Day 5: Hualien

I met Mom and Simone at Songshan Airport around 9:45am. We checked through to Hualien and then waited at the gate for our flight. We were on TransAsia flight 11 with about 100 other passengers. The plane was mid-sized and no more than half full so there was a lot of room. We were surprised to be served drinks even though the flight was only 30 minutes - unheard of in Canada!

After arriving at Hualien Airport we collected our bags and caught a cab to the hotel. We were a little disappointed initially - the "quaint fishing town" where the hotel was located had a lot of haphazardly-constructed buildings and piles of construction rubbish. The roads also seemed to be designed by engineers who had forgotten to take their ADD medication. But, the hotel was a lovely Mediterranean oasis of white walls and blue trim and tile floors.

We were hungry so we inquired about where we could find something to eat. They recommended a Japanese restaurant attached to a small museum a short walk down the road. It was my first time ordering at a restaurant that didn't have an English menu, but thankfully the menu had pictures. I ordered us three of the set meal, which consisted of spaghetti-like noodles with fish broth and deep-fried fish and shrimp cakes. Each meal came with chilled black tea sweetened with a bit of fructose syrup.

From there we caught a cab to downtown Hualien for a walkabout. We were shocked, once again, by the haphazard building construction. It seemed like an entire city built by DIY newbies. Plus, almost all of the stores were closed because it was mid-afternoon. We seemed to be the only people wandering the streets.

As we strolled down one of the main streets we saw a strange sight - a stainless-steel "train" next to a restaurant. We had stopped to look at it more closely when a man approached us from the back of the alleyway. He turned out to be the owner of the restaurant and he explained that the "train" was a custom-made smoker. He popped the top open to show us the racks of ribs and chicken that were slow-smoking for the evening's dinner. His dog Blue came over to inspect us and we spent quite a few minutes lavishing him with puppy love. We had such a great talk with Benjamin, the owner, that we promised to return that night for dinner.

After another 30 or so minutes of wandering the "abandoned" downtown I started to feel quite sick to my stomache, like I was going to throw up. We decided to catch a cab back to the hotel. When we arrived our room was ready and we happily went up to the 4th floor to settle in and have a wash up. Mom and Simone went out for a walk while I tried to sleep and not lose my lunch.

After 6pm Mom and Simone were feeling hungry again so we caught a cab back into town to the Salt Lick, the BBQ restaurant we'd stumbled upon earlier in the day. It was packed but they managed to find us a table inside. Mom and Simone ordered the pulled pork sandwich and hush puppies. I had a small bowl of chili and some coleslaw. The food was excellent and we had a great time chatting with the owner and learning a bit more about how he found himself living in Taiwan and opening an American BBQ restaurant. It was an interesting story!

Back at the hotel we booked a tour of Taroko Gorge for the following day. It started with an 8am pick-up at the hotel so needless to say we were all in bed early!