Michele and Jim's Travel Tales: Taroko Gorge

Breakfast in the hotel this morning was a nice mix of East and West, bacon, pork buns, coffee, eggs and lemon grass. The eclectic mix keeps the digestive system on its toes. We met our guide, William in the hotel foyer and we were off on our Taipei tour. The train east to Taroko took us through both spectacular and dreary, poor looking villages and mountainous landscapes.

Oh, by the way, there is a typhoon coming.

William says, most businesses in Taipei will close down because of it, even though it won’t arrive till this afternoon. He told us we should be up the mountain in Taroko before it hits.

Clouds built up, the wind got windy and the rain got rainier.

The coast was flagged off and security guards ensured no one got past them...

There are seven elevens everywhere in Taiwan. We found one and stocked up in case the typhoon holes us up for a couple of months.

Anyway, William drove us up through the gorge as the rain got heavier.

The trip up was spectacular. The mountains are magnificent, hundreds of waterfalls, sheer cliffs and rapids. But the road was hairy and scary.

Rockslides are common; the road is often closed on days like today.

We came across smashed rocks blocking the road, with William mumbling “very serious.” It didn’t calm the passengers one bit, but the man has done it a million times. Eventually we made the hotel, relieved and agog at the beauty.

Wow.

The roof top deck and pool is fabulous...

This place is sensational. It is very, very Tolkienish. We feel like we are in Rivendell. I am expecting Hugo Weaving to appear at any minute and warn us about Morrdoorrr. Getting a bit sick of this harp music, as well.

We had a magnificent buffet tonight. Taiwan does good food. The TV is full of typhoon warnings coming from Taiwanese women in crash helmets, so we are waiting to see what happens....

(We are staying in the deep red/purplish zone...