Hualien, Taiwan

Monday, March 11, 2019               Hualien, Taiwan

                                                      A foggy, smoggy, rainy day in the neighborhood! 

                             These local Taiwanese braved the rain to greet us as we left the ship today!

Larry and I boarded the shuttle bus and headed into the town of Hualien, a fifteen minute ride. 

We headed for the covered shopping area….because it was raining….nothing like a little retail therapy to make the rainy day more exciting. 

We changed countries again today so the money changed as well. $1USD was equal to 31 TWD (Taiwan Dollars) 

Everything from fish, to kitchen wears,  packaged food, clothing, shoes, fresh fruit and vegetables, and handbags were out for perusing.

     Motor bikes and scooter flashed by the pedestrians in this market. It was sort of dangerous.

 We had to be on the lookout constantly for them as they whizzed by. Our big splurge…a couple of goodies for the girls.  Larry so enjoyed haggling for them. 

The streets signs were colorful and unusual  down a side street.

We found an interesting sushi restaurant that had  a conveyer belt with traveling dishes on a conveyer belt….one of Larry’s favorite treats…sushi. The revolving  path displayed all kinds of temptations that would pass by us as we sat at the bar like counter….the items snaked around the bar….all you had to do was pick it off  as it passed you. 

Sushi chefs worked in the center and kept replenishing the dishes with new items. The place was packed. 

It was a very popular spot for lunch! It was quite entertaining to watch it all fall into place for the chefs and the patrons.

We really had planned to go to the Taroko National Park, one of nine national parks in Taiwan. We read about its wonderful gorge that was carved by the rushing water of the Liwu River. It has many waterfalls, a suspension foot bridge, and a shrine.

Photos from a travel book outside the city.....

Since this was really an outdoor kind of activity and today’s weather was not suited for being outdoors, we were just satisfied to walk a few covered streets of the city. Keeping a positive attitude… we thought perhaps we’ll have the opportunity to come back some day soon.