As you all dig out from the snow storm we flew out of Kaohsiung to beautiful Hualien, Taiwan and took a taxi up into the mountains to Taroko Gorge. We're staying at the lovely Silk Place, a little resort-style hotel nestled in the valley between two rivers halfway up the gorge. It's beautiful.

We went on a hike up to a nearby temple across the river from the hotel.

Since this is a regular weekday in the off-season there were no crowds, although we did see quite a few tour buses on the road up into the gorge. I guess those folks just do a drive-by visit and don't do much walking.

Up at the temple we came across a woman offering up tofu, for a small donation.

It was delicious! We also saw a lot of gorgeous flowers, including poinsettias.

Back at the hotel, we found the rooftop pool and hot tubs. We'll be spending more time up there.

Enjoy your turkey and stuffing today!