GORGE-ous!

I began the morning bright and early, so I snuck out to the balcony to enjoy the view while the boys slept. The scenery did not disappoint. Our relaxation retreat came with fancy breakfast which we found a tad stressful as we had to subtly spy on fellow diners to figure out how to eat it.

Stop number one was at the gold museum to learn about Taiwan's gold rush. It was a good exhibit, despite the way it dredged up elementary school memories for us. Rob and our guide spent quite a bit of time figuring out if the 500 pound gold brick was real and, if so, how to plan the heist.

We headed south to the east coast (island living), crossing countless bridges ('cause it's an island) and driving through even more tunnels (it's a mountainous island). We even traversed the longest tunnel in Taiwan, clocking in at 13 km (aka about 8 miles). The tunnel took 13 years to build and 13 people lost their lives doing it. It took us about 10 minutes to make it through and we had to have the radio on the entire time in case there was an announcement. 

Speed in tunnels is monitored by checking when a car enters and how long it takes to get to the other side. A large portion of our road trip took place on an elevated highway, with a lovely rest stop at the end. Again, the rest stop was so achingly familiar and foreign at the same time. We ate lunch at Mos Burger (it was recommended to us), each getting the veggie burger with a rice bun. I'm not certain what I expected, but it wasn't seitan with seaweed on a round bed of pressed rice. It was delicious. 

Our primary destination for the day was Taroko Gorge National Park. It is beyond a doubt one of the most majestic places on earth, with towering mountains, striations in all colors, gray blue rushing rivers, waterfalls, lush trees. This park really has it all.

We visited the External Spring Shrine, the Tunnel of Nine Turns, and Swallow Grotto. Even the photos don't do it justice, it's on such a massive scale.

That night we stayed at the Taroko Village Hotel, which is run by an indigenous tribe.  We learned the traditional greeting ("beyouku"), had local food, and enjoyed a performance of traditional music and dance. It was humbling to sit through a 90-minute performance and not understand a word (Taiwanese was translated into Mandarin).  The people were warm and welcoming and the setting was spectacular. Just another amazing moment in this incredible adventure! 

P.S. They have EDM cicadas here and we had a conversation about buying chopsticks--do we actually need a meat AND a dairy set? Talk about intersectionality.