花莲 -- 江山多娇，人多情。Hua-lien

优美的名字，形容峻丽的山水。说山水，其实今朝去的“太鲁阁”山多过水。不过是很美的山 -- 山在虚无缥缈中。

花莲人的心情异常良好，从下车到上车，感觉到这里居民心态平静坦然。昨天与女友两人在台北车站的地下商场走马观花了许久，夜里乘火车达花莲市。旅游服务中心的大姐语言很酷，不啰嗦，但态度很是好，给了各方各面的指点，并亲自打电话帮我们找到车站附近又便宜又舒适的住宿。

谢过这位热心人，我们用一杯茶的时间到了旅店的房间。麻雀虽小，五脏俱全，房间简单，但清洁，透风。我们问柜台老伯要了个蚊香，放下行李。便往花莲市的另一方，南滨公园里的夜市走去。

一路走一路吃和逛，过了一个多小时才到那南滨公园。其实那夜市比起在台北和台南见识过的小许多。我二人可是见过大世面的，在此逗留不久。那步行后半段其实了无人烟，除了卖水果和槟榔的，就少数街头饭店外加 KTV 而已。

不过那路途的花莲市主干路中山路亦是热闹。我们吃了当地有名的“扁食”，即上海的“大馄饨”，和“肉糟饭”，与鲁肉饭相似的小吃。味道还可以，那扁食做的够嫩够结实，皮也不烂，但那汤不够上海的馄饨鲜美，原因没放虾米，榨菜，紫菜，和蛋皮。肉糟饭不如鲁肉饭 -- 那花莲是以风景为名。吃，不如他处。

但是！花莲的麻署非常好吃！女友说比香港的糯米糍好吃。皮入口即化，馅清香而不太甜，多吃不腻。我也觉得比起上海吃过的类似东东略胜一筹。其实，次日我们在太鲁阁的“天祥”景点又发现了麻署名店《曾记麻署》，很是欢喜，吃了许多个。我喜欢芝麻口味，她则钟情紫米味。

这里特地说明：此推荐非同小可，可是我那吃尽天下甜品无敌手的女友 Rosanne 所喜爱之物。再又她承认香港本土对手的糯米糍甘拜下风。敬请朋友们来台湾观光时勿忘验试一下花莲出产的麻署。

Of course, after this we went to a cybercafe (yes, again) and I caught up on my blog and watched more Starcraft games. Darn, because of GTV I'm always behind my writing.

Next day was a rainy one. We took a 9:30 bus to Tianxiang (天祥), which is an important waypoint in Taroko National Park, where there are restaurants, a fancy resort, some shops, post office, and youth hostel. It took just over an hour. After grabbing lunch it was still pouring, so we decided to abandon the original plan suggested by tourist information centre to follow the bus route down the mountain (supposedly we could have done this and hitch hiked any returning bus back to town). It was the right decision as that suggested route was rather trecherous, not to mention very very long.

Tianxiang was not just a way point. It beholds an incredible view of the mountains, creaks, clouds, along with a tower and a buddist temple. After trekking to and fro the temple, where I briefly prayed for safe and fruitful adventures in the coming years, we decided to take a more venturous route called 白杨步道. To test faith, it takes a brisk walk up along a road to get to the start of this trail.

We got there in no time, only to find a "No Entry" sign due to recent prevalent landslides. This didn't stop us. We began the walk in a dark, wet tunnel, where I used my Sony Erisson K750i's flashlight to guide the way. The other end of the tunnel was a close up view of the creek, the rocks, and those making a livelihood here. And that is the reason why we stopped our hike on 白杨步道 a few minutes after passing the 100m dark tunnel -- a sign reads "Beware of Poisonous Bees". Looking up does reveal some behives high up in the trees...

Hmm... I wonder if there was any reward for anyone who venture beyond this point. I'm no hiking expert, but does this park expect visitors to wear "bee-friendly" equipment? Oh well, at least we got to walk that dark tunnel twice...

It was still raining. We were content enough with the good air and excellent view, and decided to head back -- head back to Taipei. On the way back to Hualien we took a closer look at the incredible landscape for which we weren't able to stop and admire. Taroko is definitely worth another visit, in a better ride than Hualien county bus.