The Longest Vacation Ever! Part 7 - On the Road with Rocks and Food
Day 7 - Roadtrip with rocks and mountains
We decided to a do a roadtrip to drive around to different parts of Taiwan. After breakfast, Angie and I took the subway to the the general area of the car rental place. We made it there easily and got our car. We drove it back to the hotel to check out and get Angie's mom.
While we were walking to the rental place, we passed a garden area where this dog that looked like Alfie was just hanging out in the brush! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/9ENnMeR4UTpdzFHu2)
Our first destination was Yeliu Geopark. We had some confusion leaving Taipei and getting on the highway, but after that, we made our way to the geopark relatively easily. Since Taiwan is a volcanic island it has lots of rock formations that are quite alien. This is probably the mix between volcanic rock, earth quakes, and erosion (wind and water). So it was pretty interesting and some of the formations were very different seeming, like you imagine Mars.
The most famous piece is known as the Queen's Head. This piece, named the Cute Princess, apparently fell off the Queen's Head and I think looks nicer than the Queen's Head (we saw that later). (https://photos.app.goo.gl/9LJNrnugUCq6fFCp2)
While we were walking around, there was this small structure that didn't look open. Angie's mom was like "there's no sign saying stay out", so she looked through it quickly. It looked like a storage shed to me, but it was neat how it was part of the ground, like a Hobbit hole or more realistically a bunker. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/mZ8OCEB2cH1Sx0fH3)
It was lightly raining but the rocks were very unique and as stated, very alien! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/xW78aAU4WIuwa4W72)
You can see these rocks are very porous. Before each section, there were descriptions and names of the types of rocks and education about how they formed. It was just too long ago for me to remember =P (https://photos.app.goo.gl/lzEzdJcIrn7DpOGn2)
Super alien like! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/F29pmVjvxYLwsgBG3)
These were some sort of ginger rocks because Chinese/Taiwanese people love food. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/4APIZwLH9GOaljsH3)
This was a monument for some guy who tried to rescue a drowning school child. They both died, but he is memorialized for his heroism. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/JOFFFqwU2y71DKvi2)
Tropical plants; if you look closely, you can see little green fruits. They're custard apples, which we bought at a local store and later ate (not these obv). (https://photos.app.goo.gl/Zsyir6rFiaYqiTEz2)
They claim there are old fossils that are just in the sand. If that's accurate, this may be one? (https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Njtud08QQhmvSSY2)
This is the Queen's Head from an off angle. You can see the people in the background because there was a huge line to take a picture next to it. (Taiwan loves lines.) Due to storms and erosion, pieces have fallen off the Queen's Head (like the Cute Princess) so it doesn't look as awesome as it used to. This link has some stock photos from Google. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/JStBB1GSsxQafphL2)
This looked like a tortoise shell or a pineapple bun. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Ddv829GKqKAo6yM2)
Another (better looking?) fossil? (https://photos.app.goo.gl/PVrq7X3OawCqFhNx1)
This is either the Faerie Slipper or the Giant's Slipper, but either way, it's very slipper-like! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/l43xN69baZUloX6Z2)
Zoomed out so you can see the ocean and other rocks. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/KCgs7AswwzeWBZbx2)
After walking by the beach for a while, we went on some hiking paths into the forest/jungle. We walked around for a while until it seemed like there wasn't much else to see before heading to the adjacent shopping area.
This was either the chessboard or the tofu squares. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/8b5WsolUODuwTtp33)
Zoomed up (https://photos.app.goo.gl/KgNEUnrMLAtJ4nl23)
There was this inlet that water would splash through sometimes. Angie tried to get a nice splashy picture but it didn't happen. Of course, as soon as she started to walk away, a nice big wave came in. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/mhJy7gwfSwkJMyvG2)
Lion Head rock, which apparently was moved to preserve it from erosion from the sea. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/99rNq32EkocBnE5p1)
So they had this adjoining market which was a ton of stalls selling various things. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/jzD0SdsZR3iHJZm02)
We bought some snacks for the roadtrip like dried squid, fried shrimp puffs, custard apples, possibly other stuff. Angie and I have never had a custard apple, which her mom said she used to like. So we tried that. It was kind of like a mix between a pomegranate and a fleshier fruit. It was very slimy and had lots of seeds, which was the biggest negative. It was okay though. We also bought some ginger tea since I was thinking of getting some after having it a while ago.
