Taiwan: Swallow Grotto at Taroko National Park

Swallow Grotto is by far the most spectacular part of the Taroko Gorge – here the walls are the highest, the river is the fastest, and there are a series of natural and man-made open windows through which you can gaze out and down and up at the insanity of the landscape. People are dwarfed by the verticality of the marble walls and it feel like you are on a set of Lord of the Rings except for all the tourists with their selfie sticks (must be a law in Taiwan that everyone has one). Swallows often nest in the potholed walls near the river and hence the name of the place – Swallow Grotto.