For day number two,
we started off by going to look at a nearby amusement park.
It was too expensive for us poor teachers,
so we just looked and wished.
This amusement park happened to be right on the coast
and we were privileged to see what I deem to be a spectacular view!
So luckily that small sidetrip was not in vain.
I thought this was neat in an inspirational speaker-type way,
so I had to take a picture...
This little plant is growing uunderneath a drain in the sidewalk,
out of the wall of the drain.
I felt like it was a courageous little thing and deserved an honorable mention here.
Also on day two - we actually got to go to the Gorge!
[These were our bus tickets.
They have smiley faces on them.
Which makes them awesome.]
This is a closeup of the spot where a small tributary met up with the larger river...
See where the gray is disturbed?
And notice the enormous difference in the water?
Disgusting, right?
Most of the trails we were planning on hiking were closed
because of the excessive amounts of rain,
but we were able to hike a few of the lower trails.
Like this one,
which led to Sacred Springs Shrine -
This little set up was off to the side of the temple
and we definitely used it as a rest stop.
And I may or may not have taken a sucker...
On the bus home -
Dinner -
Because we hadn't had enough walking in all the miles we'd traveled that day,
Kendra, Nica, and I decided to go find the night market in Hualien.
It ended up being not very interesting,
but we did find these things -
Which we all tried and epicly failed at.
And we got delicious drinks from this tea shop -
My new best friends.
Just because they look cool.
And here are the hats we all convinced each other to buy!
Don't we look legit?
And now.
This is Day Three.
The first thing we saw after we left the hostel was this...
I'm not sure what it is.
But it involved excessive drum-banging,
a shirtless older man dancing around a bucket,
the burning of paper money inside said bucket,
and a rather large crowd gathered around to watch.
It was interesting, to say the least.
We went back to Taroko for one more hike before we caught the train home.
Soon after we got there, my camera died.
So these are the only pictures I got of that hike:
[Which just happened to be one of the most picturesque hikes I've ever been on.
Go figure.]
Luckily for me,
There were smarter people with me who charged their cameras
and I was able to get pictures from them.
So you can still see!
This trail that we hiked is used
by some of the aboriginal people to transport goods down the mountain.
Along the way there were several stands set up to sell a few things
like bracelets and scarves and such.
We stopped and several of us bought things,
but unfortunately we did not get pictures of any of it.
So I guess you'll just have to take my word for it!
I know I don't need to say this but...
It's stunning isn't it?
And I don't know about you,
but I am pretty sure there is no way the color of that water is natural.
It's beautiful, though.
And of course.
You didn't think that I could leave these little guys out, did you?
Of course not.
Mainly because we counted no less than forty of these nasty little things.
Forty!!
And those were just the ones I saw.
And only on Day 3.
Ugh.
Luckily the visitor's center had cheesecake,
which helped to soothe my terrified soul.
Remember how I said we were exhausted after the first day?
Well after two and half more days of that same breakneck pace,
exhausted doesn't begin to describe how we
[and our poor, aching feet]
felt.
So when we got back from this last hike,
we decided to take it easy in the visitor center/cafe and wait for the bus.
Nica's hand-picked souvenirs,
which she so generously shared with the rest of us!
[Of course it was raining...]
On the bus home,
there was an older man
who tried desperately for the entire time we were on the bus
to give us a message of some sort.
But, seeing as he spoke no English
and we all spoke next to no Chinese,
he was having a pretty rough time of it.
He eventually enlisted the aid of a couple of students
who boarded the bus a little ways down the road.
Those poor kids!
He pestered them until they were forced to use what little English they knew to talk to us.
I felt bad...
but at the same time it was incredibly entertaining!
We were pretty sure that this old man
wanted Jessica to get together with the 15 year old who was translating for him!
We were also fairly certain that he was drunk.
And that is the end of our Hualien adventure.
Of course,
we had to go back to the hostel to get our bags,
and then ride on the train for six hours
- with standing room only -
to get home...
But, those are minor details, really.
Fare thee well, Taroko!
Perhaps one day we shall meet again...
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