星期一：Today we went to Hualien (Yay!) which means I finally get to check it off my Taiwan bucket list. Pretty much everyone in Taiwan has the same two opinions about Hualien: it's the most beautiful place in Taiwan but also the most inconvenient to get to. It actually wasn't that bad, we just got up early and took a nice, scenic train ride to the East coast. From there we met up with the tour guide we had booked, and she first took us to Chingshui Cliffs, which are super tall seaside cliffs that are said to be the oldest part of the island and are still growing taller every year due to the plates under the island. The cliffs were really stunning with the tall mountains right up next to the super blue ocean.
After that we went to Taroko Gorge, the main attraction in Hualien and a moning are-turned-highway-turned-national park. We first went to the entrance gate and saw the start of the gorge, and then went down into the gorge to hike the famous Shakadong Trail. This train was literally carved into the side of the granite mountains, which makes for a really cool experience. The views were also gorgeous and I can definitely see why it's considered the Grand Canyon of Taiwan as the mountains were giant all around us. At the end of the hike we reached some stalls selling food and crafts made by the aboriginal people who live in Taroko and Hualien, and I bought a really delicious traditional sausage. From there we went to see the Eternal Spring Shrine, which is a memorial to the two hundred or so people who died while building the highway by hand in the 60s. After lunch we then headed off on a small hike through swallow grotto where you can not only see some swallows, but it has a really good view of the swallow's cave-like houses and the gorge itself. After that we stopped off at a few lookout points to see different parts of the gorge before taking another small hike. We ended the gorge trip with a stop at a bridge and small pagoda that had good views of the marble mountains that had been carved out by the river.
Once we finished in the gorge, we had our last stop at Qixingtan beach, a really nice pebble beach where you can see the turquoise water and see cliffs while watching the sunset (technically the sun sets on the other side of Taiwan but it was still pretty on the East). Overall I was super happy to have had the chance to go to Taiwan's most beautiful place.
(Chingshui Cliffs)
(Shakadong Trail)
(Marble and clear waters of Taroko Gorge)
(Eternal Spring Shrine)
(Narrowest portion of the Gorge)
(my personal favorite part of the gorge)
(Qixingtan beach)
星期二：Today we joined our last tour to go out to Shifen, a town outside of Taipei famous for sky lanterns. We first went to see the Shifen waterfall. After taking a nice walk to see the Pingxi railway and a suspension bridge, we got to see the waterfall. It's a horseshoe shape, which is apparently rare for Taiwan, and was really gorgeous, made even more so by the perfect rainbow framing it. After that we drove into the city of Shifen. The town is really cool because the railway goes right through the middle of it, so when a train comes everyone just clears their stalls from the tracks and moves them back once it leaves. Since it's main attraction is the sky lanterns, everyone was hanging out on the tracks painting theirs and setting them off every minute or two. We got a lantern and got to paint four wishes for the four sides of the lantern, and all of ours ended up being about travel. We then got to let it go and watch it fly away, which was another of my Taiwan bucket list items so I'm currently on a roll with this. After setting off our lantern, we got to see a train come into town, and then headed back into Taipei.
Once in Taipei, I took my parents out for some Korean barbecue, which never fails to be delicious, and then we headed out to see the Revolutionary Marty's Shrine, a monument dedicated to both the civilians and soldiers who died in the KMT vs Communist revolution. We got to see the changing of the guards and then walk around the beautiful monument.
After that we rode all the way up the subway line to Tamsui, a suburb of Taipei that is right where the Keelung River meets the ocean. There were tons of people riding bikes and visiting the street market when we got there, and it had a really beach-y atmosphere. We first walked up to an old cathedral, college, and Japanese house, and then made our way to an old Spanish and Dutch fort that was also at one point British, American, and even Australian. It was closed by the time we got there, but it was still cool to walk around and see where all the European influences in Tamsui came from. We then walked down by the wharf where we originally wanted to find a famous bridge, but ended up watching the sunset over the tops of some old, abandoned houses. We then had dinner, shopped around some of the shops, then headed back to the hotel.
