Travel: Hualien to Taipei to Wulai, and QSquare (Taiwan)

The next morning, we started our journey to the next destination by heading to Hualien's train station. We took the train back to Taipei, and then had lunch in Taipei before continuing on to Wulai.

It's a small station, so there's no chance of getting lost here!


Hualien Train Station


Hualien Train Station

Restaurant Review: Cherry Field Restaurant 櫻田野餐廳 (Hualien, Taiwan)

Again, I'm not too sure how I stumbled upon this restaurant, but our B&B hosts said they've been to the restaurant before and were surprised when I asked them to make a reservation for me (i.e., "How did they find out about this restaurant?"). I'm guessing I found it through this Taipei Times review, somehow. (I wish there was a way to look at all their restaurant reviews; I wasn't able to figure out how to do that!)

Actually, our taxi driver had no idea where this restaurant was. He had to call in to his central dispatch to ask for directions O_o


Cherry Field Restaurant

Travel: Taroko National Park - Zhuilu Old Trail (Hualien, Taiwan)

For our second day in Taroko National Park, Cory wanted to do the Zhuilu Old Trail. You can find more information on this trail on roundTAIWANround. You need special permits to go on this trail, so we enlisted a local guide (who also provided transportation and lunch on the trail). Two polytechnic girls from Singapore also went with us.

I won't lie: I found this hike to be unbearable in the >40'C weather (after accounting for humidity). My fitness level is also not great, given my day-job. Our guide wanted to get ahead of an old-Chinese-people tour group and speedily went up the stairs at the start of the trail (which is basically a nonstop stairs up the mountain). About 30 minutes in (I think - I'm not too sure of the timing), I had to stop and vomit a bit. I don't know how long I sat there for. I didn't feel like I could finish (my vision was all blurry and bright), but also didn't want to let down my husband by quitting after he had looked forward so much to the hike. After some time, I asked the guide to go ahead and I would try to continue at my own pace and see if I'd make it. I unloaded my day pack onto my husband (who did not complain... at least not for another hour), and we carried on climbing (at this point, far far far behind the Chinese tour group). The heat and extra weight definitely bothered my husband after an hour, and he started getting snippy at me, but I couldn't blame him... I pretty much ruined the day :( Anyway, I guess 90 minutes later our guide met up with us about 20 minutes from the top and let us know he had set up lunch so it would be ready for us when we got there. We had a nice lunch with lots of delicious fresh fruit, and then headed back down the way we came (apparently, the rest of the trail is quite boring compared to this section with the sheer cliff).


Zhuilu Old Trail entrance sign. An attendant has to unlock the door for you, once you show your permits.

Restaurant Review: Moon House 月盧 (Hualien, Taiwan)

I don't quite remember how I stumbled upon this restaurant when researching places to eat in Hualien, but it is actually a pretty well-known restaurant among the locals (and apparently local tourists). That said, I would not classify it as a tourist trap at all!

I found English reviews on Taipei Times, Trip Advisor, and this blogpost. You can also check out this post in Chinese with Google Translate.

The location is about an hour’s drive away from Hualien, so it’s best to arrange a flat-rate taxi ride and have the driver wait for you. You drive through a pretty dodgy looking area before heading out into the mountains, and it seems very surreal as you drive up the winding path towards the restaurant. There are signs along the street as you get closer, which is helpful (if you are paranoid like me, and worry your driver is taking you to the wrong place).


Moon House entrance

Travel: Taroko National Park (Hualien, Taiwan)

On our first full day in Hualien, we toured the beautiful Taroko National Park with a private, English-speaking taxi driver. There are a lot of sights to see in the park, so I prioritized the following I wanted to see:

• Baiyang Trail 白楊步道 (Báiyáng bùdào)
• Swallow Grotto 燕子口 (Yàn zǐ kou)
• Eternal Spring Shrine 長春祠 (Chǎngchūn cí)
• Cimu Bridge 慈母橋 (Címǔ qiáo)
• Qingshui Cliff 清水斷崖 (Qīngshuǐ duàn yá)

I found this site to be very helpful when researching the attractions.

Before you head out, check the road conditions and trail conditions. We learned that there is often road construction going on in the park, especially during and after typhoon season.

Ok, prepare for neverending picspam.


Review: Private Taxi Driver

Our minsu hosts arranged am English-speaking private driver/guide for our first day into Taroko Gorge. CJ picked us up bright and early from our minsu at 8:00am and took us into Taroko National Park. He helped arrange our day’s itinerary based on my list above, and provided commentary in Chinese and English. He was extremely friendly, but not overly chatty, and made us feel very comfortable. He was also extremely knowledgeable about the various sights and knew exactly what was closed, what was opened, where we should enter and exit, etc. He also provided flash lights and ponchos for our excursion on the Baiyang Trail to see the waterfall and Water Curtain.

His taxi is in great condition: comfortable seats and AWESOME air conditioning. Also, his decals “Relax I Drive” on the vehicle made it easy to identify which taxi was ours amongst all the others at the various tourist attractions.

He was a good driver, especially by Western standards (defensive driving), which really put us at ease. He did not smoke or chew anything gross!

He gave us three options for lunch, all within the Gorge. However, I would strongly recommend picking up some food at a 7/11 or Family Mart instead, as the food within the Gorge is truly disgusting. I wanted to buy a packed lunch from Wu-tao lunchbox (which I read about on another blog), but couldn’t find their posted hours (I expect they open closer to 10am than 8 am).

The cost of his service was 3500NT for 8 hours as of Fall 2014 (though we only used 6 hours as we got tired of the heat). As tourism continues to develop in the region, I expect the cost of private day tours to increase.

Bottom Line: Highly recommended guide, but BYO lunch to Taroko Gorge.


Our taxi guide's business card; his website has more information here: http://www.hualien-taxi.tw/

Accommodations Review: Star and Mist B&B (Hualien, Taiwan)

We booked a 3 night stay at Star and Mist B&B: TripAdvisor reviews, Official website (in Chinese).

It was a lovely and relaxing stay! The hosts do not seem to live on the property (which is a plus, in my opinion, because you don't feel like you're intruding in someone's home!), but always seem to be available when needed! Pictures first, then pros and cons.


Star and Mist B&B - Exterior

Travel: Zhiqiang Night Market (Hualien, Taiwan)

After a "short" nap in the afternoon (through quite a rainstorm, apparently!), we felt refreshed enough to head out to the local night market to get some eats. It was Mid-Autumn Festival our first day in Taiwan, so we weren't sure if the night market would be busy or empty.

Turns out, it was more on the empty side! About 30-40% of the stalls were closed, but there was still enough to see and eat.

I referenced the following three blog posts when planning what stalls I wanted to try: TtimeTreats.com, Foodiebaker.com, AlwaysTravelicious.com. These should be more helpful than my post, if you're more interested in the local snacks.

Here's the shortlist I went in with based on those blogposts:

• Chiang's Family Coffin Boards (蔣記花蓮式棺材板) 
• Bei Gang Spring Roll (北港春捲)
• "Too Wonderful for Words" Fruit Juice Shop ("妙不可言"果汁店) 
• Exploding Chicken Roll (爆浆鸡肉卷)
• Taro balls 芋蝦

This night market is actually pretty small, but has a nice vibe. I'd say there's 2.5 aisles with stalls on either side, but you can walk, look at everything, and take pictures in about 15 minutes. 

There was a pretty big line-up at the Coffin Boards toast stall, but we decided against it. The fillings looked too "saucy", and it looked messy as hell to eat! 

Tried to convince myself I wanted to try it each time we passed by the stall; failed every time.