All posts tagged: Taroko National Park

Taiwan: Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園 Lodging/Hotel – Silks Place 太鲁阁晶英酒店 (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

Silks Place 太鲁阁晶英酒店 in Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園 was the most amazing stay experience. Even our local guide said it had the best hotel in the area, and it was not difficult to see why.  Our “Honeymoon Package Studio Room” package for 1 night included: ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ ‧ The Complimentary Service at The Retreat Lounge The Silks Place Breakfast The Afternoon Tea  (PM 15:00 ~ 18:00) The evening Red wine white wine (PM 17:00 ~ PM18:00) The Indoor Parking The Indoor and Outdoor Swimming Pool The Tennis, The Kid’s Club-Playground The Yoga & The Fitness Room The Wireless Internet at Retreat Lounge The Round Trip from Airport or Train Station The Half Day Tour The Daily Fresh Fruits The Daily Newspaper The Mini Bar The Evening Turndown Service Silks Place was built to truly wow and relax. While the hotel looks simple from outside, but beautiful, grand reception. After we reach the reception, we are first brought to the Retreat Room for snacks and drinks (free flow red and white wine!) …

Taiwan: Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園 Lodging/Hotel – Leader Village 立德布洛灣山月村 (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

We tried 2 different hotels within Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園. The first night was spent at Leader Village 立德布洛灣山月村. From the stay, I learnt that there are mainly 2 types of tribes – 1 in the mountains and 1 on flat lands/sea (like Amei tribe), and Bruwan (布洛灣), meaning “echo,” used to be a tribal village of the Taroko mountain tribe aborigines. The rooms were fairly basic, reflective of its tribal village roots and did not have heating. However, thankfully, they had a heating pad on bed so we didn’t freeze in the wintry mountains. Leader Village 立德布洛灣山月村 gives a good flavour of traditional tribal village experience, with nightly cultural dance shows. Also, one wakes to an amazing mountaineous view with Taroko National Park. Tip: to eat breakfast, you have to greet the staff with “Maluku”, which means good morning in their tribal language! Full sets of posts that might be useful for your Taipei planning: Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) Shopping and Rao He Night Market (饒河街觀光夜市) Xi Men Ding (西門町) Shi Lin Night Market (士林夜市) Taipei 101, Christmas Illuminations, 大佳河濱公園 …

Taiwan: Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園 Taroko Gorge (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

While Mr Lu does the cross Taiwan mountain tours, his friend, Mr Li does 1 day tours within Taroko National Park which we decided to engage after the good experience with Mr Lu.  Mr Li, a 65-year-old retiree, is a photography enthusiast and will tell you the best angles/light to get the best scenic shots in the National Park. If I had to rank the attractions within Taroko National Park, this would be the must-see order in case you had limited time within the park. 1) My favourite has to be the Swallow Grotto Trail. When we were planning the trip, I had problem locating THE “Taroko Gorge” because I thought it could only be viewed from 1 location. Only after I experienced the whole park, I realized the gorge runs through the whole National Park. Having said that, I think the view of the Taroko Gorge from the Swallow Grotto Trail is the most majestic. The mountain slopes plunge sharply into a V at the gorge, which has clear blue waters flowing through. The limestone …

Taiwan: Alishan 阿里山, Sun Moon Lake 日月潭 , Cing Jing 清境, Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園 (Taiwan Travel Review Series)

After 2 good days at 53.1 Min Su in Alishan, it was time to do the long 8 hour route to Taroko National Park. If you ever want to take this route, we highly recommend our driver, Mr Lu (Contact number:  +886928569081), who is a robust, healthy 68-year-old grandfather retiree. He is enthusiastic and friendly, suggests locations for us to take photos, suggests and helps us take “jumping” shots, feeds us fruits and slows down because I am car sick and tells me his life stories to distract me from my motion sickness. He is also very knowledgable about Taiwan’s history, economy and details of the various tourist sites so he made the entire day tour much more educational. First up, after leaving Alishan at 830am, 2 hours later, we stopped by the Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) to take the obligatory shot with the “Sun Moon Lake” Stone Carving.  The lake view against the mountains and clouds is beautiful but I felt the entire Sun Moon Lake area has become quite commercial and touristy, with a lot …