Here I am standing at the eastern entrance of Taroko National Park, Taiwan’s “Grand Canyon”.

Taroko: Pronounced Turr – Ah – Ko. They changed the pronunciation because the American tourists kept butchering it. Eek!

 

Toots got up early (as she did every day) and went hiking to the nearby monastery. These are her #nofilter pics. I am digging the Buddha and the misty clouds in the mountains. Very ethereal.

 

We set off from the Silks Palace Taroko, and hit the six above stops. I am glad I took a picture because I have no memory of what anything was called! All Chinese to me 🙂

 

We started the day at the Marble Bridge, which has some incredible views of the actual Gorge. Toots and I look like we actually like each other here 🙂

 

Looking down from the bridge. The rock formations and patterns were beautiful.

 

We walked down the bridge, and met a couple of dragons! You can call this one Viserion (get it – he is white and ice looking)

 

Toots and I posing in front of a little pagoda (what would you call this?) at the other end of the bridge.

 

Okay, I got a little crazy with pictures of the bridge. Be warned – lots of bridges ahead!

 

Next up was the Tunnel of Nine Turns. The bus dropped us at the beginning of a narrow road that went in and out of caves, so we just walked to the end and back. Sounds rather boring, but the scenery was breathtaking! You can see the path and the Gorge below.

 

Toots walking along the path. Notice that she is wearing pants. It was way cooler in Taroko than in other parts of Taiwan.

View looking down from the walking path. The coloring of the rocks was stunning.

 

The view from the open tunnel area. The cliffs are so tall that my camera couldn’t capture it all. You can see the enormity of the cave and gorge here.

 

I love the juxtaposition of light and dark, and cave and gorge here.

Toots got a couple of good emo shots of me during the day!

 

Just another shot of the cavernous walking path. So much to take in here!

 

Toots and I decided to have a photo sesh as we waited to go to the next stop.

 

After we left the Tunnel of Nine Turns, we did a very quick pit stop at Liufang Bridge. The bridge on the left is the old one (very narrow and dangerous), and the red bridge on the right is the updated one. I love how you can see through the tunnel here as well as look down at the river.

 

View from the Liufang Bridge.

 

After stopping quickly at the Liufang Bridge, we headed to the Eternal Spring Shrine, which is a shrine dedicated to all of the workers who lost their lives attempting to build the park.

 

Toots is directing you to the Shrine in this picture 🙂

 

In order to get to the Shrine, you have to cross a bridge and walk through some covered paths. I love all of the bridges in this park. The red on green on blue – beautiful!

 

The view of the gorge to the left as you walk down the bridge.

 

Walking down the tunnel to get to the Shrine. Aren’t my descriptions lovely today?

 

Once you exit the path, you can look back at the bridge and where you came from. Do you see the tour buses parked on the left?

 

Up close view of the Shrine. It is pretty impossible to get a full view of it because the narrow path only runs parallel to it.

 

The actual shrine – the names of all of the men who lost their lives is written on the wall.

 

This is the view from the shrine itself.

 

Walking back to the bus and bridge, you get some spectacular views. Again, I love the light and dark play here. And that red bridge!

 

I wish we had blue skies the entire time we were in the Gorge. Or maybe not because it would’ve been 200 degrees out there!

 

Bridge on bridge on bridge 🙂

 

One last hoorah for the bridge! I accidentally matched my dress to it. It was meant to be!

 

 

The Taroko Gateway. This is a very famous arch that stands at the east entrance of the park. In the Taipei airport, they have a replica of this gateway that you can take pictures with.

 

It doesn’t count if I didn’t take a picture with it! You can see on the right hand side a couple of cars. There were tons driving in and out! All of the tourists helped each other out taking pictures and warning of upcoming traffic.

 

We stopped at a beef noodles place for lunch. I saw a guy wearing this shirt, and had to approach him! I asked if he lived in Salina, but he didn’t speak English 🙂 Way to represent, Salina!

 

The meat options in Taiwan reminded me of Spain. Every part of the pig is eaten. Please notice the yummy tripe 🙂

 

My last bowl of beef noodles in Taiwan!

 

Our last stop of the day, and our last official stop of the tour (so sad!) was Qingshui Cliff. It is a scenic lookout with beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and the coastal mountains.

 

 

Our tour group standing on the upper deck of the lookout. You can see Alan, our tour guide, waving down at us.

 

Saw this guy walking next to me as we headed down to the beach. Is he munching on a beetle or cockroach?

The view from the lower deck. Pacific Ocean and coastal mountains. Please take me back right now!

 

#taiwan #taipei #taroko #tarokogorge #asia #travel #motherdaughtertrip