Sunrise in Alishan, Day 1&2 @ Taiwan 20-25 Feb 2013

 

Just came back not long ago from Taiwan with 2 of my girl friends. Before my memory fails me, I am thinking of jotting down our beautiful memorable self-planned vacation of 6 days and 5 nights in Taiwan. This trip covered only Alishan, Sun Moon Lake, and Taipei. We didn't plan a full list of itinerary as this supposed to be a rest and relax kind of vacation. Hence, you can see that most of our stays were put up at homestays.

 

For myself, it was an impromptu plan to travel to Taiwan. I was informed about the trip only by end of Dec 2012. The next morning, I replied and agreed to be part of the trip. Itinerary, air tickets and accommodation were arranged almost immediately although changes were made from time to time on the itinerary.

 

Initially, we planned 3 nights in Alishan, and the rest would be spent in Taipei. After some thought and discussion, we decided to spend 2 nights in Alishan, 1 night in Sun Moon Lake, and 2 nights in Taipei. And the itinerary turned out to be an interesting and unforgettable experience. It convinced me to a great extent that I would definitely travel free and easy in order to admire the beauty and culture of each and every place around the globe in my own personal pace.

 

We flied on Scoot, a Singapore based low-cost long-haul airline, with departure time at midnight 0055 hour. Reached TaoYuan International Airport, Taipei at 0520 hour. Bought tickets at the U Bus ticket counter for TWD30 per person.

 

 

Took the ride for about 15 to 20 minutes and got off at the last stop which was the TaoYuan High Speed Railway Station. After that we scurried to the high speed train ticket counter and queued to purchase our tickets for TWD920 per person to Chiayi HSR Station.

As the train departure was at 7.57 a.m. on reserved seats, we still had time to grab breakfast from a 7-eleven convenient store. These 2 pictures below remind me of Japan, oden (winter dishes which are stewed in light soya-based dashi broth) and onigiri (rice ball wrapped in seaweed sheet). I slapped myself to make sure that I was not in Japan, after sleepless night during the flight. :)

Even the high speed train looked exactly like the one in Japan @__@

Started to gobble down my steamed pork bun and hot red tea in can.

The journey from TaoYuan HSR to Chiayi HSR station was approximately an hour. Once alighted from the train, we grabbed some useful travel guides and Chiayi-Alishan bus timetable information from the Chiayi station information counter. To get to Alishan, we had to take a shuttle bus from Chiayi bus station, which was just at the exit of Chiayi HSR station. The journey to Long Tou was about 2 hours long, costs TWD167 per person, where our homestay was located. It would cost more if you want to get to Alishan. Just a tip to share, it takes another 1 hour by bus from Long Tou to Alishan. The Alishan shuttle bus would only depart at 10.10 a.m., so we had hot coffee in Starbuck at Chiayi HSR station.

After winding journey up the mountain, we finally reached Alishan Tea Garden at 12.15 p.m. It was a beautiful homestay for 2 nights. Will blog about the homestay in more details in another post next time, as I have so many lovely pictures to share. LOL...

A sneak preview of our room which can actually fit in 4 people. Spic-and-span, with a full length glass panel overlooking outside scenery of greens, mountains, and sunrise!

The homestay's owner, Mr. Xu, helped us to arrange our lunch at 12.30 p.m. at a nearby steamboat restaurant. The restaurant's boss came and picked us up personally in his car for lunch.

 

Below was the steamboat restaurant which I was talking about.

The interior of the restaurant, cozy and spacious.

The set steamboat menu comprised of the following as you can see from the pictures below plus a choice of either beverage or dessert, cost TWD400 plus per set, depending on type of soup base chosen.

This was mine: Chinese herbal pot with beef.

My friends had: Korean Kimchi pot with beef....

...and Polygoni Miltiflori herbal pot, heck the name....but it was nice and thick of herbal taste. It was satisfying to have hot steamy steamboat in cold weather.

