Taroko Gorge, a must see according to my Taipei foreign natives, it’s a huge National Park in Eastern Taiwan and is known for its hiking trails and scenic views of bright blue streams and sky kissing mountains covered in green. I made it a priority to see this heavenly place… the old sang goes “it’s not about the destination but rather the journey” I am often reminded of this during my travels. Maneuvering through a foreign country where there is limited English and a lot of people is no easy task. Luckily I managed to get to the train station and purchase a ticket on the next train to Hualien. Sound and safe in my assigned seat I take a deep breathe and get cozy for the 3 hour journey. Aside from the kid in the next seat over playing his handheld video game that sung the most annoying song, it was rather peaceful J My train snack of poki sticks kept me entertained and satisfied.
I arrive at the train station and am ushered out onto the platform and into another unknown situation. I start walking toward an exit sign and end up on the street. Hmm…. Now what? In my mind I expected there to be a slew of other lost foreigners that I could cling to but no such luck. I tried asking a local ticket attendant where the bus station was, being here in Taiwan has definitely emphasized how much I SUCK at charades! Luckily a nice local spoke some English and guided me to the bus stop and handed me a bus schedule… the last bus to Taroko left 2 hours ago. So I did the next best thing, grab a taxi. I have to admit looking like a lost foreign woman makes me a little uncomfortable and a target for being ripped off… or worse … but I have to go with me instinct and have some faith, otherwise I would end up sitting in a room all day. Plus the people here have proven themselves to be extremely trustworthy. The ride was about an hour and I ended up at my hotel (which I had just booked on the drive). The receptionist handed me a map of Taroko and tried to explain which trails were closed and which were open, I tried to follow the hand gestures and here key English words and stared at the map and smiled… I had no clue what she was talking about… finally I asked if there was a tour group , no such luck, looks like it’s just me, myself and I.
The room was nice and extremely quiet and I lasted about 5 mins in there and then decided to take a stroll down the street. Now it’s a bit ironic that I am in a huge park with lots of trails considering that my outdoor navigation skills are quite limited along with my Paleolithic survival skills, but I love nature and love hiking! This experience can be added to my “Do one thing a day that scares you list” So here I am venturing out into no mans land. I decide to the climb up the next small trail, the sign said it leads to a small temple, great! I could use some prayers right now. I make it up about 20 steps and feel the panic inside my heart, the buzzing nature gets real loud, I see the signs of killer bees and snakes flash in my mind and to my left a huge spider begins webbing its way down a tree… sorry Mr. Bhudda, maybe I will save my prayers for another day. I made my down the stairs and up the street to the nicest hotel in town. The panic faded and I laughed at my fear… crazy girl… what are you doing here? Great question… my only answer is, I’m exploring.
I walked into the hotel and found a small shop with eye appealing chocolate that taste as good as it looked! Still no foreigners though. I walk out and see a couple of foreigners sitting in the courtyard. The nice thing about traveling is that as a foreigner it is completely acceptable to talk to strangers and NO LINES are needed! In the case my opening line was “do you speak English?” They responded in an American accent and we were immediately friends. Here is how small the world can be, one of my new friends is from California, works in Palo Alto and lived in Mountain View very close to my previous apartment. His buddy is in China teaching English and creating his life after undergrad... ahhh… what an exciting time. They had gotten there the day before and briefed me on the local area and the tour they did with a local couple who run a taxi tour group for which they handed me a card. Great! Great! and Great! I called up the number and my tour of taroko was set in motion. We shared some stories over our Chinese dinner, made another friend and then exchanged info to eventually cross paths again. I thought to myself, funny how things work out when you just ask.
Side note: I spent the first half of my trip sans internet and phone and it felt great! Over the last few days I was given a local phone and provided internet access everywhere I stayed… within minutes I was sucked back into the world wide web of Facebook, Gmail and talk! 2 hours later my computer battery ran out of juice and forced me to step away from the internet and get to bed.
