Outdoor Moment

This is the day we got plenty of outdoor time, starting with an outdoor yoga session near to the hotel overlooking the stunning river gorges inside the Taroko National Park. Well, body flexibility is probably my biggest nemesis, but it’s good to be round and about with a deep breath of fresh air in the area surrounded by gorgeous scenery and plenty of trees.

Before the yoga session, we had breakfast at The Retreat Lounge with a sumptuous set of combining traditional Taiwanese style and western, including savory soy milk with youtiao, omelette, congee and bread with pork floss. The hotel chain’s collaboration with vegetarian restaurant group Little Tree Food means there’s always interesting vegetable and fruit dishes featured as one of the breakfast options. 

And soon as we packed up after the yoga session, we had an early lunch at Mei Yuan Restaurant downstairs, this time with the simple lunch set. I especially like my the one with roast chicken and the whole grilled fish as main dish and steamed rice wrapped in lotus leaf on the side, based on the indigenous recipe. Plus the freshly made Hualien crepes, a specialty food in the area - what a lovely treat. 

We went on to do a little hiking before we left Taroko and Hualien for our next destination. Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑步道) is an easy 4km paved trail with little elevation - it's built along (and sometimes under) the river cliff down in the valley so one could enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way with river running parallel. Normally one would need around 2 hours to finish the trail front and back, but given we need to take off to our next step in about an hour, we managed about half way. Slightly past the Wujianwu 五間屋 checkpoint (about 1.8km in) is a popular spot for photo-taking and we managed to take a few snaps before speed-walking our way back to catch the train, barely. 

Before I came I have never heard of the Taroko and the hotel, to be honest, but after this time, I am already plotting the trip back, probably to stay slightly longer for a proper escape from the city and to enjoy more of what nature has to offer. 

There are more photos in my Flickr photo album:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/albums/72177720312261205/

Silks Place Taroko 太魯閣晶英酒店: https://taroko.silksplace.com/en/