Its amazing what a bit of rain will do… that waterfall was thunderous over the xmas period… quite frightening around sunset. The wooden decking nearby doesnt inspire confidence.
I too am in 2 minds about the remodelled hot springs. Although no longer ‘natural’ they are still pretty darn good. Apparently if you are brave enough to negotiate the river (and the subsequent walk back) there is another very natural hopt spring downstream from the main one. A local aboriginal family took myself and my wife there last xmas. Was lovely…
Will have to give the treatments are whirl next time I am there.
I went from Tuesday to Thursday last week. The summer rush had already begun – there were lots of families with school-age children and many groups of students pouring into the area. The hotel was full, and there was a lot of traffic on the road (increasing visibly from day to day). It will certainly be very crowded for the rest of the summer holidays, through to the end of August.
Can anybody tell me (preferably quickly) where/how to buyt he train/bus/hotel packages? My sister and her bf want to go. Also what’s the trip like if you don’t speak any Chinese? Anything i need to write for them?
[quote=“Sir Donald Bradman”]Can anybody tell me (preferably quickly) where/how to buyt he train/bus/hotel packages? My sister and her bf want to go. Also what’s the trip like if you don’t speak any Chinese? Anything I need to write for them?
Brian[/quote]
Sir Don,
My gf did it all through some on-line booking agency called something like EZfly (I can’t quite remember how they write their name). They’re well established and very good – we’ve booked several trips through them, and they’ve all been excellent with absolutely no problems at all.
I don’t think the lack of Chinese should matter. Catching the train is no problem, and the hotel will send a mini-bus to collect the guests at Hualien train station. The driver of the mini-bus came looking for us, and I’m sure he’d have no problem picking out a pair of foreigners among the scattering of people at that small station. And I’m sure that, given its five stars, the hotel must have sufficient English-speaking staff to attend to all the needs of guests who do not speak Chinese.
I hope your sister and her bf have a great holiday.
My wife uses EZTravel to book the train, mini-bus, and hotel package. You cannot get the package through the train station… you must book through the agency. They are located near the Minchuan E. Rd. and Fuxing N. Rd. intersection (on Minchuan). Here’s their site:
It is indeed a very nice place to stay and is located in a very convenient area, you can walk to some of the treks from the hotel. We enjoyed our stay.
Unless you want to eat rich I suggest you don’t eat at the hotel’s restaurant, walk through the parking lot over to some vendors. The hotel’s restaurant is very expensive and the food is so so. However, I would also advise to be careful what you eat outside the hotel, my friend and I ended up getting a mild case of food poisioning.
Also for those of you with slightly older kids or those of you who will be sharing a room with someone, watch out for the shower. There is a big window next to the bathtub and you can see everything and everyone can watch you. There is a curtain you can pull over the window, but… well… anyway if you stay there you will see what I mean. If it makes you uncomfortable you can always go use the saunas and shower there.
On a positive note, if you have younger kids you don’t trust, this shower window provides an excellent way for you to keep an eye on them while you take a shower.
Thanks for your replies (guanxi to you all), but my sisters a bit of a wuss, so she’s decided that it seems like to much trouble and too expensive,s o they’re going to hang around Taipei instead. She seems to prefer stuff liekt he Shilin nightmarket anyway. I might go up to Hualian myself in a little while anyway.
You’re kidding? Too much trouble?! Taroko is one of the best places to visit in Taiwan! If I hadn’t been there I would feel very disappointed… Drag her by the ears!
