Toroko Gorge is a national park on the east side of Taiwan that was heavily impacted by the 2024 earthquakes that also killed 19 people in the region. They are still recovering and rebuilding and a lot of it is still closed, but we enjoyed our drive through.
When we told locals we were driving to Puli via Tokoro gorge, there was genuine expressed concern. Like people making phone calls on our behalf to check if it was safe.
With an earthquake two days before and heavy heavy rain the day before, and rain predicted the day of, I’ll admit I had some mild concerns. But we did it and it was gorgeous. It probably would have been even prettier, but once we were at high elevation and in the clouds so the views were obscured.
Parts of it were spicy for sure, with high winds, and tight bends on narrow roads with traffic and rain. And I was pretty beat by the end of the 4-5 hour drive from just being on full alert the whole time. But it wasn’t as “crazy” as the restaurant worker indicated. Btw, apparently the sign where you make circles at the side of your head to indicate crazy is fairly universal.