Travelling Around the Island

Recently I returned home to Taipei from a trip of a lifetime. My husband and I got to take my parents on a loop around Taiwan and see some of the incredible scenery here. Taiwan is an island of which about 70% is mountainous. So while there are some plains, they are largely limited to the Western side of the island and are filled with large cities and farms. As Taiwan is an island about the size of Lake Michigan, the ocean is never terribly far away. In practice this results in the people consuming probably more seafood than land animals in their diet.

Because of the presence of mountains and ocean there are always beautiful sights within easy access. The mountains are full of tropical plants and flowering trees this time of year, including the famous Sakura Japanese cherry blossoms. Since the Japanese colonized Taiwan for 50 years, there are places they lived and planted this beloved tree.

Probably one of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing Taroko Gorge. I have wanted to visit Taroko Gorge since before I ever came to Taiwan. Taroko Gorge is basically an enormous crevice in the mountains with the rock foundation of the mountains carved out and exposed to view. There is a river flowing through at the bottom and it has a blue hue to it, unlike the brown rivers we're accustomed to in Wisconsin. I believe the color is caused by the presence of algae or minerals in the water. Sometime when I'm able to access the photos from my laptop I might share some of them with you.

We also got to see surfers out on the ocean, drink coffee grown in Taiwan (which is not exported because the quantity is only enough to consume locally), see how salt was gathered from ocean water in ancient times, eat Aboriginal food, and much more. But the truth is, we only touched the tip of the ice berg.