We started the day early for our Taroko Gorge tour. The whole trip takes about 6 hours before we board the train back to Taipei City. Early in the morning, our tour guide takes us to 山东豆浆大王 to taste the local delicacies.
One of the many different snacks prepared by the staffs
I love their soya milk. In my opinion, I think it is better than Mr Bean's. We also tried a variety a snacks from ham and omelette, to their popular 烧饼， 油条，萝卜羔. The sumptuous and inexpensive breakfast lasted us for a long while as we start our journey to famous Taroko Gorge.
Our breakfast
On our way to Taroko Gorge, our tour guide gave us a suggestion to stop by Cingshui Cliffs considering the fine weather that we're blessed with. Little did we know that such detour would have cost us TWD1000 more for a group of 5 as he sounded as though it is along the way and we're not going through a lot of hassle by stopping by at this scenic place. Nonetheless, it was quite a nice place to be at. The route to the cliffs somewhat resembles the Great Ocean Road drive but less windy. It was interesting as we get to see trains pass by the tunnel from afar because we missed the view on our way to Hualien.
CingShui Cliffs
During our trip to Taroko Gorge, there were many parts of the gorge which were actually closed to visitors due to the wet season and multiple rockfall incidents. Therefore, as part of safety and precautionary measures, all visitors are required to wear helmets in the area once we're out of the car. However, the local tour guides were exempted from wearing the helmets. I wonder why. Upon arrival at the national park entrance, our tour guide picked up the helmets for us before we make our way to several popular viewing area. The place is mainly filled with rocks which is magnificent.
Taroko Gorge
The water which flows through the valleys and the many streams at the area was actually rather dirty, filled with sand and grit. It looks a lot like cement mixture from afar. According to the tour guide, this water will be purified later. The scenic place is also filled with a lot of waterfalls.
Waterfall at Taroko Gorge
After the tour to Taroko Gorge, as per all trip handled by tour guides, we were brought to the souvenir shops to purchase some special local snacks. Our tour guide must be quite well-known amongst the workers in the souvenir shop as they hastily prepare new samples for us to taste upon our arrival. I noticed the difference in treatment only because a tour group arrived after us but they were tasting the leftover samples, unlike us.
All the different types of snacks available for munch munch
After spending 2D1N at Hualien, we head back to Taipei by train once again. This time around, we stood throughout the journey as we changed our initial ticket to head back to Taipei on an earlier train. So, take note if you've gotten yourself a later train ticket. You can head to any train station to get the train master to change your ticket. The only downside is that you'll have to cram through the empty spaces in between the coaches instead of having one comfy seat for yourself. Upon arrival, we wasted no time in looking for food once again. We headed straight to the much-acclaimed night market, 士林夜市. There were definitely a lot more food that I envisage and a lot more stalls available! For one, visitors will need to learn how to defy all manners of dining by eating while you walk. That is quite a feat to achieve especially when you're consuming things like noodles! Nonetheless, the night market experience was really good and we did return to the same place a few times during the whole trip! =)
The various things you can find at Shilin night market
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