Beautiful Formosa (Day 4)

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Alisan

Alisan is a must-visit attraction in Taiwan according to most people.

Some facts: Framed for its spectacular sun-rise viewing experience and the 71km mountain railway that ascended some 2100m from Chiayi. This railway was one of the legacies left by the Japanese in Taiwan after 50 years of brutal colonization between 1895-1945. Initially, the mountain railway was used by the Japanese for their logging operations in Alisan. Today, it is used by visitors as a mode of transportation from Chiayi.

Anyway, the tour started early today for us to view the sun-rise over at Tatajia @ Yushan National Park, 45 minutes from the Hotel. The sun goddess was not on our side. She was engulfed by the thick layer of clouds over the mountains. But we managed to witness the spectacular display of the sea of clouds.

One lady who joined the tour had lamented that she had been to Alisan 3 times. But each time, she went back feeling disappointed.

Back to the hotel, breakfast was porridge served with a few plates of side dishes. Yummy! It was a great change after days of unhealthy (yet delicious) Taiwanese street snacks. Our tour continued with the 2 of us after breakfast to various points of the forest recreation area.

1.17pm, we boarded the mountain train back to Chiayi.

4.52pm, Chiayi railway station. The taxi touts were still there trying to make their last bit of business before the sky turns totally dark.

5.21pm. We boarded a slower train back to Taipei that would take us another 4.5 hours.

9.51pm. Taipei Railway Station. Together with our heavy luggage, we headed to Yung Ho Soya Bean Milk for dinner before checking into our hotel in Ximending.

It was a long day of traveling for us and we had decided that for the coming days, we would drop our Hualien plans. Instead……

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Comments

[Benn4875]

Encouraging Trip
Very encouraging trip but lack of halal food, tq.