Adventures in Hualien.

That's right. Hua Lien, my friends. It's a place located on the east coast of Taiwan where the people are fewer and the landscape is much prettier.


Matt Lui, Bryan, Greg, and I explored the surrounding areas for two days and here are pictures to prove it:

Upon arriving in Hualien at 9:30 in the morning, we entered the famous Taroko Gorge where we spent the good part of our first day. There, we encountered various caves and tunnels - most of which began with a stern warning that we might be crushed by falling rocks (or something like that).

A monkey posed for us photographers.

Most of the tunnels are long and dark. This one isn't.

Here is what I call "A CD Cover."

Here it is again, with a different lead singer:

Here it is A Capella:

In particular, there was a trail that led to an interesting tunnel. The cave of the water curtain. Here we are in front of the entrance:

Here are pictures of it:

It was a grueling hike up to the cave - full of poisonous wild mushrooms ready to disturb our healths.

A twisty cave formation


To top off our first day, we stood at impossible angles:



The dreary weather was nearly gone by the time Tuesday rolled around. We started noticing these signs when we stopped at rest stops and tourist attractions:

Instead of going to the beach, (the particular one we wanted to see was closed and off limits in the winter time) we climbed a hill and got some great views:


Some rocky place along the coast:





This picture wins the "a good random picture" award.

Rice.


The trip was definitely a nice escape from the dreary Taipei weather and pollution. As these are our last few days of winter vacation, please pray for me and Matt to be prepared to work hard as teachers and for eternity to be super clear to all of us as we interact with those whom God has placed around us.