Day 2: Taroko National Park - Swallow Grotto Trail/ Yanzikou

19 April 2018 (Thursday)

My original plan was to take the 12:00 noon shuttle bus from Hualien bus station to Shakadang Trail, reaching there at 12:41 p.m. I would have about one hour, 20 minutes to walk to 5D Cabin and return and at 2:01 p.m., to take the bus to Swallow Grotto Trail and reaching there at 2:23 p.m. From there, I would walk to the trail end in ½ hour and wait for the return bus to Hualien at the trail end which would pick up passengers at 3:12 p.m. By 4:10 p.m, I would be back at Hualien Bus Station before taking a taxi to Phoenix Hostel.

The plan was made on the premise that my train from Taipei would reach Hualien in two hours, taking the Puyuma or Taroko type trains. It was not to be. Instead, it was the Tze-Chiang type train, taking 3 hours 10 minutes to reach Hualien. I was disappointed. My plan has gone disarray.

During the online booking of the return train tickets from Taipei to Hualien, there was no information stating that the journey would take over three hours one way. Hence, do NOT make the same mistake as I did. I read somewhere that the Puyuma trains start from Shulin (originating station), hence when making your booking, select Shulin instead of Taipei as your originating station and depart on the earliest train.

My second day morning plans were to visit Qixingtan and explore Hualien city but because of the delay in reaching Hualien from Taipei, my second day plan had to be scrapped. 

Instead, of going to Shakadang Trail today, I would leave it to the next day. I have only sufficient time to go to Swallow Grotto Trail/ Yanzikou for this afternoon.

There was scant information on Taroko Swallow Grotto Trail/ Yanzikou and Shakadang Trail. I was not able to find detail information in English. Pictures mostly showed the scenery at Taroko Gorge but not on where the shuttle buses drop off and pick up visitors. The few pictures available were also not labeled and were not very helpful in my planning. I could not even find pictures of the shuttle buses plying route no. 1133A between Hualien and Tianxiang and the exact location from where they departed. The shuttle buses are the most important mode of transport for backpackers and solo travellers.

The bus schedule from Hualien bus station to Tianxiang. It was downloaded on 13 April 2018 from the official website in Excel format

My plan for the Swallow Grotto Trail/ Yanzikou was to walk from the trail head where we alighted and waited for the return bus at the trail end. The trail end was where the trail meets with the tunnel entrance at the other end.  On reaching there, I did not see any other visitors. Doubts began to creep into my mind whether I could take the return shuttle bus there. The sky was getting dark with rain cloud. It was starting to drizzle. If I decided to wait there, I might miss the shuttle bus back to Hualien bus station. Not wanting to take the risk, I decided to walk back to the trail head again.

Back at the trail head by 3:20 p.m., the drizzle continued. Assuming that I had missed the 3:12 p.m. shuttle bus, the next bus should arrive at 4:02 p.m. Both buses failed to show up. The air was getting chilly and I was shivering. Finally, a bus arrived at 5:18 p.m. The warm air in the bus brought such comfort. I was finally on the way back to Hualien bus station.