Day 8.1: Hualien and Taroko Gorge

On Spokes: a solo journey cycling Taiwan

I woke up just before 7 am and brewed some coffee. As I was enjoying a hot cup of joe and doing some writing, an older German man was packing up his own bicycle. I suppose he saw me come in on my bike the previous day, as he started talking to me about my route. We swapped our cycling stories, and when he asked me what I was planning on doing today, I told him that I had wanted to see Taroko Gorge but had heard it was closed. I suppose I will try to find a nice hiking trail to explore. A little background: in April 2024 a major earthquake struck near Hualien, causing rock slides that killed several people visiting Taroko Gorge. The park’s trails and campgrounds have been closed ever since, and will likely be closed for the foreseeable future.

My German friend told me that while much of the park is closed, they open the road to traffic from the visitor center into the park at very specific times of day. He was just there yesterday. The first opening time is 8am…. 7:48, not gonna make that. The second time is 10am. If I get ready quickly I might be able to make that time - it’s 25km to the visitor center and should take about an hour and a half to get there, if I can trust Google maps (sometimes I can’t). I decided to go for it, since this is one of the things I really wanted to see when I initially booked my flight to Taiwan. I had a few minutes to grab some breakfast real quick, so I stopped in at a little breakfast joint and had some dan bing (my new fav) and taro toast. That should fuel me for a long day of cycling.

It’s another hot and sunny day, and the sunburn on my arms was making little water bubbles (I know, ew). A pedestrian lady even approached me and exclaimed, “sunshine!” I made a lather motion to try and tell her I had put sunblock on, but she’s right, it’s a lot of sun exposure. It helps that my luggage was back at the hostel, so I didn’t have to lug the extra weight of my panniers around for this ride.

I pulled up the big hill to the visitor center and saw a line of cars waiting to be let on to the road into the park. It was 9:55, great timing! At 10am on the dot the cars started moving, and I pedaled right along behind them. Immediately I was granted with magnificent views of the mountains and canyons below. It worked out great that the road is only open at certain times of the day, because once the vehicles passed me I had the road to myself. It was glorious!

I passed through tunnels and over bridges. There is a lot of construction happening, but there was still plenty of peaceful ride through the park. It was just so vast, so immense. Getting to Tianxing, the township at which we turn around and go back out the way we came, was a series of ascending twists and turns, but it really felt good to be working so hard to see something so grand. Once I arrived in Tianxing I was greeted by a large bridge that crosses over a canyon. I parked my bicycle behind someone else’s parked bike, and walked up the many staircases to Xiangde Temple. On my way back down I spotted some monkeys, which prompted me to quickly traipse back to my bike and keep a close eye on it. I once had my bag pulled straight from my hands by one of those little guys in Indonesia. In fact, when I decided to cycle a little further on up the hill to use the public toilet, I saw one of the tricky mammals pull down the other guy’ s bike. I got the cyclist’s attention so that he could retrieve his bike from the curious creature.

It had taken me about an hour and a half to climb the 20 km to Tianxing, so I only had to wait 10 minutes to go back, as the road would open again at 12. I waited a few extra minutes so that I could have the road to myself again, and the winding descents through the gorge were marvelous! It was one of those moments when I just felt so free - free from the immobility of a hurt runner’s knee, from stress or worry, free to be wild, free to be a small vagabond in a big world. Free to breathe even as I take in such breathtaking scenery. Free to love riding my bicycle, and to be happy there. I just thought to myself; “this is what I came here for!”

Once I got back down the mountain, I rode the 25km back to my hostel in Hualien, but not before stopping at Mr. Zheng’s handmade mochi store. I’ve been in Taiwan for nearly 2 weeks and haven’t had mochi yet. I picked a couple different flavors, and a taro pastry, and stuffed them in my bag for later - though the woman at the counter informed me that they had to be eaten today.

Upon my return to the hostel, I put away my bike, showered, and excitedly told the hostel lady how great my day was. She messaged the German cyclist in WhatsApp to share my thanks for the tips about visiting Taroko. All in all, it was a pretty big day, with about 90 km cycled.

Later I walked down the street to find something for dinner and came upon this little stall that was serving dumplings. I ordered some vegetarian dumplings, which were so very yum! And for dessert I had the mochi - one red bean paste and one taro. They were both so delicious! I know they’re not healthy but it makes me feel better to have so many desserts with vegetables in them. If you’ve never had mochi before, they’re rice cakes made of glutinous rice that has been pounded and molded into shape. And they usually contain some type of filling; red beans, taro, strawberries, matcha, peanut, coconut, and more. They’re soft and stretchy, and should be eaten with kuaizi because they’re powdery and sticky. Side quest: I can’t get over an article I stumbled across as I was researching how they make mochi, titled Delicious but deadly mochi: the Japanese rice cakes that kill. Apparently mochi is a serious choking hazard.

Fortunately, the mochi did not get me this time. I can end the day feeling full and blissfully grateful for the wondrous adventures I get to have. Taroko Gorge is a must-see, and I dare say this was the best day of my trip so far!