Day 3: 22-July-08 (Tuesday)

We woke up at around 8am. We unpacked and repacked our 4 luggages into 2 bags to bring to Alishan and the other two to leave it with the receptionist of our hotel. My dad's Taiwan friend had helped us bought the Taipei High Speed Rail (THSR) aka 台北高铁for the 10.30am departure. It costs around NT250 per ticket and what is good about this ticket is you can change the ticket date or time anytime you want. There are stated time slots to the bullet train and they leave sharp as assigned. We are supposed to alight at Chiayi Station (which is the 2nd last stop to the Gaohsiong) stop and will arrive Chiayi at 12.36pm. This train will normally travel past at a speed of 280km/hr and will reach 7 stops (all consists of cities like 桃园, 台中, 新竹, etc) before Chiayi 嘉义.

We had breakfast at the hotel cafe. The breakfast buffet is NT600 per pax then around 9.30am, the driver, Mr. Liang came to pick us up to fetch us to the Taipei Train Station. We are supposed to meet our Alishan guide at Chiayi Train Station at 1.30pm.



The Taipei Train (火车站) is at the upper level and the THSR is on the lower level. So it can be quite confusing if you don't see it carefully. There are lots of ushers around actually especially at directing people to the HSR platform.







This is taken from a billboard in the station, this is how the THSR looks like...





Girls in uniforms, my thought was "Wow, they even have stewardess on the bullet train? And do they serve us drinks? I wondered if it's free..."



My brother and my parents' back view...Look at the laguage we're carrying, one look and people knew we're definitely tourists...



There's where our train platform will be at...It tells us of the time of the train we'll be on...



How the ticket looks like...Rem the old SMRT system where we insert the card into the slot? The gate will not open until the ticket is taken off the exit slot...The ticket also has our seat number in it, we are to be seated at the seats given to us...We can request for aisle or window seat or trio seats too...


Look at how my Mum got stuck...

A family trio...


Shots with the train...

A shot with my Mum...

I loved this pic a lot...





This two pics reminded me of my time in Perth taking the train to Fremantle, had taken shots of like this with my cousin and two aunts...



Good thing about taking this bullet train is we get to see the other side of Taiwan...The farming and plantation areas...These two shots were taken on the way to Xin Zhu...


Secretly got a shot taken of the cabin attendant who pushed this drinks and snacks tray around several rounds. Drinks and snacks are to be paid upon consumption on the spot...

When we reached there, it was really 12.36pm and we went to ask for directions how to get to Chiayi Train Station and they said it's a 30 mins drive down by cab and costs around NT300 to get there. Cabs were accessible. The cab driver was rather friendly, he was chatty and my dad was the only chatting with him. The Chiayi City was rather rowdy and the train station was packed with tour buses. We grabbed a quick lunch at one of the restaurants. The food wasn't that great and the style of the cooking was very localised and exotic though it's chicken. My mum and I shared a plate of rice with chicken drumstick. The trains to Alishan was closed so only vans were allowed up there. Now I understood why the tour packages doesn't have buses as transport up to Alishan cause the roads up there were very steep and narrow. Each van can cater up to 10 passengers excluding driver and they made sure each seat is taken up before they leave for Alishan. My dad was so reminded of China workers all being squeezed in the same vehicle. It was very hot weather in Chiayi too so good thing the air-conditioner in the van was strong enough.

As the van moved up the slope to Alishan, the driver wind down the window and we could feel the cool air outside blowing in. Seeing the narrow streets and how the construction was around the roads and fear that it may rain (for the fear of landslides may occur anytime once it's wet), I just had to pray to God along the way for blessings that I'll reach the place safely. Thank God we reached Alishan House safely and we checked into our room. They could only give us two beds to a room so we had to squeeze two to a bed.



I slept on the smaller bed with my mum and it is not comfortable at all. The bed was so stiff and there was no blanket.


A fake fireplace, there was a small gap in between the window of the bathroom and to the balcony so people and ourselves can see through when people are showering. This room is more for couples or married couples but not for grown up adults...






The view at the balcony....


The sink area is separated from the bathroom and the toilet is separated from the two too...


This was the Taiwan drama that I was watching who was promoting the Taiwan scenic tourist spots and Alishan was one of them. This hotel had a souvenir shop that was featured in the drama. The couple in the drama bought a pair of owl cup and I heard a couple asking for the cup but it was sold out. So I bought a set of playing cards for my aunt and a crystal hp accessory for Mingli.


The exterior of our hotel...



Then we went exploring around the vicinity. And saw the Forest Tree Trail so my mum, brother and I started walking thru while my dad is looking around for birds to photograph the birds here....