A transport was arranged to pick us up after lunch at 2.30 p.m. We paid TWD300 per head for a trip to Fenchihu, followed by a firefly trip in a nearby forest, then ended with a journey home to our accommodation. While waiting for the transport, we fooled around, playing on swing like a kid in a candy shop, snapping pictures of picturesque mountain backdrop.

We had limited pictures of 3 of us taken together. Below was shot voluntarily by our driver, with a full bloomed cherry blossom tree, while on the way to Fenchihu.

Spring in Taiwan supposed to be at its peak in mid-March, but in higher altitude Alishan, we saw early blooms of colourful flowers. It was a bonus, not only the mountaineous view was superb, the fresh alpine air, the blooming flowers, and of course the nice weather which permit us to see glorious sunrise.

 

Fenchihu is a town located in the mid-point between Chiayi and Alishan forest railway line. Our driver explained that Fenchihu situated at the bottom of a hill and looks like a lake from a top view where he stopped us, explaining further that the name Fenchihu, where 'hu' is a chinese term for lake. The almost forgotten quiet train town, with a rustic ambience creates a laid-back atmosphere. We immersed fully in a slow-paced environment and breathed in fresh alpine mountain air.

Wasabi could be found easily around this area. Products from wasabi root, such as wasabi powder, paste and wasabi flavoured snacks were sold at souvenir shops.

The freshly grown wasabi root.

Any idea, what kind of fruit is this?

My favourite Taiwan snack....stewed quail eggs, which come in assorted flavours.

Colourful postcards on sale....

Walked down the old street of Fenchihu selling knick-knacks, snacks, and souvenirs.

The old Fenchihu Station which serves as a museum where tourists like us understand how a steam generated train were operated back in the olden days.

Ooops, we were not supposed to climb up the antique train, but we only saw the warning signage nearby the train after that....

Nearby the Fenchichu station, up a flight of stairs, we came to a bamboo forest. This was no ordinary bamboo. You will understand why if you take a close-up top view of the bamboo pole like shown in the picture below, and I could feel the 4 angled-pole with my palm. The scientific name of this bamboo is Chimonobambusa quadrangularis.....hahahaaa....what a complicated name!

Then we walked towards 100-year old street and the little blue wooden house. Wow...this 45 degree steep street can kill someone who is not careful enough. We slowed down our pace, in case we slipped and rolled down the street like a huge snowball...hahahaaa

This cute little blue wooden house immediately caught our attention from far. It was filmed in a popular Taiwan drama, "Stary Stary Night",  and was first showcased at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival. Those who are Taiwan dramas fanatics might know about this movie.

The simple layout inside the little blue house.

With a single bed placed at a corner.

Anyone wants coffee? :D                                A rustic looking armchair at the entrance.

Other than the old street near the Fenchihu station, there is another older street named as hundred year old old street. I felt like being transported into my great grandma's time. The wooden houses were so old, the area was so tranquil and quiet.

Found a small coffee house along the street. The auntie who was the owner of the shop came out and greeted us while explaining to us that she growed and processed the coffee beans herself. There were a few grades of coffee beans depending on the length of time they were dried. She said most of her patrons were old customers who usually dropped by to buy her coffee powder. She offered us free coffee drink. We enjoyed looking at her preparing our coffee in a laboratory apparatus look alike ensemble.

The 100 years old houses along old old street in Fenchihu.

 

Interesting artwork, these were actually nicely painted melons.

A trip to Fenchihu would never be complete if you have not tried the famous railway lunch box or bento. Fenchihu railway bento was said to be popular among local workers who worked at nearby tea plantations and or Japanese who travelled on railways. It was heavily influenced by Japanese during the Japanese occupation from 1895 to 1945, hence the name bento, though the ingredients used were mostly suited to locals. And now it serves tourists and hikers of today at affordable prices. There were a number of shops selling railway bento, we stopped at a random one, as their menu were almost identical. This shop which we patronised, offered 2 kinds of bento, with pork chop or chicken drumstick. I opted for succulent and flavorful marinated pork chop. As for the braised drumstick, it lacked of taste and kind of bland....oops, sorry Elaine...:) All bentos came with braised egg, stir fried cabbage, some pickles and sour plum to whet appetite.

