Taroko National Park and walking over the Shakadang Trail

After being fetched from the train station and having lunch in a local fastfood in Hualien, we found ourselves on the road again, this time enroute to Taroko National Park.


Our cabbie, Mr. Lu, stopped by the entrance of park and took advantage to have a photo of me and my mom taken. The park is famous for its wonderful marble gorge and beautiful sceneries.


The view around the area is simply marvelous, and it's just the start. Greens and mountains covered with clouds and the rocks - an awesome spectacular for a non-local like us!


me


5 minutes after and into the park, we stopped by the entrance of Shakadang Trail or "Mysterious Valley Trail" which is right after the first tunnel and before the second one coming from the park entrance.


me and my mom at the trail entrance


This is the view of the trail from above. The pathway carved on the mountain at the right side is the trail itself.


From the trail entrance on a side of Shadakang bridge, one has to climb down a number of steps via stairs to reach the trail.


The trail which traverses alongside the Shakadang river is mostly flat with just a few moderate inclination making it easy to walk on to for beginners. You need to watch out for the sharp stones from the mountain walls and ceilings of the trail however to avoid injury.


Mr. Lu showed us where the carpark is and instructed us to take it easy and be back in around 20 minutes where he will be waiting. We took his advise and walk towards the trail but we barely made it far enough.


view of the bridge from the trail


view of the river farther away from the trail


We stopped walking further as soon as the trail started to turn after around 8 minutes of walking and started to head back.


huge rocks and marbles along the river


more rocks and marbles by the riverbed


yet another gigantic rock!


As we make our way back to the carpark area where Mr. Lu is waiting for us, a few tourist buses had stopped by the entrance and alighted a number of tourists. We had to wait for all the "chaos" top die down and stabilize before we started to go our way against a few others that were left, fighting for space on a narrow staircase.


The lion statues mounted on the bridge reminds me of the monuments seen on the railings as you approach the gate of Angkor Thom.


me and my mom, making it alive after climbing the stairs against hoards of other tourists


This is just the beginning and there are lots more to discover in this wonderful park I never thought would be this big!