Now, we were planning to stop off in a seaside town (Toucheng) since Angie's mom saw something on TV about how it's famous for seafood and such. So we figured we'd stop by for dinner since it was somewhat on our course. But like Angie's mom is known to do, she wanted to eat at this market, which was fine. So we were going to just get some fried oyster in a little restaurant, but Angie's mom "felt bad" to just order one thing, so she wanted to get three or four dishes. Remember, this was a "snack" since we were planning to drive about another hour then eat dinner at Toucheng. So Angie and her mom argued about this which sounded like it got to the point where Angie was like "we can eat here or we can eat in Toucheng, but not both". So we left the restaurant without getting anything except a little conflict and anger between the two of them. But as I found, they just ignore it and after a little, they're okay again.
Anyway, we drove to Toucheng and walked around a bit. It was raining, so we kind of just picked a random restaurant (unless Angie/her mom selected it based on something). The restaurant turned out to be pretty good. It was like a fish market where they'd display their fresh seafood and vegetables and you basically just chose what you wanted and they cooked it for you. Angie's mom ordered a bit much (and they were huge portions) but we finished everything since we were so hungry!
The ordering area where you can see tanks for live seafood. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/86UB0MI6jPJgNv7r1)
So this is the food: (clockwise) clam soup, vegetables A, fish, squid, stir-fried shrimp, vegetables B, and fried oysters (center). (https://photos.app.goo.gl/YHBjYUaFZTDpVVp12)
Finished by the three of us; I also had rice since I need rice with most Asian meals. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/7bOyV6T0YF4bfOlb2)
So after dinner, we made our way to the homestay that we had booked. A homestay is basically their term for a B&B and we stayed in a few on the trip. But the path was through a very twisty mountain road. So at night, in the rain, in an unfamiliar car (fairly weak), and twisty road, I drove scared to death! It was super stressful especially since you'll be driving and then a big rock face would appear or the lane would have a sharp turn. In retrospect, it wasn't THAT bad and later in the trip, there were even more treacherous roads. But this was the first super windy and dark one so I was so stressed out. I'm normally a fairly aggressive driver, but on these roads, I even slowed down to let people pass me since I knew I was driving slower than people would have liked. But eventually (later in the trip), I enjoyed the mountain drives.
The homestay was outside of Taroko National Park which is a drive-through scenic park and our next destination. But when we arrived, there was no real front desk or office. There was a dining area, but it was unlit. So Angie went searching around for somebody. Eventually she found someone and we checked in. The owner apparently was Native Taiwanese (pre-Chinese migration so indigeous people) and explained that he named all the rooms using words in their native language. It was a very nice place but more on that when we get to tomorrow.
We decided to a do a roadtrip to drive around to different parts of Taiwan. After breakfast, Angie and I took the subway to the the general area of the car rental place. We made it there easily and got our car. We drove it back to the hotel to check out and get Angie's mom.
While we were walking to the rental place, we passed a garden area where this dog that looked like Alfie was just hanging out in the brush! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/9ENnMeR4UTpdzFHu2)
Our first destination was Yeliu Geopark. We had some confusion leaving Taipei and getting on the highway, but after that, we made our way to the geopark relatively easily. Since Taiwan is a volcanic island it has lots of rock formations that are quite alien. This is probably the mix between volcanic rock, earth quakes, and erosion (wind and water). So it was pretty interesting and some of the formations were very different seeming, like you imagine Mars.
The most famous piece is known as the Queen's Head. This piece, named the Cute Princess, apparently fell off the Queen's Head and I think looks nicer than the Queen's Head (we saw that later). (https://photos.app.goo.gl/9LJNrnugUCq6fFCp2)
While we were walking around, there was this small structure that didn't look open. Angie's mom was like "there's no sign saying stay out", so she looked through it quickly. It looked like a storage shed to me, but it was neat how it was part of the ground, like a Hobbit hole or more realistically a bunker. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/mZ8OCEB2cH1Sx0fH3)
It was lightly raining but the rocks were very unique and as stated, very alien! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/xW78aAU4WIuwa4W72)
You can see these rocks are very porous. Before each section, there were descriptions and names of the types of rocks and education about how they formed. It was just too long ago for me to remember =P (https://photos.app.goo.gl/lzEzdJcIrn7DpOGn2)
Super alien like! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/F29pmVjvxYLwsgBG3)
These were some sort of ginger rocks because Chinese/Taiwanese people love food. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/4APIZwLH9GOaljsH3)
This was a monument for some guy who tried to rescue a drowning school child. They both died, but he is memorialized for his heroism. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/JOFFFqwU2y71DKvi2)
Tropical plants; if you look closely, you can see little green fruits. They're custard apples, which we bought at a local store and later ate (not these obv). (https://photos.app.goo.gl/Zsyir6rFiaYqiTEz2)
They claim there are old fossils that are just in the sand. If that's accurate, this may be one? (https://photos.app.goo.gl/1Njtud08QQhmvSSY2)
This is the Queen's Head from an off angle. You can see the people in the background because there was a huge line to take a picture next to it. (Taiwan loves lines.) Due to storms and erosion, pieces have fallen off the Queen's Head (like the Cute Princess) so it doesn't look as awesome as it used to. This link has some stock photos from Google. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/JStBB1GSsxQafphL2)
This looked like a tortoise shell or a pineapple bun. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Ddv829GKqKAo6yM2)
Another (better looking?) fossil? (https://photos.app.goo.gl/PVrq7X3OawCqFhNx1)
This is either the Faerie Slipper or the Giant's Slipper, but either way, it's very slipper-like! (https://photos.app.goo.gl/l43xN69baZUloX6Z2)
Zoomed out so you can see the ocean and other rocks. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/KCgs7AswwzeWBZbx2)
After walking by the beach for a while, we went on some hiking paths into the forest/jungle. We walked around for a while until it seemed like there wasn't much else to see before heading to the adjacent shopping area.
