Hualien Naruwan Hotel

... in the gorge is marble. The gorge is so big that when looking straight up I got a little dizzy because the rock walls went straight up.

After our various stops along the drive we finally got to Hualien. We checked into our hotels, took a little nap, and then began to explore the city. We walked through the market and then made our way out to have a look at the Pacific Ocean. Seeing the ocean has me very excited to get to a beach and swim! We then went back to ...

... reminded me of the tea lady I met back in Shanghai for some reason. Anyways, it took quite a significant amount of time to get all the way up, and in fact I had to cross over 2 mountain peaks to get to the observation platform. I never actually got to the pavillion because the last section was closed, so that was a shame and I was a little disapointed. However, the view from the viewing platform was spectacular anyway so I got over that ...

... we decided to just brave it. Armed with our poncho's we cycled the 10km back in the rain. Stopping by the FamilyMart supermarket to purchase a feast of sweet and savoury delights. As we planned to tackle Taroko Gorge in reverse tomorrow, we thought a nice quiet evening was in order. We found a pizza place called Napoli and ordered two to go. Ending this evening with a treat and HBO on the tv in our room, reflecting back on a mixed day.

... next to the "old green" to describe Shanlin Rail Trail, that is probably the kind of moss everywhere, has the original sense of taste; Taiwan happened mid-elevation mountain with clouds, rainfall, and humidity in winter, but also under the point of occasional snow, the formation of fog forest conditions are selected on the Victoria Peak, so there is this Usnea, moss growth prosperous ancient forest landscape. *Jioujhihze Hot Spring Jioujhihze ...

We planned a day-hike of 9 or 11 hours, but finally ended up to do only part of the walk due to cold and increasingly rainy weather as well as a completely torn leg of Joe's hiking trouser - only 6.5 hours. The hike should have gone from Wuliao Jian Mountain near Sanshia on road No.7 minor, km 3.5 to Baishi ...

... zadat o pomoc v ruznych zivotnich situacich. Pred oltarem upadli do transu, tancovali, kriceli a breceli. Cas od casu vykrikovali slova, kterym rozumi jen ten pruvodce, nebo taky nikdo. Mnohdy se pry jedna o stary jazyk. Vetsina zajezdu mela vlastni pruvodce. Ti je celym obradem provazeli. Byla to zajimava zkusenost. Nastesti jsme nasli jednu pani, ktera mluvila velmi dobrou anglictinou a ochotne a trpelive nam vysvetlovala, jaky to ma vsechno vyznam.

... tu Taipei. Pani se zanorila do tretice a po chvilce vylezla s pohledy s obrazkem Taipei. Mozna mela pani tech pohledu malo a tak se chtela nejdrive zbavit tech ostatnich. Pro nakup posledni varky listku hodlam vyhledat v okoli jeste treti postu. Vlastne nechapu, proc jsem tech pohledu rovnou nekoupila vic... A jeste prihoda, kterak ma nadra poslouzila ke vseobecnemu veseli. Jak jiste tusite, Tchaiwanky velika nadra nemaji. I rozdavala ...

Please see the photos of the Tansuei and Wulai rivers, waterfalls and newly created streams during a Tyhphoon. The river you see is usually a gentle low stream in which fishermen are standing to persue their hobby and families with their children come in summer to play and cool down in the warm blue/green water. ( Kurt Multhaup - Taiwan )

... Er hat mitlerweile auch gelernt, wie man feinen, taiwanesischen Oolong Tee macht, d.h. wenn jemand Lust darauf hat, einen guten Tee zu schluerfen, dann ist ja klar, an wen man sich wenden kann, denn nur Uebung macht den Meister! Rundreise Die naechste Woche habe ich mir frei genommen und wir sind mit einem Leihauto fast einmal um die Insel gefahren. Mama und Papa hinterm Steuer waehrnd ich dafuer zustaendig war, die Stassenschilder zu lessen (wobei sie meistens ...

... clear, knowledgeable and engaged. He answers all of our questions, except one for which he tries to inquire the answer: a) explains the problem with the former Chiang Kai Shek house ( see my comments in yesterdays's entry ); b) land dispute between farmers and the National Park Administration: The soldiers who came with CKS to Taiwan and helped build the Central Cross Highway were given land along the villages of the highway. They owned the land and ...