太鲁阁 & 七星潭

More shots of the Parkview Hotel and Resort on the 9/4/12. There is a gentle sloping hill on the side of the resort and we tak the opportunity after breakfast before we set off for the day's activities to take a walk.

A shot of exterior view of the Hualien train station

After breakfast we are sent to experience the wonders of the 七星潭. It is basically a cove located near the Hualien airport on the Pacific Ocean. I feel the enormity of the cove and the wide openness of the Ocean. We like the pebbles and "stones" which have been naturally formed by the waves buffeting the cove for thousands of years and actually decided to keep one small piece of pebble for our remembrance of the 七星潭. We hope this does not abruptly change the eco system a lot.

These represent the days of our life .....

After lunch we proceed to experience the main program of the day i.e. a visit to Taroko National Park 太鲁阁国家公园。Taroko has many amazing gorges and caves. We can see very clear water streams, green in color and so clean air and water. We can also see some amazing tunnels built by Taiwanese engineers that allow us to drive through and experience this Park. I can experience views of majestic mountain ranges, often hidden by fog, the light shower we have on the day adds to the mystery of the Park. We are also told of tracks made by the 原居民 (the aboriginals) and their life style habits even to this day.

 

Beautiful scenery of mist covering the top of gorges

This bridge in the background was commissioned by 建国先生 in remembrance of his beloved mother. I tell myself to take a picture and show it to my mother; in honor of her also. The bridge is named 慈母椅.

建国先生 also commissioned this garden and village (文祥村) to commemorate 文天祥 but unfortunately I cannot remember the story

花莲

8/4/12 今天我们乘观光列车离开高雄市前往花莲，车程 5Hrs 22Min (11:26 - 16:48) 喔！

好不容易我久期待的那天到了！

We depart for 花莲 Hualien on the 環岛之星 slow train around the Island. Initially leaving Kaohsiung east to Pintung 屏东 then we turn South towards Fangliao 枋寮. From there we turn East again and then North towards Taitung 台东 and eventually reaching Hualien.

We first sight the Strait of Taiwan after 屏东 station at the town of Zhen-An 镇安。

After Fangliao 枋寮站 at the town of Dawu 大武 we begin to sight the Pacific Ocean! It feels so amazing that on the same train ride we can experience the sights of both important sea channels.

At the 高雄 station we are thrilled to find this shop called 紙 箱王 with amazing carton paper products. I can't help but want to buy something to remember. Because of weight issues with bring things back to Australia I settle on a small Eiffel tower ....

 

高雄

7/4/12 阿里山往高雄。 今天的天气还是寒冷和带重雾， temperature in the morning is 12 C up at the mountains with light intermittent showers. No chance of us seeing clearly in this weather. Our tour guide tells me the better time to come to Alishan is the northern autumn or winter. In the summer there tends to be bad weather systems due to the typhoons.

We did not take the steam train ride at Alishan

So we leave Alishan in heavy thick fog and rain. Next stop on the agenda is a detour to a small town called Fenchihu 奋起湖 approximately 1/3 way down from Alishan。奋起湖坐落於海拔1,405公尺， 它為阿里山鐵道的中繼站，也是台灣最高的老街，周圍旅遊包含螢火蟲、鐵道便當、木屐和奮起湖神木等等。

奋起湖有南台灣九份之稱。

I love the narrow streets and houses/stalls that are sited on hilly slopes in  奋起湖. So romantic (because of its rarity) and so Taiwanese in its setting. So many different types of foods and delicacies on sale. Just different and something we come to Taiwan to experience. I am so happy to be part of the experience today. 

鐵路便當或稱火車便當 is a must have lunch at Fenchihu. Unfortunately we cannot keep the aluminium 便當 banto box as souvenir

The food is not great. We eat it for its memory of the forestry workers who used to chop trees up in the mountains

At the Old Street 老街 where we find small stall holders selling food and handicraft. I think the tourists are interested to see what is on offer, what is new and different.

This is the bearded guy whose father started selling the banto boxes to workers who used to chop the trees up at Alishan. I actually talked to him a bit when I bought my 火車便當 but I did not know who he was until I saw this ad outside on the street after lunch

Love the "houses" (or huts?)

Narrow lane ways and lovely timer homes

Some one is drying some pamelo peels

 Wild boar meat and skin on sale

The disused Fenchihu Raiway Station

We manage to make our way down the mountains in the e-go van in heavy traffic, in fog and rain; to the Chiayi High Speed Rail HSR station for our 5.02pm departure to Kaohsiung. The trains and buses in Taiwan are incredibly on time and efficient. No misses so far.