And if you don't know, the bento was contained in a thin wooden box, each bento costs only TWD100.

The driver came and picked us up at a pre-arranged time, at 6.15 p.m. He drove us to a nearby forest, dark enough to hide from the dimly lit moonlight. While waiting for the sky to turn pitch dark at 6.45 p.m., he shared with us the interesting facts about firefly. We learnt a lot, joked, and even managed to catch the fireflies on our own....errr, ok....not for me, I only dare enough to hold those fireflies in my cupped palms, 'hand-overed' by Elaine to me after she caught some. :D, fearing of squashing them if I was too excited while trying to catch them..(try to find an excuse!)

There are a few stages in a firefly's life cycle, resembles those of a butterfly...from egg, to larva, to pupa, and lastly, an adult firefly which completes in roughly a year time. After a male turns into an adult firefly, it starts mating with the female, and they will stop eating, thus lifespan of an adult firefly is very short, which lasts for only a few days to a week. Can you see the yellow-greenish luminous light given out by these fireflies? Pretty right? As a child, I always loved to watch flickering light of fireflies flying by when I visited my passed on grandma who lived in 'kampung'.

After the firefly tour, we retreated to our homestay and had a good night rest, as we had a greater mission the next wee morning hour. We got to wake up at 3 plus, prepared for sunrise watching at Alishan.

For 1 way transport from Long Tou to Alishan, costed TWD1600. It was pricey but considered that the driver had to rise early before crack of dawn, it was O.K. The same driver would pick us at 4.30 a.m. As the journey to Alishan main train station took an hour, we had to depart earlier from our homestay. Had a quickie, slurped down cup noodles to energize ourselves. Just before reaching Alishan, our driver pulled over at the road side, and allowed us to star-gaze for 20 minutes. That was the darkest spot where one is said to be able to see meteors, if lucky enough. My 2 other girlfriends claimed that they saw meteor dashing across the sky. Before they could even blink, the meteor disappeared from the sight. I was not too sure if I saw one, but I think I did....or maybe was just an illusion? Illusion due to lack of quality sleep? Hahaaaa...

We proceeded to our destination, the Alishan National Forest. To enter the recreation area, we had to pay TWD150 per person.

Reached Forest Railway Alishan Station at 5.30 a.m., where we bought our tickets at TWD150 each to reach ChuSan station, which is the peak for sunrise viewing.

Our train tickets....

Beeline was observed by the time we walked up to the train platform....Many were even earlier than us! oh....just a reminder: wear enough clothing to keep you warm, especially early hours. Temperature was around 5 degree celcius in the morning. Bring along raincoats or brollies, coz weather in Alishan changes rapidly.

That's our train, slowly came to a halt, we hopped onto the train at 6 a.m. The journey took 40 minutes to ChuSan station.

It was shown clearly on the board, sunrise on that morning was at 6.50 a.m. We quickly made our way to viewing platform.

And to our shock, there was a sea of people who had found their strategic spots for sunrise viewing. We left with no choice, but to peep from any 'hole' available. :(

The moment we saw the first ray....

......All the cameras and handphones were out and held high, started clicking away, non-stop. Wow and woo echoed around, people were seen clapping with joy. This showed how glorious the sunrise view could be....and I totally agreed.

The sunrise was too fast, so you might want to standby your camera or whatever device to capture the beautiful moment.

But the sun was too glaring, and it's piercing painful to your eyes, you can't even see properly, sorta blinded temporarily by the strong ray. And crowds suddenly dispersed to nowhere, coz most couldn't stand the glare.

 

 

There was a row of stalls selling breakfast, we had egg pancake, tasted like our egg prata, only thinner and oilier :(

Then it was time for us to board the last train at 7.20 a.m. from Chusan station to the next station. Sorry guys, not sure what station was that coz my map is in chinese. From there you can access giant trees trail, 2 sisters pond, temples, and tree spirit pagoda. Lilies and cherry blossom trees were seen scattered around Alishan.

