On top of Mount Alishan
Trip Start
May 05, 2011
1
84
93
Trip End
Aug 09, 2011
Chiayi, Taiwan
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Well, today we had a day-trip to Alishan, a gorgeous mountain in western Taiwan. We got up early and ate a buffet breakfast for the first time in at least a month. After breakfast, we headed down to the bus station to get tickets to the famed mountain. On the way, a nice lady approached us in regards to a private car to Alishan. $25 versus $65 after negotiating and the drive was an hour shorter each way (3 hours by bus and 2 hours by car-no stops). Softer seats and better air conditioning. I'm sure you all can tell which mode of transportation we chose.
We started off in the city, a small suburban area, and we finally started seeing palm trees nearby and mountains in the background. Yep, it looks beautiful. This island has a very tropical feel to it. It almost feels like a hidden gem because there are not that many non-Asian foreigners here...at least we haven't seen many. Where South Korea claims to be Asia's best kept secret, we would agree that both South Korea and Taiwan are Asia's best kept secrets.
Anyway, we are digressing here. The ride to Mt. Alishan was indeed two hours long, but the majority of the time was spent driving through the picturesque mountain side. Waterfalls cascaded down the mountain sides and the palm trees that lined the lower parts of the mountain changed to red cedar, Taiwanese cedar, and cypress trees. We started to climb into the low-lying clouds and we could feel the temperature dropping.
Once we arrived at the top, we grabbed a map and started to explore the Alishan park area. The whole place is like a big loop with a few trails branching off of it. The map scale was weird though and what appeared to be a long distance on the map only took us about 10 minutes to walk. We could see this whole place in about two hours including all of the branches...or so we thought. We came to our first fork and verified that we were going the right way by asking a tour guide. He told us that the first path we chose will take us about 45 minutes to walk. Really? The same distance on the map took us around 15 minutes earlier.
He showed us a faster way to our first side trail, but about 30 minutes into it we needed to turn around. There were no other hikers on the path and it started to gently rain. We wanted to see several more points of interest along the way. We walked back to the main trail loop and made our way into the "forest path". This area was supposed to be good for reducing anxiety and relieving stress. If only we could take a part of this back for Jing before she starts her program. There was a nice misty look amongst the trees.
We headed toward the Sister's Ponds and heard a man explaining a sign that was on the way. Off to his left we could see the Sister's Ponds and to his right was another trail. He told us it was a good eight hour walk for that path and upward incline at 70 degrees. Guess we will head to the left. The ponds had no fish in them, but we could hear plenty of frogs. These two ponds were named after two sisters who drowned themselves in each pond in order to avoid creating jealousy and fighting over a man they both loved. Guess the guy didn't get either one of them in the end.
From there, we took a path to the Shou Cheng temple. We walked past all sorts of scenic areas with sites like the "three brothers" trees, "four sisters" trees, "one heart forever" trees, and "happiness from golden pig". Right when arrived at the temple, it started raining hard. The temperature dropped rapidly and everybody scattered. We took shelter at some shops and perused their goods and tried some tea and snacks. Jing bought couple bags of pickled bamboo shoots she liked at a discount. The owner took a liking to Jing right away and was concerned we had one umbrella for 2 people. So she handed a pink poncho for Jing at no cost. We tried to pay her and she smiled and said "No Need" in Chinese. Very nice lady!
We made a mad dash and headed in to the temple. The temple was magnificent, but the rain was not. As the rain continued, we looked around the temple and prayed the weather would improve. The downpour slowed to a sprinkling and we decided to head to the main area where our cab was waiting.
Well, a couple of minutes later, another wave of showers came through. We definitely got wet, but we were wearing quick dry clothes. Once we made it back down to the tourist information booth, the rain totally stopped and we had a little time for lunch and souvenir shopping. We ate some decent foods from the 7-11 and even found some cool Alishan swag. We picked up a little tea and the guy even made us a cup. I watched as he made it and ended up pouring out at least four glasses before handing us ours. Nether one of us knew why, but the tea tasted really good.
We got back in the cab at 1600, right on time. As we drove back down the mountain, Jing napped. She didn't want a repeat of the day before. I tried too as well, but the road was too windy and I was getting tossed about in the back of the car. Near the bottom, we stopped at Chu Kou Temple, the entrance to the Alishan area. The temple itself was garnished with dragons and many other figures from Buddhism and Chinese mythology. There was a small gorge with a creek running through it and a suspension bridge that connected both of the sides. This used to be the way across to Alishan, but now a modern concrete bridge has taken over that function. They also had about a dozen or so monk statues practicing martial arts near the water. We also tried the famous "san zhu yang chang" (taiwanese sausages) while there and we confirm they were delicious and worth a try!
Before we got back to the city, we asked the driver if she could drop us off at the Jia Le Fu night market. No problems at all. That's what we love about this country, there are night markets everywhere and the Taiwanese people are very accommodating. Unfortunately, this night market was only okay. Great for food, but we were surprisingly not that hungry. We walked through the attached Carrefour and then back through the small market. We did get some ripe mango, pineapple, and guava for about two U.S. dollars though. After finishing up, there was a cab waiting there for us. Another cab took its spot as soon as we left. Nice system!
We made it back to the hotel and decided to get a few snacks. Taiwanese sausages and chicken wings again? Yes! The guy recognized us and immediately bagged the last two sausages he had left. He told us that he would "see you tomorrow!" and we left. I guess he is not familiar with our schedule. Tomorrow, we will be in Tainan. Back to the hotel afterward and we booked a free ride to the train station. We had done enough for the day...bed time for us.
