Friday, Mar 22nd, Taroko, Taiwan

Greetings!

We left Taipei this morning on Day Three of seven touring beyond the capital city.  We drove south along the eastern coast about a third of the way down the island.  The drive reminded us of Big Sur in California, with narrower roads and higher cliffs.  Looking out onto the Pacific Ocean, I kept an eye out for surf spots with little success.

It was a long drive to the Taroko Gorge, which is where we're staying tonight.  We stopped for lunch at the Eternal Spring Shrine, built to honor the twenty-five men who died in the effort to construct the roads, tunnels, and bridges we were using today.  This part of Taiwan is becoming popular with cyclists, and they had better hurry up and finish the construction of the alternate superhighway being built.

Along the road, our local guide (Sam) convinced us to walk sections of the Gorge to get a better view of it.  We wore blue hardhats to protect us from falling rocks, and tried to keep from getting hit by passing busses.  I probably took too many of these shots, but the rocks and river are pretty dramatic.

We're staying at a 5-star hotel in the Taroko National Park called Silks Place. The rooms are huge, there's an infinity pool for the adults on the roof (and a separate one for the kids), and the food is pretty good too.

To see the photos we took of the Gorge, click on: Friday, Mar 22nd, Taroko, Taiwan.