Taroko Gorge, Hualien and Pingling

Trying to keep up with everything we have been doing! I have to give it up to the students I am with, they are going around full force and resting very little from what I can tell! :)

Let me back track, for six weeks this summer I will be in Taiwan. For the first 2 weeks I will be with a undergraduate study abroad program mostly seeing how a group study abroad works. Following those two weeks I will move to another campus of University and learn about their student affairs.

Back to this trip, since their study abroad program is only two weeks our schedule is very condensed. As you can see in two days we visited three different places that are not too close together.

Taroko Gorge ( it is not pronounced like you think it is...I can assure you of that!) is a top tourist destination and after being there I can see why! It is absolutely gorgeous, I have not seen water more blue and beautiful. I really just wanted to swim, but that was not allowed.
Although the guide book said that this area is home to half of Taiwan's animal species, I only saw a wild rooster and heard a cicada. There was a trail we could follow and lead us pass some Aboriginal Houses. The trail we followed was the Shakadang Trail which follows the Shakadang River which is tinted by the limestone, which is the reason why it is so blue among other things.
-> This is a wild vegetable that grows in this part of Taiwan. I had the opportunity to eat it during lunch before going walking the trail. I really love the vegetable dishes I have tried here in Taiwan, in many cases more so then the meat ones. Of course if you know me, this is no surprise!

After this trail we went to Hualien, it is a city between the pacific and the mountains, tell me what else could you ask for! It was much calmer than Taipei. But this is where I ate my first Taiwanese breakfast. I am taking it slow making sure that my body agrees with everything and my mind is ready to try it!

In Hualien we ate in a restaurant where you cooked your own food- like the melting pot. We were given bowls that fit into the table and sat on hot plate. Then we chose seafood, beef or chicken. I started off asking for seafood then when I realized lots of things I am not used to eating would be on there I changed to chicken. I know I should have stuck with my decision, but I already feel like I eat very little as it is! Not because I don't want to eat more but because we eat little things all day long.

WOW this is a long entry! After that we spent the night at the Hotel- which was a wonderful place. As expected the staff was kind and helpful. The next day we ate lunch at "Pasta Smile" an Italian Restaurant. The food was good, I liked the soup and salad. The salad was something like mashed potatoes with corn and a sweet sauce on top of a few leaves of lettuce. I do not have picture because my camera ran out of battery! I know, this is awful!!!!

One thing I have learned: Not to expect anything when I try something new. I say that because the flavors here are not what you expect them to be, although many times they are good. It is just not what you expected which confuses your mind and may lead me to believe that I do not actually like the food. For those of you know are very confused about this, just come to Taiwan and try somethings...then I think you will understand! :)

Lastly I will talk about Pingling. We did not actually get to walk around the town, we only stopped at the Tea Museum. My favorite part was when we rode our bikes by the tea leaves plantation. It was a beautiful place, I had hoped it would rain since it is so humid here and I was sweating like crazy!!!

That's all for now!!!!