Up early and ready for the adventure to Taroko Gorge! We headed off at about 8am from Hualien - after a 45 minute drive we arrived at the starting point of Taroko Gorge. Absolutely breathtaking views of a gigantic gorge with a fast flowing river at the basin - home to the local Truku tribe. 100s of Chinese tourist had also unfortunately decided to visit the park today so it was packed with flashing cameras, luxury buses and noise! We hiked down to the waterbed and followed a path cut into the side of Gorge, hand-cut over centuries by the local tribes. I can't even begin to explain how picturesque this place was - everywhere you look a feast for the eyes. We hiked a couple of kms and then turned back as we had lots more to see and the weather appeared to be changing. Next stop was the Temple chiseled into the side of the mountain to commemorate those who died making the trail through the gorge. We hiked up about 400 meters to the second temple where we were given goodluck by ringing the bell 3 times. Once again more breathtaking views, clean air and complete stillness. We continued over a drawbridge where I decided to throw down a handstand - slightly dodgy as the bridge swayed quite a lot. Continuing up the trail we came to more breathtaking peaks, valleys, lakes and gorges - you could certainly spend a couple of days up here exploring and still not see everything - definitely need a car as the road is very narrow and there are 100s of tour buses, bikes and mad drivers.
On the way back we stopped in at a school which was having there annual sports day and met some of Dylan's friends. The kids seemed to be having a lot of fun and getting lots of prizes, like everywhere else the place was crammed with food stalls. We then made a quick stop at the supermarket before heading back out to Dylan's place. In the evening we headed once again to the Principles house this time for a Taiwanese BBQ - chickens feet, marinated beef, pork, squid, pig intestines, peppers, mushrooms, green beans, sausage, chicken and every other thing that couldn't run fast enough was stuck on the little barrel and grill plate. It was really nice just hanging out with the locals - even though they could barely understand me we still managed to communicate! Another great evening with new friends.