Well the most
impressive thing about Taiwan was their forests! The green is absolutely
everywhere, I could found 20mts tall trees at 3.000mts elevation, did you ever
see something like this in other part of the world?
For the trail running
addict it is crazy hard, The Beast Trail Run it is insane. Two reporters from
trail magazines have done and both say could be the hardest one on the planet.
So much mud, climbing ropes, elevation that tou just can't move fastly.
About hikes after the
race, Taiwan is the heaven for trail since basically all island is a ridge, but
unfortunately the government states very trick "permits applications"
, for example you can't do a 3 days trail by yourself, sad. But has a few good
options, I highly recommend the Yushan Peak, the highest one with almost 4.000
mts.
It is kind trick to get there, but the roads are very good. I rent a scooter from Hualien and drove up the mountains for 260km to get there, great experience IF you don't have rain. Just happens to me to get the most rainy days for the last 24 years, roads closed, water everywhere! Starting from Hualien with the scooter obviously I recommend the Taroko Park, spend the day with scooter and small trails, not wild but very pleasant. Ah, in Hualien do the rafting day also, cheap and also pleasant day.
Well Taiwan is basic
this, if you wanna experience dense forest and medium altitudes, that's the
place. Keep alert to the rain! And enjoy!