My husband has a 4 day conference in Taipei and we are going to go early. Since we will have a chance to see some of Taipei during the conference we'd like to take the week prior to see the countryside. We love to hike, bike and birdwatch. However, it sounds like some of these more remote experiences are hard to do on your own in Taiwan if you only speak English.

I have read about Taroko Gorge, Sun Moon Lake and Wulai as being beautiful areas for hiking that still have some tourist infrastructure for westerners. Is one week enough time to visit more than one of these areas, or should we just pick one? I was sad to see that the highway on the map which apparently closely connects Taroko & Sun-Moon is no longer passable. So I don't know if it would be too circuitous or too much travel time to get to both.

I would greatly appreciate advice about which one (or two) places to choose, any travel agencies that will book trains etc. in advance for English speakers, and any other advice (eg. a great hotel or resort you loved...?). Thanks so much