A funny-looking tree...






Elephant Trunk Tree...If you look at it closely, it really looks like an elephant head with its trunk facing us. The round hole there looks like its eye...




The Three Generation Tree...




The 2nd generation....


The 1st generation...




Some flowers we encountered along the way back...












We did not proceed on walking as the sky was turning dark. It was almost 6pm and we thought might as well head back for dinner. The package we paid for at Alishan includes the hotel, meals for dinner and breakfast at the restaurant. Lunch on 4th day (the day we are going back to Taipei includes lunch bento at Fenci Lake Hotel).
The dinner was quite sumptuous, it had 4 dishes + 1 soup (bamboo shoot with ginger soup) but I never knew bamboo shoot can be cooked this way and such delicious that I started to like eating bamboo shoot.


Day 4: 23-July-08 (Wednesday)
I cannot imagine myself sleeping as early like 9pm. We were all tired but the bed my mum and I were sleeping on is very stiff and isn't comfortable so I took some time before I fell asleep. I keep fidgeting the whole night and kept looking at my watch. I can't wait for the time to get past till 3am where it is time to wake up to see the sunrise. This is also in the package and the receptionist will give us a morning call at 3.30am. Our transport came and pick us up at 4.10am. The sky was pitch dark and outside the hotel was darkness in the forest and ahead of us. How I wish our package just includes taking the small train to the sunrise area then we'll be able to see it at an even higher and better view of the sunrise. The van came to pick us up fetched us to 5 stopovers in total. Before we reach the sunrise site, there were three stopovers.

The first stop was at this place called Yu-shan National Park, the mountains there are called Snow Mountains cause when it is winter and snowing, the mountains in that area will be covered with snow and different flowers will bloom only in that area in winter season.




The 2nd stopover was at this place where we can see a little light coming out from the opposite mountains. It is the sun already coming out from sea level. It is already 9 degree in the early morning and it can get even lower at higher peak of the mountain and I was only wearing a long sleeve t-shirt with a jacket on the outside and I put on a thin scarf over my neck. When we stepped out of the van at our 1st stopover, my hands was a little shivering from the cold air. At our 2nd stopover, I was already feeling very cold. And my hands were shaking. I snapped a few shots of the scenic mountains in the wee hours of the morning then hurried into the van.



At the 3rd stopover before the sunrise venue, I was already wearing my Mum's windbreaker jacket. She had sacrificed hers to let me put it on. She knew I couldn't stand the cold a lot. I can't believe even with the breaker, it wasn't able to withstand the cold of 9 deg and perhaps below. I can still feel cold and can't wait to get up the van after a few shots. The sun below was already rising a little as we saw the sky getting brighter and brighter.



It is called the Married Couple Tree cause at a certain angle from far, someone noticed the one of the branches of the two trees seemed to be holding hands together. So this was a rare sight so they called this tree Married Couple Tree. Many tourists and locals who yearned to get married will go to touch or hug this tree so as to have a better love life. The guide explained for single male can go to touch the female tree to meet the love of their life soon and vice-versa. They will make us guess which is the male and which is the female.

Then the 4th stop was where we stop to view the rising of the sun. I agree in the end, seeing the sunrise from the mountain isn't the best part only if you are at the highest peak of the mountain viewing it. It'd be like seeing 1st light of the country when you're in the plane. So we waited for the sun to rise from behind the mountain across. It was 5.15am and the native guide there explained the sunrise will come out around 5.35am. They handed each of us a tinted glass plate to view the sunrise so as to protect our eyes.




http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a396/shireensh/Taipei%20n%20Alishan%2020-25%20July%202008/?action=view&current=83d648bf.flv
The surrounding mountains...
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a396/shireensh/Taipei%20n%20Alishan%2020-25%20July%202008/?action=view&current=3483464d.flv

Watch and see the sun rising...


After the sun is finally out, we moved on to the next stop - 2,000 Year old tree trail. They have like long flight of steep steps down the slope to see the ancient 2,000-year-old tree.





http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a396/shireensh/Taipei%20n%20Alishan%2020-25%20July%202008/?action=view&current=a6ea0e4d.flv



Then we returned back to our hotel for breakfast. It was 8am and the restaurant served buffet for breakfast. It was quite a spread and then after breakfast, my mum, brother and I decided to go take the small train from Alishan Station. My dad would rather walk around the premises and see if he can take nice shots of birds and then head back hotel to rest. We called the receptionist to call for a transport to fetch us to and fro from the train station. Their service was good, even transport was free. So we told the driver to fetch us at 10.30am as we noticed there were shops around the train station. There was a 9am train so we bought the tickets and immediately board the train on the platform. It costs NT100 for a ride to the centre station (I forgot the station name there) then another NT100 back to Alishan station. The 3rd station was closed. There was another station and line (Chusan Line) which was opened only to see the sunrise at 4am. The total ride from Alishan and back is only about 10 mins. So disappointing, that wasn't the train ride I initially signed up for. We stopped there for some time before the next train arrives at 9.45am. We managed to snap some shots...

