Skip to main content

Alishan

Been to Taiwan twice, now it's the third time, in conjunction with a learning workshop in National Chung Cheng University. Took the chance to go to Alishan with a friend (Dr Mike) during the weekend). At first, we settled the lodging through online booking. However, we were quite surprised that the forest train to Alishan has been sold out two weeks in advance. We only managed to buy the returning ticket instead. So we took the public transport from Chiayi Train Station, cost about NT$215 (discount when used reload card for payment).

After 2.5 hours of journey, we reached the national park transport hub. Proceeded to the entrance and paid admission fee of NT$150 (discounted rate when you used public transport). We checked in at the hotel, then proceeded with lunch at the nearby restaurant, which has been rated favourably in Google review. The afternoon session was spent by hiking through the main trail of the national park. The cypress forest is amazing, some of the trees are more than 1500 years old. The trip to Alishan is not complete if sunrise view at Zhushan is not included. If you are lucky, you may be able to witness the magnificent sea of clouds, which we didn't.

On the following day, we made our way to Fenqihu, a small town situated midway to Alishan. The town is famous for it's lunch box (which I think it's quite common set around Taiwan), and the overrated donut. Anyway, the old street area was the highlight. The atmosphere is same as the old street in Jiufen. And finally, we took the forest train back to Chiayi city.

Alishan bus terminal

Alishan train station. The train will take you from here to the station within the park.

The gate of the boardwalk.

Zhaoupin station inside the park

Cypress forest

No.28 tree is the oldest, 2,000 years old.

Waiting for sunrise

Look at the crowd

Sunrise!

Fenqihu old street

Lunch box is sold here

Alishan forest train

Queueing for donuts


All photos were taken with iPhone 6s.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain)

 If Yangmingshan is too far or too adventurous for you, try Xiang Shan (literally means Elephant Mountain) which is right in the city. The place is accessible by MRT. Just get out from Xiangshan MRT station, walk towards the park and you will be at the entrance in no time. Follow the signpost along the way. Be prepared for a series of steep stairway. At the stop uphill, you can get the closest view of 101 Tower.  The starting point of Xiangshan All uphill climb Stairway to the top If you see this, you have arrived at the viewpoint Taipei 101 Tower View along the way Benches Posting as a sign of achievement Night view of 101

Kaoshiung

I haven't finished recounting my journey in Sweden and Japan; I returned from Taiwan just two weeks ago. Here's a brief account of my recent visit there (although I still have unfinished tale from last year trip to Taiwan). My first stop was Kaoshiung. Spent a day and a half in the town, then I travelled to Tainan for a weekend symposium. I ended my journey in Taipei for another short hike. The weather in Kaohsiung was quite hot, comparatively. It's not my favorite weather for traveling. Perhaps I arrived there too early; had I come a few days later, the temperature would have been cooler. Since day time was hot, it would be wise to visit Pier 2 area during evening or night. Not many people / tourists in this town. It looked quiet.  The next day, I took a ferry to Cijin. The ride was short, about 5 minutes. Cijin Island is a fisherman's village. On the opposite side of the island, there's a beach. It was serene but scorching, to the extent that I couldn't walk m

Qixingshan trail

Had a chance to visit Taiwan again in last November. It was an invitation to attend a symposium in Taichung. So I decided to take a few days to explore Taipei before the conference. But this round I opted for hiking experience. Thus, the search for easy access of hiking venues around Taipei city. One particular blog has provided most of the useful information for my trip: www.nickkembel.com. I picked Qixingshan trail in Yangmingshan National Park as my first choice for the hiking. It's easily accessible with moderate difficulty level of the hiking route. To get to Yangmingshan, one can opt for the public transport right below Jiantan MRT station. The Taipei Performing Arts Center is just opposite the bus stop areas. I took the S15 mini bus which is bound for Lengshuikeng. Waited a few minutes, the bus came. There were many locals heading to the national park on that day. So I had to stand for almost the entire journey. Got off at Lengshuikeng Visitor Center (which is the last two s