You see one rock, you see them all. The next morning I ran into my new friends in the breakfast hall, they took my advice and were headed to jofun and I was preparing for my day of hikes. Tracy picked me up at 9am sharp and 1 minute later stopped the car and told me I was at my first trail. I looked at her slightly bewildered, expecting some time to get to know my driver and learn some history, she looked back and said “I meet you here in 1 hour, take your time and see the temples”. I finished stuffing my toes into my alien shoes and was off on my first hike. A peaceful, Zen like silence surrounded the area. I made my way up the stairs exploring everything from left to right, climbing up through buildings and jumping off of steps. My inner child was extremely happy! At the top of the hill a large white building housed 3 large Buddha statues. The grounds were beautifully paved in marble (the area is known for this stone and all of the rock formations are pure marble). I spent a few moments in silent meditation and accidentally broke some rules by sounding the gigantic bowl that was calling out to me. One of the local monks just looked at me and smiled; I smiled back and looked away but felt her stare on me. I looked back and she was still smiling and then pointed at me and said something in Chinese along with the word “Indio” which means Indian. I nodded and said “yes Indio”, she pointed at the Buddha and then at me and then again repeated something with the word “Indio” I believe she was expressing her happiness of the Buddha and his association with India. After a few smiles I was off to the next site. A yoga practice near one of the temples was just what my body needed this morning. I love that my yoga travels with me, everywhere I go, it is there. I decided to dedicate some of photographs to my practice… strike a pose tour J The tourists have been entertained by this… ha-ha. (Pictures to come)
An hour later I returned back to the car and we were off to our next stop, which was only 2 minutes away… so much for cooling off in the A/C. Stop after stop I saw old historical temples and shrines, large rocks expressing their natural beauty, the largest river which flows directly into the pacific ocean, and mountain formations that resembled, according to my driver, king kong. Tracy stopped at various spots just to take photos of me and recap historical relevance of the site. One particular stop led us to the nine turn’s tunnel, part of which was now closed off due to falling rocks. I had to wear a hard hat just to walk through the open section and 10 feet into my walk I hear a loud crash, I look to me left and see a rock roll down the cliff kicking up its dust. Guess they weren’t joking… I speed walked through the tunnels and was back in no time. Luckily she told me the story of the tourist getting hit by falling rocks, AFTER I got back.
The last trail left me to myself, the river, and the rocks for a couple of hours. It was a trail that crossed through areas where aborigines once lived. Since the park opened many have moved out into surrounding areas; however their presence still resides in the park. I can only imagine how these backwater folks lived in the Paleolithic days. The 2 hour hike led me through butterfly coves, over the stream under the trees and into a blissful state with occasional chaos by my chattering monkey.
Note: I have been wearing my vibrams for a month and I still love them especially now that my calves have adjusted to the extra work. Today, however, was my first hike in them. I walked over bridges, over roots, and over ROCKS! I wonder if our barefoot ancestors understood that there were receiving foot reflexology on a daily basis because even in my barely barefeet I felt the little rocks hitting pressure points up and down my feet. Not the MOST pleasant feeling but not bad either… just different. Will report back on feet’s feelings tomorrow.
Finally back on a train, eating my poki sticks and awaiting Taipei.
The journey that we take can spark some fear and some regret but as you keep moving forward the moments of joy and the feeling of being alive makes it well worth it. I fear going on solo hikes because I might get lost but I might have to face this fear, experience being lost and then find my way home.
MettaLOVE
Ritu Riyat
I arrive at the train station and am ushered out onto the platform and into another unknown situation. I start walking toward an exit sign and end up on the street. Hmm…. Now what? In my mind I expected there to be a slew of other lost foreigners that I could cling to but no such luck. I tried asking a local ticket attendant where the bus station was, being here in Taiwan has definitely emphasized how much I SUCK at charades! Luckily a nice local spoke some English and guided me to the bus stop and handed me a bus schedule… the last bus to Taroko left 2 hours ago. So I did the next best thing, grab a taxi. I have to admit looking like a lost foreign woman makes me a little uncomfortable and a target for being ripped off… or worse … but I have to go with me instinct and have some faith, otherwise I would end up sitting in a room all day. Plus the people here have proven themselves to be extremely trustworthy. The ride was about an hour and I ended up at my hotel (which I had just booked on the drive). The receptionist handed me a map of Taroko and tried to explain which trails were closed and which were open, I tried to follow the hand gestures and here key English words and stared at the map and smiled… I had no clue what she was talking about… finally I asked if there was a tour group , no such luck, looks like it’s just me, myself and I.
The room was nice and extremely quiet and I lasted about 5 mins in there and then decided to take a stroll down the street. Now it’s a bit ironic that I am in a huge park with lots of trails considering that my outdoor navigation skills are quite limited along with my Paleolithic survival skills, but I love nature and love hiking! This experience can be added to my “Do one thing a day that scares you list” So here I am venturing out into no mans land. I decide to the climb up the next small trail, the sign said it leads to a small temple, great! I could use some prayers right now. I make it up about 20 steps and feel the panic inside my heart, the buzzing nature gets real loud, I see the signs of killer bees and snakes flash in my mind and to my left a huge spider begins webbing its way down a tree… sorry Mr. Bhudda, maybe I will save my prayers for another day. I made my down the stairs and up the street to the nicest hotel in town. The panic faded and I laughed at my fear… crazy girl… what are you doing here? Great question… my only answer is, I’m exploring.