The train that comes from Chiayi takes 3 hrs to reach Alishan and it's a different kind of train. It's more comfortable and




My mum's finger was blocking the flashlight...

The ticket attendant...





Back at the station...




We went back to the hotel and thought of walking back but then we got a little lost so I called my dad to get the receptionist to call for transport back to the hotel and in the end, we walked back to the drop-off point to await for the transport. We had some time before we checked out so I went to the 5th level and surfed the net for half an hour and chatted online with my aunt. At 11.30am we checked out the rooms and there were some time before the driver came to pick us up at 12.10pm, we wandered around the hotel and saw this access to the rooftop for stargazing. Indeed there was resting chairs around for stargazing. We actually had that last night but I did not feel like going out for stargazing as my parents did not felt like going either. The sun was bright and glaring and we took soem photos there.


Look at how high above we're at, we are able to see the clouds near us at the mountains opposite.

The roads ahead of us, there's where we'll be heading to later and where we came from...






We got to the van and there was a different group this time. The driver went to pick up a middle-aged woman and three youngsters who speak a strong American accent. The woman couldn't even speak English. There were two other strangers who were ladies too. It was a long drive down (about an hour) to the next place we're going to stopover for lunch - Fenci Lake aka 奋起湖. We were supposed to have a lunch bento voucher provided by the agency but they left that out for us so we called up the agent and he told us to walk to 奋起湖大饭店and they'll call up the people there of our arrival. It was around few mins walk till we found where the hotel is. We had to pass thru old shops which the centre walkway was very small and narrow, dirty and rundown.



The place we dined in. There's chicken thigh and some preserved vegetables with their local vegetable small sides and a huge piece of pork ribs all in a metal lunchbox and free flow of soup is given to us. I had thought I can keep the lunchbox but in the end, the lunchbox is sold separately without food in it.
We went around and asked if there was any sightings to see in Fenci Lake and they said there's a garage where it keeps old trains and it's open for tourists and visitors. So we went there...




An old American train...



An explanatory of the history of this train...



It's a rare opportunity we get to stand on the rail tracks and take photos as the this train station is the one that is heading and coming from Chiayi Station, the train service is closed due to the earlier typhoons.

Then we started to walk back to the drop-off point and I managed to take some shots of the shops I was referring to earlier.




This stretch is called the Fenci Lake Old Street...

Then I managed to last minute recognised the lunchbox shop that I saw in the Taiwan drama and bought a metal lunchbox with the Alishan small train enbossed on it.


Then it was a long drive down. I did not even realised that I fell asleep along the way and I suddenly woke to find the van stopping at a farm mart for toilet break. I bought some local bites there for my colleagues and then my ear was suffering from the air pressure cause I was asleep earlier on. Then it was another half an hour's drive before we reach Chiayi Train Station. Then we got on a cab and got to Chiayi HSR Station. Our intial ticket was 5.45pm so we changed our ticket to an hour earlier 4.45pm and the train arrived in about 5 mins time when we reached the platform.
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a396/shireensh/Taipei%20n%20Alishan%2020-25%20July%202008/?action=view&current=38caef4d.flv
We had arranged my dad's two Taiwanese friends to wait for us at Miramar Garden Hotel at 7.15pm but we had arrived earlier at 6.30pm so we met them straight there and they helped us checked in the rooms again but there were some complications and miscommunications earlier. They had wanted to put us on separate floors as we wanted two rooms. We had told them to reserve two rooms for us near each other so in the end, my dad showed his unhappiness and their manager (a pretty and young girl) came and she told us to wait a while as they are clearing the room for us and she gave us some drinks vouchers to wait in the cafe but we forgot to use it in the end. We were given one of the rooms to rest in first while they were preparing the other room for us.

Then we headed to a chicken rice restaurant as my dad's friend is giving us a treat. So we had a good dinner that day. She thought since it was still early, we can still head down to Raohe Night Market. Nothing much there attracts me except there's lots of food stalls inside there which will be pretty hot. A lot of local and exotic food there.



Before we went back to the hotel, we dropped by a bubble tea shop and bought a drink there. My mum is addicted to the bubble tea there. More to come for Day 5 & 6 (Last)...

Labels: holidays, Taiwan

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