Messing about on the river at Kaohsiung’s Calabash Valley

This stretch of route 27 has more to attract curious visitors, however, than just a grandstand view of the strange, lumpy landscape hereabouts. Head 4 kilometers south of Liuguei Town, and the road crosses the Shanping Stream (a tributary of the Laonong River) at Sanhe Bridge (三合橋). On hot weekend afternoons, the scenic gorge above the bridge, where the stream passes through some fine, deep pools, is perfect for swimming or shrimping.

Another 2 kilometers south, follow an overgrown footpath upstream from Number Seven Bridge (第七號橋) for just two minutes to the base of the impressive Dazhi Waterfall (大智瀑布), which — when it’s running — plunges about 40 meters in three leaps over a great bluff of jagged, bare rock in one of the area’s larger waterfalls. Unfortunately, like many other streams hereabouts, the little brook on which the waterfall lies often dries up in winter and spring. To see the fall in full voice, pay a visit during the summer wet season.

One stream that never dries out is the one that passes through the strange little gorge known as Calabash Valley (葫蘆谷). Continue south from Number Seven Bridge and, in a further 2 kilometers, a sign — reading “Hulugu” in English — points the way to the gorge, up a narrow, very steep lane. A cement path opposite the small parking area leads down into Calabash Valley.

The path shortly crosses a bridge below a pair of small waterfalls pouring into deep green rock pools, the bare rock of which has been eroded by the water into smooth, curved hollows, hence the odd name — a calabash is another name for a gourd or loofah.

A few minutes further the path joins a larger stream, tumbling through a glen gently shaded by trees and dotted with rock pools. During our visit, a family was playing in the stream below a small waterfall, and two old men were sitting on rocks a little further upstream, fishing with homemade poles.

All in all, it’s a perfect place — just a short walk, easy to find and not too crowded — for lazing away hot summer afternoons in or beside the water, and a great place to end an exploration of this varied and fascinating corner of Kaohsiung County.

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