Mangguoshu: Taroko Gorge

Taroko Gorge

In April 2009 I went to Hualien and Taroko Gorge with a friend. We spent one night in Hualien, then rented scooters and went up the coast. It was our first time on scooters, and it took us a little while. I froze completely and my friend accidentally drove into a car. But within an hour we were fine. Later I saw in the guidebook that they don't recommend taking a scooter to Taroko Gorge if it's your first time because the road is so dangerous. It's narrow and there are a lot of very sharp turns and aggressive bus drivers. Oh well.

Coast between Hualien and Sincheng

We stopped at this beach to have lunch. It rained most of the trip, but we had ponchos and it was warm, so it didn't really matter.

The scooter I rented

I don't really know anything about scooters, but they said this one was 150cc. I tried going into the mountains on a 100cc a few months later, and I thought the scooter was going to die, so I'd recommend paying the extra for the 150cc. We paid 300nt (about US$9) per day.

Eternal Spring Shrine

This shrine is very close to the entrance to the park. There were a lot of tour buses, but it wasn't too crowded. I don't know when the high season is, or what it's like then, but it might be better to go midweek if you have the option. There is a little cafe and restrooms here.

Most people didn't walk up here, at least on the day I went. I think the tour buses have strict schedules, and there are more impressive views further up.

A brief moment of sunshine

This was taken near Swallow Grotto. I believe this was the only time the sun came out on the whole trip.

View from Swallow Grotto

Buddhist Temple near Tiansiang

Tiansiang is the only town in the gorge. It's near the middle, so it's a good place to stop and get a snack.

Entrance to the temple

We were looking for waterfall, but we managed to pass the entrance several times before we gave up. Somehow we didn't notice that we had been going uphill for a very long time, until it started raining very heavily. Going downhill on slippery roads while trying not to be hit by tour buses wasn't that best part of the trip. There are a lot of tunnels that aren't wide enough for a scooter, the tour bus that's trying to pass it, and any kind of oncoming traffic. This fact didn't slow the buses down at all. I was really beginning to loathe tunnels by the end of the trip. We had a really good time though.