection but at least it made me feel safer.
And because my jacket was red, I tried to imitate Jay Zhou (Yi Ling's favourite artist). By the way, Jay Zhou was wearing a red jacket with the hood up, on the cover of his second album, Fantasy.
And to reach the Cave of Water Curtains, we had to first pass through a series of dark tunnels. There were even bats hanging on top of some of them!
We took a lot of funny photos inside the caves. Some were too 'shocking' to be posted up. Haha...
The light under Sindy's arm was from our guide's power torch. Glad that he brought one because one particular cave was so dark that you can't see your hand even if you placed it right in front of your eye! It was really 伸手不见五指. We had to hold on to one another and the railing in order not to get lost.
The photos look quite clear right? All thanks to the power of the camera's flash.
See that hanging bridge behind us? We were going to cross that in a while.
To show you how shaky the bridge was... Only 10 people were allowed on the bridge each time.
First to reach!
There was a waterfall in view... And we started one of our favourite photo activity. I was pretending to wash my hands, not very realistic looking.
Ivy, washing her hair... So cute!
Yi Ling, also washing her hair, looks quite realistic too.
Alan, 'drinking' the water... Not bad...
But the best photo award goes to...
Tada~~~ Sindy! Haha...
And finally, we reached the Cave of Water Curtains! Before we go in, we had to take off our shoes and socks, pull up our jeans and wear the disposable raincoat we bought. That's Cerina, preparing to go in.
All ready to go in.
About to go into the dark cave... The water was so cold that I couldn't feel my feet!
Inside the cave... To spot me, look for red. Initially, we were walking along the raised flat platform but our guide convinced us to go down into the water again. The guys went down first...
And we all attempted to go down and let the pressure from the 'water curtains' massage us.
The cave got its name from the water pouring down from the top of the cave, forming 'water curtains'. Thus, it was quite noisy in the cave, due to the water. It was quite chaotic too because we had to shout to be heard and visibility was low.
After a while, we had enough 'massaging' and went back up on the raised platform which seemed safer. The water bed was full of small jutting stones and I think it would be really painful, and maybe even bloody, if we fall. We don't want an re-enact of the Aussie trip!
At the end of the cave, where there was light once again.
Out of the cave... None of us was dry at this point. Even our clothes inside the raincoat got wet. It was very fun though! I give it a 5-stars rating! Haha...
The bridge behind us is called '慈母桥'. We immediately started to recite one of the few poems we can remember, '游子吟', when we heard the name of the bridge.
In Taroko, some of the rock formations had names. This is '鱼跃龙门'. Can you see the fish shaped rock in the picture? Use your imagination!
A picture to help you.
So 大理石is actually marble... At the start of the tour, our guide told us that Taroko is full of 大理石and we couldn't decide if that's granite or marble. Mystery solved!
We stopped here for a short toilet break. Looked like it was night already right? Can even see the moon...
This picture was taken at the same time and location as the previous one. It's just that this one was taken using the night mode in the camera.
Our guide mentioned something about other tourists climbing the stairs pass this temple to the top of the hill. I think he would have taken us to climb the stairs if time permitted. I am so glad we were late... Haha...
Then, he drove us out of Taroko to Hualien's city for dinner. On the way, he stopped here to let us buy a small snack first, 葱油饼. It was very nice when eaten hot.
Our dinner was a steaming hot bowl of wanton soup. There was more than 10 wantons in each bowl and it costed less than SGD2!
Enjoying our wanton soup... It was yummy but too bad I didn't have time to finish it. We had to rush to our last activity of the night.
See the plastic bag in the middle? That was the fireworks we bought. All of us were so excited when our guide mentioned that he'll bring us to play fireworks. We spent around SGD50 on the fireworks.
Our guide brought us to a night market to buy the fireworks and we went to the nearby beach to light them. All of us, except Ivy and I, took turns lighting them. Ivy had played with fireworks before and decided to let others have the chance. As for me, well... Ok, I admit, I'm a coward. :b
That's the video of our fireworks finale. So pretty... Listen for the clapping at the end of the video. That was us. Haha... We drew quite a lot of attention from the locals when we started clapping. So embarrassing...
The place we went for our fireworks.
After that, our guide drove us to a shop to buy 'muah-chee'. As we had to rush for our train, we set a time limit of 15minutes inside the shop. To our amazement, we managed to finish buying within the time limit!
Then, we rushed to the train station and managed to catch our train back to Taipei. Whew...
Our train tickets... Getting to Hualien by train costed NT802 for 2 ways.
And that's the end of our 3rd day in Taiwan. We took so many photos in Taroko that I had a hard time choosing photos to use for my blog. I have a feeling I wouldn't finish blogging about my Taiwan trip so soon. So, please be patient folks! Haha...
See, that's why friends are important. They know they have to try and change your mind when you are making silly decisions. And they will try all ways and means to help you when you get stuck, intentionally or unintentionally. Thanks guys!
Finally decided to move my butt from that rock and do a bit of exploring myself. I did try a sip of the spring water because I was really thirsty from all the walking. And I have to say, the water did taste quite refreshing.
One advice, don't drink too much though. Our tender, spoilt Singapore stomach might not be able to endure the unfiltered water.
One of my favourite group photo... I think it looks like some jeans advertisement poster. XXX denim shop, the place where you can find the perfect jeans for any figure. Haha... It would have been perfect if I struck a natural pose instead of doing that big hand gesture.
Slightly better but the enlarged photo is a bit blur though.
Then, we walked back to where we came from and our guide drove us to another scenic spot, Swallow Grotto (燕子口). Those holes were the homes of swallows.
