The next morning we took a bus to Taroko National Park. Our first stop was the Tianxiang Recreation Area, from where we set off on foot to reach the actual hiking trail, initially along the road. The so-called Baiyang Trail first led us through tunnels in which some bats and other creatures lived in complete darkness.
Afterwards – finally back in the sun – we continued over smaller bridges and slightly ascending hiking trails towards the actual main destination of this tour, the Baiyang Trail Shuilian Cave. At least until we suddenly found ourselves in front of a closed-off tunnel and couldn’t go any further. So, unfortunately, we had to turn back after less than half the route. On the way we met an elderly man with 2 crutches who was sitting on the road to regain his strength. He didn’t want us to help him, but was very interested in us and so we talked to him and his companion for about 30 minutes.
After Mel had organized a lunch box with dumplings, we had to jump on another bus, as time was once again a little short. We went back through the Tunnel of Nine Turns to the Yanzikou Trail, which we “hiked” along – it was a paved road with tons of local tourists. It wasn’t far and it wasn’t difficult, so we were quickly back on the next bus.
After an involuntary, voluntary stopover at a parking lot to photograph a distant shrine, waiting in the heat of the sun and several detours, as there was no direct bus available, we finally reached the Taroko National Park Visitor Center and after a relatively short walk the Shakadang Trail. We followed this hiking trail to the end, fortified ourselves with local juices from stands about halfway through and reached the visitor center again in time for the last bus (round trip about 11 kilometers in 2 hours).
In Hualien, we quickly collected our luggage from the hostel and grabbed a quick bite to eat at the train station before boarding the train to Ruifang.
About 2 hours later, we checked into our hostel and wanted to explore the neighborhood a bit more. After a few fun vending machines and some bubble tea, we were thirsty for a nightcap – we were all in the mood for a(!!!) beer. Looking for a place to shop, we found a kind of small restaurant full of locals and a fridge for beer. So we asked if we could buy 2 beers … and then the beginning of the end began.
The table with the aforementioned locals was occupied by Taiwanese, Koreans and Vietnamese – we were immediately dragged to the table and spent the next 4 hours with everyone present. There was a lot of laughing, talking and eating. As we had been invited, it would have been rude to refuse, so we downed one beer after another and tried every dish. Among other things, there were chicken feet, snails, mussels for “stability” (Andreas was explicitly warned not to eat more than one), indefinable things and there was no end to the serving all evening. In fact, after what felt like 20 beers, we also tried a kind of Asian drug: betel nut… which Andreas, at least, would have done better to keep his hands off. Some memories are a bit hazy and the next day became interesting.
To say goodbye, we were escorted to the hostel door and given a huge plastic bag full of food from a food stall on the way.
Jahrgang 1981;
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