Loa on the Go

Jensen booked a tour for this day, to Taroko Gorge National Park. It was a rainy drizzly day, and after meeting our lovely tour guide, we first stopped at a local Taoist temple.

We learned the systems of offerings and prayers, and saw shamans actively at work conveying messages from deities. It was all quite surreal, with incense filling the air and all the lights and sounds.

Next, a short hike in the woods (or jungle, really), our first time on the trip. We dipped our feet in a waterfall, saw monkeys, and so many lush plants.

Our next destination was Toroko Gorge National Park. Subject to huge landslides a year and a half ago and floods earlier in the month, the park had actually reopened just days before our entry. Many areas were still off limits, but we had a tour guide determined to show us as much as possible.

Pictures don’t really do it justice, from the steep rock faces to massive mountains, verdant forests, and then embedded in the slopes, buddhas and temples and bridges.

We went to the park visitor center and learned about the history of the park and the native people of the area, grabbed lunch, and then went to a lookout to view the crystal blue ocean water below.

After a tea and a change of clothes at the hostel, we got hot pot nearby, which was fantastic. There was a language barrier, as we had and would continue to experience to varying degrees, but we were so well taken care of.

Off to somewhere new in the morning!