This was either the chessboard or the tofu squares. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/8b5WsolUODuwTtp33)
Zoomed up (https://photos.app.goo.gl/KgNEUnrMLAtJ4nl23)
There was this inlet that water would splash through sometimes. Angie tried to get a nice splashy picture but it didn't happen. Of course, as soon as she started to walk away, a nice big wave came in. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/mhJy7gwfSwkJMyvG2)
Lion Head rock, which apparently was moved to preserve it from erosion from the sea. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/99rNq32EkocBnE5p1)
So they had this adjoining market which was a ton of stalls selling various things. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/jzD0SdsZR3iHJZm02)
We bought some snacks for the roadtrip like dried squid, fried shrimp puffs, custard apples, possibly other stuff. Angie and I have never had a custard apple, which her mom said she used to like. So we tried that. It was kind of like a mix between a pomegranate and a fleshier fruit. It was very slimy and had lots of seeds, which was the biggest negative. It was okay though. We also bought some ginger tea since I was thinking of getting some after having it a while ago.
Now, we were planning to stop off in a seaside town (Toucheng) since Angie's mom saw something on TV about how it's famous for seafood and such. So we figured we'd stop by for dinner since it was somewhat on our course. But like Angie's mom is known to do, she wanted to eat at this market, which was fine. So we were going to just get some fried oyster in a little restaurant, but Angie's mom "felt bad" to just order one thing, so she wanted to get three or four dishes. Remember, this was a "snack" since we were planning to drive about another hour then eat dinner at Toucheng. So Angie and her mom argued about this which sounded like it got to the point where Angie was like "we can eat here or we can eat in Toucheng, but not both". So we left the restaurant without getting anything except a little conflict and anger between the two of them. But as I found, they just ignore it and after a little, they're okay again.
Anyway, we drove to Toucheng and walked around a bit. It was raining, so we kind of just picked a random restaurant (unless Angie/her mom selected it based on something). The restaurant turned out to be pretty good. It was like a fish market where they'd display their fresh seafood and vegetables and you basically just chose what you wanted and they cooked it for you. Angie's mom ordered a bit much (and they were huge portions) but we finished everything since we were so hungry!
The ordering area where you can see tanks for live seafood. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/86UB0MI6jPJgNv7r1)
So this is the food: (clockwise) clam soup, vegetables A, fish, squid, stir-fried shrimp, vegetables B, and fried oysters (center). (https://photos.app.goo.gl/YHBjYUaFZTDpVVp12)
Finished by the three of us; I also had rice since I need rice with most Asian meals. (https://photos.app.goo.gl/7bOyV6T0YF4bfOlb2)
So after dinner, we made our way to the homestay that we had booked. A homestay is basically their term for a B&B and we stayed in a few on the trip. But the path was through a very twisty mountain road. So at night, in the rain, in an unfamiliar car (fairly weak), and twisty road, I drove scared to death! It was super stressful especially since you'll be driving and then a big rock face would appear or the lane would have a sharp turn. In retrospect, it wasn't THAT bad and later in the trip, there were even more treacherous roads. But this was the first super windy and dark one so I was so stressed out. I'm normally a fairly aggressive driver, but on these roads, I even slowed down to let people pass me since I knew I was driving slower than people would have liked. But eventually (later in the trip), I enjoyed the mountain drives.
The homestay was outside of Taroko National Park which is a drive-through scenic park and our next destination. But when we arrived, there was no real front desk or office. There was a dining area, but it was unlit. So Angie went searching around for somebody. Eventually she found someone and we checked in. The owner apparently was Native Taiwanese (pre-Chinese migration so indigeous people) and explained that he named all the rooms using words in their native language. It was a very nice place but more on that when we get to tomorrow.