Taroko Gorge

When I had read the Lonely Planet and started doing research about cycling through Taiwan, the Taroko Gorge came up again and again as an unbelievably beautiful national park, replete with high peaks, good camping, and touring granite walls.  We rode to the gorge in the waning light, almost giving up the idea of heading to the campground about eight miles beyond the entrance to the park, instead staying somewhere in the small tourist trap of a town that sits at the base of the park.  We had already spent the day gaining and losing elevation on windy roads with small shoulders and multiple narrow tunnels accompanied by innumerable trucks and large tour busses carrying the Chinese tourists that were the mainstay of Taiwan's east coast landscape.

  

Riding up to the Gorge, cliffs leading to the ocean on the other side.

  It had started to rain a bit before we had reached the entrance, which combined with the waning light caused us a bit of concern about getting to the camp.  We ended up riding through to the campground and when we arrived at our destination we were glad.  The campground was small, maybe 15 large platforms, each having a picninc table and a bbq area.  There were bathrooms with showers AND we were perched along a steep river valley in a serene part of the park, quiet and with water rushing down below and a waterfall within view.  All of this for NT $200, which is insanely cheap (about $6 USD).  Even though it was a Saturday the campground wasn't full, and the next morning all our neighbors packed up and left, leaving us the main area of the campground all to ourselves.  It blew Bruce and I away that such a lovely tranquil campground could be found in a major national park so cheap and all to our selves.

  

We spent the next few days riding further into the park, exploring some some of the trails, one of crept down a steep and partially washed out staircase along a stone wall of the gorge into natural hotsprings.  They were so beautiful, and blazing hot.  We were only able to dip our feet in for the first ten minutes or so but we eventually were able to sit and immerse our tired, road weary legs.  There was a flurry of older tourists in the pools with us.  Some agreed that the heat was unbearable but a few submerged themselves completely to the awe and cheers of fellow bathers.   It was impressive but it appeared that he might be a regular bather carrying with him a whole basket of provisions for the long periods he spends immersing his body in the cauldron of near boiling subterranean liquid.

   

    

Many people cycle from one end of the gorge to the other, on a winding, switch-backed roads topping out at a little over 3000 meters, or around 10,000 feet.  I had been considering this climb before we set out on this trip.  The largest climb Bruce and I had done to this point was Washington Pass in the North Cascades National Park, which tops out at 5,600 feet and I believe in the range of 27 road miles of climbing.  My mind flipped back and forth between wanting attempt the climb and feeling like it might be unrealistic.  Instead, we opted to ride about 1/3 of the road, but this allowed us to explore some of the trails, to keep our gear at the campground, cook delicious meals, and also feel like we could relax a bit.  Maybe I'll eventually be disappointed that we didn't do the whole climb, but I feel like we've already done some good climbing coupled with some slower, languid days that allow us to enjoy all that this amazing country has to offer.  As we ended our time in Taroko, I firmly believe that it is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen and and was an experience of a lifetime.