Today we woke up to a knock on our door at about 6:53 from
Uncle Cliff. We were supposed to leave at 7 am, so Christal and I jumped out of
bed and hurried to get ready and I think we only help everyone up by about a
minute or so. We headed out in our tour bus for the three-hour ride out to
Taroko Gorge. On the way we drove through the second longest tunnel in the
world, which was about 13 kilometers I believe. The majority of the drive was
down the east coast of Taiwan. It was an extremely windy drive, following sheer
cliffs that fell into the Pacific Ocean, which made for some great views.
Once we arrived at the entrance to the gorge we took a
couple pictures and then headed up to the Eternal Spring Shrine. The shrine was
built the honor the 226 people who died while building the highway through
the gorge.
After the Eternal Spring Shrine we grabbed some mango shave
ice and a snack and then headed up the road to the Swallow Grotto. We got out
and walked the road for the Swallow Grotto, which was right on the edge of the
cliff overlooking the gorge and there were swallows swooping in and out of the
rocks above and below us. The gorge itself was beautiful with blue-gray water
that had carved out smooth, wavy formations in the white marble of the
mountains.
After the Swallow Grotto we got back on the bus and drove
through the Tunnel of Nine Turns to the Cihmu Bridge (Motherly Devotion Bridge)
where we stopped and took a few more pictures.
After the Cihmu Bridge we took a pit stop at a nice hotel up
the gorge and then headed back to Taipei. On the way back we hit a little bit
of traffic and we got back to the hotel about 5:45 pm. We hung out in our rooms
for about half an hour and then headed out to dinner at a restaurant in the new
W hotel next to Taipei 101 called Yen. The restaurant had a very trendy/hipster
ambience, but the food was very good. The highlight of the meal was the Peking
duck, but we also got the meat of the duck stir fried with green onions and
ginger, duck soup, chilled bitter melon two ways with longan honey, grouper
fillet stir-fried with lotus root and black bean sauce, tofu braised with
mustard greens, shiitake mushrooms and roast pork belly, sautéed betel plant
heart with pork and seasonal vegetables, and red braised beef noodle soup.
After we finished with dinner we made a quick stop at Uniqlo
again and then took the subway to one of the night markets. We walked through
the Guangzhou Street night market to the Huaxi Street night market, where there
were some snake vendors. Unfortunately, most of them were closed, but the ones
that were open were displaying some pretty big snakes. After we walked through Huaxi
Street we headed back to the Guangzhou Street market and meandered, looking at
all the different foods that were available. At the very end/beginning was a
stall that was selling some tsung you bing (green onion pancake) so we got a
couple to share. At the very end of the preparation they brushed a chili soy
sauce over the top that added some really good spice and flavor. From there we
caught a cab back to the hotel and I think the driver we got thought he was
auditioning for Fast and Furious. He was weaving in and out of traffic, cutting
people off, and at the very end he made a U-turn while he had a red light and
someone who had a green was turning into the same lane we were going to.
Needless to say it was a pretty fun ride back.
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