Someone asked how the holes were formed. The guide was not around so I tried to convince them that the swallows pecked at the rock wall until holes were formed. No one believed me though... Why???
And finally, we stopped to have lunch. Our guide even helped us to package soup from the eating place. So nice of him...
Our package lunch... It tasted quite nice too.
Another trail...
I'm really glad we got the guide to drive us around so we can 'cheat' a bit. I simply cannot imagine walking on foot from one trail to the other.
Lots of greenery to see along the way. I almost got dizzy from seeing so much green...
That's the next spot we were going to. We had to walk quite a fair distance to the Cave of Water Curtains. Sounds like fun!
Lots of similar signage throughout Taroko to warn tourist about the falling rocks. And whenever I see one of that signage, I'll pull up the hood of my jacket and speed through that area. Not like the thin material of my hood provided any protection but at least it made me feel safer.
And because my jacket was red, I tried to imitate Jay Zhou (Yi Ling's favourite artist). By the way, Jay Zhou was wearing a red jacket with the hood up, on the cover of his second album, Fantasy.
And to reach the Cave of Water Curtains, we had to first pass through a series of dark tunnels. There were even bats hanging on top of some of them!
We took a lot of funny photos inside the caves. Some were too 'shocking' to be posted up. Haha...
The light under Sindy's arm was from our guide's power torch. Glad that he brought one because one particular cave was so dark that you can't see your hand even if you placed it right in front of your eye! It was really 伸手不见五指. We had to hold on to one another and the railing in order not to get lost.
The photos look quite clear right? All thanks to the power of the camera's flash.
See that hanging bridge behind us? We were going to cross that in a while.
To show you how shaky the bridge was... Only 10 people were allowed on the bridge each time.
First to reach!
There was a waterfall in view... And we started one of our favourite photo activity. I was pretending to wash my hands, not very realistic looking.
Ivy, washing her hair... So cute!
Yi Ling, also washing her hair, looks quite realistic too.
Alan, 'drinking' the water... Not bad...
But the best photo award goes to...
Tada~~~ Sindy! Haha...
And finally, we reached the Cave of Water Curtains! Before we go in, we had to take off our shoes and socks, pull up our jeans and wear the disposable raincoat we bought. That's Cerina, preparing to go in.
All ready to go in.
About to go into the dark cave... The water was so cold that I couldn't feel my feet!
Inside the cave... To spot me, look for red. Initially, we were walking along the raised flat platform but our guide convinced us to go down into the water again. The guys went down first...
And we all attempted to go down and let the pressure from the 'water curtains' massage us.
The cave got its name from the water pouring down from the top of the cave, forming 'water curtains'. Thus, it was quite noisy in the cave, due to the water. It was quite chaotic too because we had to shout to be heard and visibility was low.
After a while, we had enough 'massaging' and went back up on the raised platform which seemed safer. The water bed was full of small jutting stones and I think it would be really painful, and maybe even bloody, if we fall. We don't want an re-enact of the Aussie trip!
At the end of the cave, where there was light once again.
Out of the cave... None of us was dry at this point. Even our clothes inside the raincoat got wet. It was very fun though! I give it a 5-stars rating! Haha...
The bridge behind us is called '慈母桥'. We immediately started to recite one of the few poems we can remember, '游子吟', when we heard the name of the bridge.
In Taroko, some of the rock formations had names. This is '鱼跃龙门'. Can you see the fish shaped rock in the picture? Use your imagination!
A picture to help you.
So 大理石is actually marble... At the start of the tour, our guide told us that Taroko is full of 大理石and we couldn't decide if that's granite or marble. Mystery solved!
We stopped here for a short toilet break. Looked like it was night already right? Can even see the moon...
This picture was taken at the same time and location as the previous one. It's just that this one was taken using the night mode in the camera.
Our guide mentioned something about other tourists climbing the stairs pass this temple to the top of the hill. I think he would have taken us to climb the stairs if time permitted. I am so glad we were late... Haha...
Then, he drove us out of Taroko to Hualien's city for dinner. On the way, he stopped here to let us buy a small snack first, 葱油饼. It was very nice when eaten hot.
Our dinner was a steaming hot bowl of wanton soup. There was more than 10 wantons in each bowl and it costed less than SGD2!
Enjoying our wanton soup... It was yummy but too bad I didn't have time to finish it. We had to rush to our last activity of the night.
See the plastic bag in the middle? That was the fireworks we bought. All of us were so excited when our guide mentioned that he'll bring us to play fireworks. We spent around SGD50 on the fireworks.
Our guide brought us to a night market to buy the fireworks and we went to the nearby beach to light them. All of us, except Ivy and I, took turns lighting them. Ivy had played with fireworks before and decided to let others have the chance. As for me, well... Ok, I admit, I'm a coward. :b
That's the video of our fireworks finale. So pretty... Listen for the clapping at the end of the video. That was us. Haha... We drew quite a lot of attention from the locals when we started clapping. So embarrassing...
The place we went for our fireworks.
After that, our guide drove us to a shop to buy 'muah-chee'. As we had to rush for our train, we set a time limit of 15minutes inside the shop. To our amazement, we managed to finish buying within the time limit!
Then, we rushed to the train station and managed to catch our train back to Taipei. Whew...
Our train tickets... Getting to Hualien by train costed NT802 for 2 ways.
And that's the end of our 3rd day in Taiwan. We took so many photos in Taroko that I had a hard time choosing photos to use for my blog. I have a feeling I wouldn't finish blogging about my Taiwan trip so soon. So, please be patient folks! Haha...
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