(bridge in Shifen)
(Pingxi railway)
(Shifen waterfall with perfect rainbow)
(getting ready to let our lantern fly away)
(Shifen old street)
(swinging bridge heading to Shifen)
(martyr's Shrine in Taipei)
(artsy picture of me at the shrine)
(changing of the guards with photo credit to one of my parents)
(traditional boats in Tamsui)
(Spanish cathedral in Tamsui)
(artsy shop)
(Fort San Domingo with all the flags of the different owners of the fort in order)
(Tamsui sunset)
星期三：Today we rode the high speed rail back down to Kaohsiung. I spent most of the day back at my host family's house catching up on stuff, but in the evening my host parents had made a dinner reservation for my real parents and me, which was way too nice of them. At the restaurant the waiter even pretended it was my birthday for us to get a free dessert, so I got sung to and got to wear a weird hat for a bit.
星期四：Today my parents left Taiwan, though before leaving we made sure to go to my favorite soup dumpling place; a tiny shop in an alley in the old downtown area. They then accompanied me back to Wenzao before saying goodbye. After my afternoon class there, I had two hours before I was supposed to go to the choir club's Easter practice, so I wandered around and actually found a really cute and modern cafe that had delicious coffee and Belgium waffles, all of which were served with sprinkles.
星期五：Today I got up at five to head to the train station where we were all meeting for our April cultural trip to Alishan, a famous mountain in Chiayi. We rode the train to Chiayi City, and then rode Alishan's famous Alpine railway up the mountain to Fenqihu, a little town where most people who visit the mountain stay. They're famous for Taiwanese bento boxes and doughnuts, which, while I'm not a fan of the bento boxes, I was pretty pumped about the doughnuts. I ended up walking around with Mackenzie after buying the doughnuts, and we walked down to the old street when the most tragic event happened. We were taking pictures of cool flowers when the fattest bees I have ever seen in my life smelled my doughnut and wouldn't stop flying around my face. They wouldn't go away and were pretty scary, so I eventually sacrificed my doughnut by throwing it far away as a distraction. While it worked I then had to go buy two more doughnuts as compensation because I was so sad mine was lost to a fat bee. After the doughnut tragedy, we went to find actual lunch, though we soon figured out the Fenqihu bento boxes are probably famous because there was nothing else to eat. Since I'm really not a fan, I ended up sharing mine with a stray dog, but the dog and I became friends afterwards so it was worth it.
After lunch we all went on a very tiring hike up the mountain in a bamboo forest. It was definitely beautiful, but we were all pretty delirious and exhausted when we finished. There was no rest for us though, because, as soon as it got dark, we went out to the mountain valley where a ton of fireflies were. It was so beautiful because you could see all the stars up in the sky and all the lightning bugs on the ground, so it was almost like a mirror. At the end, our tour guide even put a bunch in a jar and then released them all at once and it looked like little fireworks.
(Alishan Alpine Railway)
(new favorite flowers)
(doughnuts!)
(more cool flowers and also where I first met up with the scary bees)
(Fenqihu Old Street)
(crime scene where the bee stole my doughnut)
(bamboo forest)
(group pic)
星期六：After a sort of late night, we all got up at 3am and rode the train up to the very top of the mountain. The ride itself was really gorgeous because you could see the moon hovering over a big sea of clouds, and could even make out the milky way above the mountain tops. Once we arrived at the top, we all waited to see if we'd be able to see the famous, and very rare, Alishan sunrise, as most days it's too cloudy to see. We got really lucky, though, and had a beautiful, clear sunrise. It was really cool since most Taiwanese people haven't even had the chance to see the sunrise. We also found lots of cherry blossoms at the top of the mountain, since it was chilly enough for them, so that also made my day, After the sunrise, we spent the rest of the day walking through the alpine forests down to the base of the mountain. Overall the trip was super exhausting, but it was so incredible as I was able to check off seeing cherry blossoms, hiking on Alishan, riding the alpine train, and seeing the sunrise off my bucket list.
(super rare Alishan sunrise)
(selfie with the group)
(cherry blossoms)
(view of the surrounding mountains)
(pretty field of flowers with Japanese style building)
(morning sunlight in the forest)
(hanging out in a tree)
(alpine forest)
星期天：Today I spent most of the day catching up on sleep, though in the evening, after playing many games of UNO with my host sister, I taught them how to dye Easter eggs with the supplies my parents brought from America. Since both my host sisters are pretty crafty, they both liked it and I was nicely surprised that the older one even participated some.
(host sisters' Easter eggs)