Taroko

My single best experience as a tourist in Taiwan was visiting Taroko. Taroko is a nature park located on the east coast of Taiwan near to Hualin. We went there by train from Taipei and this is a perfect way to go there, as the train trip is very beautiful. The east coast of Taiwan is fantastic with the sea on one side and the high mountain on the other side.
When we visited Taroko we lived at a small private inn. This type of accommodation is very popular in Taiwan. Typically people who retired sell their apartment in Taipei and buy a big house on the east coast, and they use the extra rooms to maintain their living. The east coast is the scenic part of Taiwan, so here you will find many of these inns.



A private inn is not as expensive as a normal hotel, but that is not why you want to try this. When visiting these inns you become a family member for a short while - especially when coming as a non Asian. They will be very friendly and talkative, so close encounter with Taiwanese people is unavoidable and you will learn many things about their ways and culture. My best memory from such visit was in Hualin, where we were invited to a private concert in the house and also had a lesson in calligraphy. Such nice persons, and this beat Marriott any time!

The inn by Taroko was very close to one entrance to the park, so we got to spend a full day inside the park, very well guided by our private local guide and driver, who spoke good English and knew everything there was to know about the park. If I am not wrong we paid 3000twd for a full day of guide and transportation.

Taroke is one of the magnificent places of earth, top 10 candidate in my book! The park is huge and have a lot of very high mountains. In the early days the area was inhabited by a tribe, and this tribe was very isolated. Nobody knew how to get to them... The mountain area was impossible to get through. At some point it was decided to improve this, and small narrow paths was carved into the mountain. These are the main attraction of the park today. You walk in(side) the mountain, still maintaining a full view.Quite unique feeling that I recommend 100%



Another feature of the Taroko park is the river, who through centuries have carved it's way down the mountain, creating some very narrow shafts, where the river is still running at the bottom. The rocks have a high concentration of marble, which is so hard, that water cannot carve it, so huge rocks of this very fine marble lies in the river, giving the river a fantastic cyan colour.

On top of this water fall, my personal favourite, tunnels,  suspension bridges, small temples and pagodas....



If I was forced to ONLY make one recommendation for a day trip in Taiwan I would have no hesitation, Taroko is the place to go - you would remember for the rest of your life, I know I will....