Taiwan 2009: Taroko National Park

by Mark V

September 30, 2009 · 6:24 AM

We were in Taroko National Park, descending from the marble-walled gorge to the Pacific Ocean, when we pulled off to visit the Eternal Spring Shrine, built to commemorate the workers who died building the Central Cross-Island Highway. Unfortunately, recent fallen rock (probably due to typhoon swelled rainfall) closed the access to the shrine. We weren’t the only ones disappointed, as there were several tour buses of Taiwanese school children who were also denied entrance. Well, they might have just been there for the restroom access before the walkway to the shrine. The kids freaked out when they saw us crazy Westerners on bikes. After a lot of hand gestures, I coaxed them into posing with my Davidson BMX bike. Toroko descent.jpg