Hualien, Taiwan...with the help of a local
When we found out G-Money wouldn't be able to come with us to Taroko Gorge in Taiwan, I decided to follow up on a contact. My friend Christy remembered a couch surfing host who takes people into the national park, and so I asked for his name and sent him a message to see if he would want to meet up with us. He said yes, so at 9:30am, we stood waiting at the park entrance for a stranger to walk up and greet us with a huge smile. Dylan had arrived. We got into Dylan's blissfully cool, air conditioned car, and he took us to our first stop: the Shakadang Trail. For about an hour, we walked at a brisk pace along a smooth, flat path with a rock outcrop cut out above our heads from the rock. It was our first excursion into the gorge, and it was magnificent. The trail ended at the river, and while Dylan let us go ahead and explore, he was busy buying us a small gift. When we returned to the path, he presented each of us with a hand-woven aboriginal bracelet. As he tied it