Day 11

Day 11 was our last full day in Taiwan, and we spent it enjoying the natural wonders of the Hualian area and Taroko Gorge.  Starting out the day we went back to the rock beach near our hotel.  Going down to the water was the perfect way to deal with the blistering sun and heat that was already starting up.  I got to stick my feat in the water and dad tried to skip stones on the waves (it didn't work out 100%).  The beach here is made entirely of stones, so there was no pesky sand to get stuck in your shoes.

From the beach it was a bit of a drive to the Taroko Gorge National Park.  But once we were there we got to hike for an hour  up a great path!  It was shaded, easy to walk on, and gave a great view of the surrounding cliffs and forest.  Taroko Gorge is a natural area that is only recently really accessible, since typhoons tend to roll in and destroy nearby roads and bridges.  It's still dangerous there when it rains too much, since rockslides can occur.  But we were safe today, since there was no rain until much later.

After hiking around the gorge for a while, we went to explore other areas of the park.  Swallow grotto was another stop, one where we had to wear hard hats in case of falling rocks.  That particular cave was named that way because swallows used to nest in it.  We got to see some as we were walking out!  After a little picnic in the shade, our last stop before we went back to Taipei was a waterfall area with a little temple built on top of it.  Of course it started raining just as we got there, but when has a little water ever stopped us climbing something?  The view was worth it.

And as a great way to finish off the evening, we got delicious pizzas at a tiny pizza shop down the street from our hotel.  Thank you to the woman who saw me staring really hard at the Chinese characters and swooped in with an English menu!  It made our night delicious.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Taiwan and head to Japan.  It's been a great trip, and we're so happy we got to meet so many nice people here :)  See you tomorrow!