I walked into the hotel and found a small shop with eye appealing chocolate that taste as good as it looked! Still no foreigners though. I walk out and see a couple of foreigners sitting in the courtyard. The nice thing about traveling is that as a foreigner it is completely acceptable to talk to strangers and NO LINES are needed! In the case my opening line was “do you speak English?” They responded in an American accent and we were immediately friends. Here is how small the world can be, one of my new friends is from California, works in Palo Alto and lived in Mountain View very close to my previous apartment. His buddy is in China teaching English and creating his life after undergrad... ahhh… what an exciting time. They had gotten there the day before and briefed me on the local area and the tour they did with a local couple who run a taxi tour group for which they handed me a card. Great! Great! and Great! I called up the number and my tour of taroko was set in motion. We shared some stories over our Chinese dinner, made another friend and then exchanged info to eventually cross paths again. I thought to myself, funny how things work out when you just ask.
Side note: I spent the first half of my trip sans internet and phone and it felt great! Over the last few days I was given a local phone and provided internet access everywhere I stayed… within minutes I was sucked back into the world wide web of Facebook, Gmail and talk! 2 hours later my computer battery ran out of juice and forced me to step away from the internet and get to bed.
You see one rock, you see them all. The next morning I ran into my new friends in the breakfast hall, they took my advice and were headed to jofun and I was preparing for my day of hikes. Tracy picked me up at 9am sharp and 1 minute later stopped the car and told me I was at my first trail. I looked at her slightly bewildered, expecting some time to get to know my driver and learn some history, she looked back and said “I meet you here in 1 hour, take your time and see the temples”. I finished stuffing my toes into my alien shoes and was off on my first hike. A peaceful, Zen like silence surrounded the area. I made my way up the stairs exploring everything from left to right, climbing up through buildings and jumping off of steps. My inner child was extremely happy! At the top of the hill a large white building housed 3 large Buddha statues. The grounds were beautifully paved in marble (the area is known for this stone and all of the rock formations are pure marble). I spent a few moments in silent meditation and accidentally broke some rules by sounding the gigantic bowl that was calling out to me. One of the local monks just looked at me and smiled; I smiled back and looked away but felt her stare on me. I looked back and she was still smiling and then pointed at me and said something in Chinese along with the word “Indio” which means Indian. I nodded and said “yes Indio”, she pointed at the Buddha and then at me and then again repeated something with the word “Indio” I believe she was expressing her happiness of the Buddha and his association with India. After a few smiles I was off to the next site. A yoga practice near one of the temples was just what my body needed this morning. I love that my yoga travels with me, everywhere I go, it is there. I decided to dedicate some of photographs to my practice… strike a pose tour J The tourists have been entertained by this… ha-ha. (Pictures to come)
An hour later I returned back to the car and we were off to our next stop, which was only 2 minutes away… so much for cooling off in the A/C. Stop after stop I saw old historical temples and shrines, large rocks expressing their natural beauty, the largest river which flows directly into the pacific ocean, and mountain formations that resembled, according to my driver, king kong. Tracy stopped at various spots just to take photos of me and recap historical relevance of the site. One particular stop led us to the nine turn’s tunnel, part of which was now closed off due to falling rocks. I had to wear a hard hat just to walk through the open section and 10 feet into my walk I hear a loud crash, I look to me left and see a rock roll down the cliff kicking up its dust. Guess they weren’t joking… I speed walked through the tunnels and was back in no time. Luckily she told me the story of the tourist getting hit by falling rocks, AFTER I got back.
The last trail left me to myself, the river, and the rocks for a couple of hours. It was a trail that crossed through areas where aborigines once lived. Since the park opened many have moved out into surrounding areas; however their presence still resides in the park. I can only imagine how these backwater folks lived in the Paleolithic days. The 2 hour hike led me through butterfly coves, over the stream under the trees and into a blissful state with occasional chaos by my chattering monkey.
Note: I have been wearing my vibrams for a month and I still love them especially now that my calves have adjusted to the extra work. Today, however, was my first hike in them. I walked over bridges, over roots, and over ROCKS! I wonder if our barefoot ancestors understood that there were receiving foot reflexology on a daily basis because even in my barely barefeet I felt the little rocks hitting pressure points up and down my feet. Not the MOST pleasant feeling but not bad either… just different. Will report back on feet’s feelings tomorrow.
Finally back on a train, eating my poki sticks and awaiting Taipei.
The journey that we take can spark some fear and some regret but as you keep moving forward the moments of joy and the feeling of being alive makes it well worth it. I fear going on solo hikes because I might get lost but I might have to face this fear, experience being lost and then find my way home.
MettaLOVE
Ritu Riyat
