Taroko Gorge

I think I most enjoyed this part of the trip, even though it was a little shorter than I'd like. I remember the first time I went to Taiwan with my parents we seemed to have spent a longer time seeing more awesome scenery in the Taroko Gorge.

We were made to wear hard hats, so that we looked like construction workers when we got off the bus to walk the Swallow Grotto trail. Our guide told us that 2 years ago some small rocks fell from the top onto some Chinese tourists and one of them passed away as a result.

The huge rocks where the river is are marble, but of course they don't look anything like the marble you and I know because they're unpolished.


The road in Taroko Gorge was built in 1956 by the soldiers who came with Chiang Kai Shek to Taiwan, and was completed in 1960 at the cost of 300 lives. Below is the temple that was built to honour the people who died building the road. The temple is built atop a gushing waterfall because it is believed that running water can soothe spirits.



The highway was built after the original trail forged by the Japanese during their occupation of Taiwan for the purpose of finding gold. While gold was found in the Gorge, the amount is not significant enough for economically efficient mining. These days, parts of the mountain are mined for marble.

Overall the tour showed us the highlights of the beautiful scenery of Taiwan, and the next day we headed back to Taipei to finish off the sights of Taiwan's man made structures.