Rested a little in mid-pathway leading to heaven....hahahaaaa, what a good posers!

Two sisters pond...

Posed and acted cute in front of famous 'Love Forever' shape stumps, formed as a result of their roots interwined together. I used to have a picture taken here with my hubby 7 years back. I still could recall vividly it was raining then, and the place was not barricaded like now. And the pig-shaped old stump.

After a long walk and many stairs up, we were famished. Stopped by to grab a bite. This wildboar sausages were damn yummy! Not oily and the meat was compact but not tough, with sliced garlic in it and marinade with black pepper and other spices. A must eat sausage near Shoujhen Temple.

Shoujhen Temple, the biggest temple in Alishan.

Row of sakura trees, in full blooms near the temple. The first seed of sakura tree was said to be sown by Japanese. Alishan was heavily influenced by Japanese culture, the railways and Japanese temple left by Japanese.

Other than wildboar meat sausage, we had squid ink sausage (the one in charcoal-black) and fish roe sausage. The roe with little white thingy things, interestingly squeak and burst with every bite in your mouth.

Bought some Alishan grown green tea from a tea shop.

The hanging bridge and the 2300 years old sacred tree.

A Japanese temple, Chihyun Temple.

Alishan train will take an hour lunch break which means no train from 12 noon to 1 p.m. We waited for the next train at 1.30 p.m. We paid TWD50 each to get to Alishan railway station.

 Once we reached Alishan station, we strolled around many shops selling confectionaries, souvenirs, and local snacks. Bought myself red yeast fermented flavoured quail eggs, and chomped down one by one to the last during the journey.

 

'Frog egg' drink...tasteless, nothing fancy :(

 

'Pin lang' which I tried once, 7 years ago during my 1st trip to Taiwan. It contains nicotine and is said to be addictive just like smoking a cigarette. You have to chew and at the same time spit out the red substance formed inside your mouth and the taste, I tell u, like HELL! It's disgusting and awful. It was a mess to spit and continue chewing the 'pin lang' inside your mouth. It is said that normally people chew on them to give them concentration during long journey drive and warmth in cold days.

We had late lunch at 2.30 p.m., guess which one was mine? Of course the biggest bowl of beef noodle soup. I loved beef noodle in Taiwan. Most of them which I tried were equally good although the taste of the broth differ.

Ordered a plate of stir fried wildboar meat with cabbage and a plate of kailan for sharing.

 

Bought Alishan shuttle bus ticket from a nearby 7-eleven store in Alishan at TWD91, to Long Tou. The bus departed at 3.10 p.m. Reached homestay around 4.10 p.m. We asked Mr. Xu if there's any restaurants nearby other than the steamboat restaurant which we had patronised the day before. There was none if we were looking at a nearby one. As the last order at the steamboat restaurant was at 5 p.m., we were still full after the late lunch. Thus, we decided to have dinner prepared in our homestay, Italian cuisine, served at 7 p.m.

 

A set of Italian dinner costs TWD420, started with freshly home-grown salad, garlic & herbs toasted bread, and seafood chowder.

 

Followed by main course, my seafood marinara....

....and Elaine's chicken carbonara

The course completed with a mouth-watering caramel pudding. Surprisingly, dishes and desserts in Taiwan are very healthy, low sugar, low salt, but not bland for my liking.

 Enjoyed our dinner while chatted away through the night.

After shower, we sit at the fireplace, reading books, online (there's wifi service in our homestay), chatting, and drinking our sakura wine, cost TWD100 per bottle. Though the wine tasted not so great, but at least we had tried once. Pardon me if my sleepy naked face scared you OFF! Hahaha....good nite peeps. I could hear my bed and pillow were calling me...;)

Till my next post about Alishan Tea Garden, a beautiful serene homestay....happy reading!