For the second half of our trip Aaron and I ventured south-east to a small coastal town named Hualien. An easy train ride dropped us off in the town's center and we maneuvered our exhausted way to our new hostel. I don't know how many of my readers have ever stayed in a hostel but generally you sleep in a dorm room with bunk beds holding as many as 20 strangers. This was not a typical hostel. Our room was huge! A massive wooden bed, wooden floors, wooden table, wooden walls, and pieces of wood gave me the impression we were staying in a log cabin. Needless to say that first night we had only two things on our agenda: food and sleep. After taking advice from the hostel worker, we walked two doors down and my world was shattered as I ate the best damn noodles of my life. Thick, homemade noodles swimming in a sweet, yet savory, broth were accompanied by thick cuts of beef (a luxury we don't experience often in Korea). Seriously, just wow (and I am not going to apologize for that awful phrase, that is the best I can do).
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| Biggest hostel room ever |
The next day, which was New Year's Eve, we had a lazy morning which led us downtown with food on our minds (as per usual). We were quickly drawn to a mass of people waiting in a line. I am going to interrupt myself here to explain that I believe Taiwanese people love to queue. We saw massive queues for cheesecake, cookies, bubble tea (awesome by the way), coffee, and whatever else looked good at the moment. Anyway, this line was at least 100 people long and a quick peek revealed the end prize: dumplings. While staying in Taipei we were given a tip that Hualien had the best dumplings in Taiwan and we knew that we had miraculously found them. While we were tempted for wait in the line at that moment, our hungry stomachs balked in protest so we settled for smoothies and some horrible fried food instead. The rest of the day was spent wandering around, thinking about those tempting dumplings and eventually we found ourselves right back where we started and jumped in line. The hour wait was more than worth it. The thick dough was soft and fell apart in your mouth and the meat inside was perfectly seasoned. I could have eaten myself to death and not minded one bit. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that once again, Aaron and I had a not-so-crazy New Year's Eve. Subway sandwiches, gin and tonics, and card games brought us into 2013 and I have to admit I have never been happier.
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| Waiting in line for dumplings with a mango smoothie. |
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| The best dumplings in the world. |
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| Yum. |
January 1, 2013 more than made up for us acting like senior citizens the night before. We tracked down a scooter rental shop willing to work with foreigners and derped our way to Taroko National Park. I forgot to mention in my previous post that Taiwan is scooter mania. Gangs of fierce scooter riding grandmas patrol the streets, knocking everyone out of their way. Aaron and I were ecstatic, to say the least, that we were finally a part of our very own scooter gang. As soon as I relaxed enough to breathe on the back of the death-mobile I really started to enjoy myself. It took us a very cold 45 minutes to reach the entrance to the gorge. We feasted on chow mein, egg drop soup, wild boar meat, and hot tea in preparation for the park. Words and pictures will never be able to adequately describe what we saw that day. The walls of the gorge rose up to unimaginable heights as a lazy river wound its way through the valley. We rode around in awe, whooping and hollering at each new impressive turn of the road. The light rain was hardly an issue as we were both dumb stuck with the power of nature around us. I would recommend a trip to Taiwan to anyone just to experience the inside of the Taroko Gorge.
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| Derp |
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| Aaron had to drive, I was terrified. |
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| Taroko National Park |
Thus ended our romp through Taiwan. It was such a great trip that I won't forget. Aaron and I are back to work and now counting down the days to our next adventure. Twenty two days to go until Thailand, and Cambodia! Then we might even come home! xoxo
Hey Kerryn! I know this is kind of late, but I just found your blog when I was googling up stuff to do in Hualien. My boyfriend and I are planning on visiting for two days, and I would really like to go to the Taroko National Park. Is there a difference between the Taroko Gorge and the Park? Also, is it better to get between places within the park with a scooter, or is the distance hikeable? Thanks a lot! I'd really appreciate your response!
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie, Hualien is really cool, I am sure you two will have a great time. The gorge is massive and the park is just the section that you can go into. It's a national park that goes through the gorge, it's absolutely beautiful. There is no way to hike through it . We rented a scooter and pulled over to walk around every now and then. A scooter is the way to go, it wouldn't be the same without it. There is a scooter shop that rents to foreigners that you can get to by simply taking a right out of the train station, crossing the street, and you will see them (or rather they will see you and ask). Just bring your passport. If there is anything else you want to know, let me know. You have to find the dumplings I wrote about, they are life changing.
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