Happier Abroad Forum Community

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hualien_County

Hualien County is located on the "east bank" of Taiwan. The vast majority of Taiwan's population is concentrated in the West Bank, and the Eastern side is mostly mountains and sparsely populated. There are more than 200 mountain peaks in TW that are higher than 3,000 meters.


Taroko National Park (太魯閣國家公園):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taroko_National_Park
http://www.taroko.gov.tw/
http://www.traveltaiwan.com/e/g1.htm <--- photos




As you can see, this national park has a lot of trails that are next to cliffs. Try not to lean out too far on the rails.


Yushan National Park (玉山國家公園)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yushan_National_Park
http://wikitravel.org/en/Yushan





Please note, Yushan is the highest mountain in TW, and its trails are physically challenging. Not recommended if you have heart condition.

If you're not into climbing mountain trails, there's a water park for you!

花蓮遠雄海洋公園 (Hualin "Far Glory" Ocean Park)
http://www.farglory-oceanpark.com.tw/index.php?site=1

So where to stay in Hualin? Wonder Lust Hotel!

花蓮境外漂流民宿
http://www.wanderlust.com.tw/
http://www.wanderlust.com.tw/movie.htm

























(Hotel manager on duty)

鯉魚潭 (Carp Lake)

Did you take some of those casual photos in the hotel?

Every hotel in Taiwan seems to cost at least 2500 NT, nearly 100 dollars. How do you find hotels that aren't so expensive?

I can't believe you can get a nice meal for only 100NT but a hotel room costs so much.

Winston wrote:Did you take some of those casual photos in the hotel?
Every hotel in Taiwan seems to cost at least 2500 NT, nearly 100 dollars. How do you find hotels that aren't so expensive?
I can't believe you can get a nice meal for only 100NT but a hotel room costs so much.

At today's exchange rate, NT 1000 = #31.59 USD. Do a search with keyword 民宿 and look up rooms and prices here:
http://www.minsu.com.tw/
http://emmm.tw/

Usually, Mon-Thursday or Sun-Thursday nights are cheaper. i.e. this 2-person room is NT 1000 during weekdays and NT 1200 on weekens:
http://www.minsu.com.tw/MinsuHome/Minsu ... aspx?ID=77

But that room sucks. If you're willing to pay more, you can stay in places like this with view for NT 1700 (weekdays):
http://85emmanuel.gogoblog.tw/room.php? ... info&id=89
http://85emmanuel.gogoblog.tw/room.php? ... nfo&id=121
http://85emmanuel.gogoblog.tw/room.php? ... info&id=95

NT 1400:
http://85emmanuel.gogoblog.tw/room.php? ... info&id=97

NT 1600:
http://www.sky-moon.com.tw/roomb1.html


Shop around, you can find places with good prices.

The most expensive hotel I stayed at in TW was Hotel One in Taichung (http://taichung.hotelone.com.tw/), I stayed there because I dated a girl who used to work there. Thankfully she got me a discount (her manager & coworkers wanted to grill me).