Alishan Sunrise
It had been pouring for 3 days straight and my hopes of visiting one of Taiwan’s most famous tourist destinations were diminishing. The upcoming few days were showing only a slightly promising 30 % chance of rain in the middle of the island. However, after some discussion, we agreed to take the chance and go for it.
Alishan is famous for its sunrises. If it’s raining, then that kills the point. Luckily, while it was raining in Chungli, it was perfect in Alishan.
The trip down was a long one, consisting of a two-hour train ride, and followed by a two and a half hour nauseating bus ride through the mountains. Once there, we quickly booked a hotel and began walking throughout the park.
This tree grew generations on top of itself
Giant Red Cyprus
More trees!
There is a vast network of hiking paths and small pedestrian roads. We wandered throughout the forest for the rest of the afternoon gazing at massive red cyprus trees. Most of the forest had a dense fog creeping through the lower portion, which added an awesome ambiance to the experience.
Cool bridge throughout the trees
Dense fog creeping throughout the forest
The four amigos
Serene pond along the path
Once the sun began to set, we started to make our way back to the main village. We stopped for some apple strudel and tea/coffee before ending up back at the hotel. Still hungry, we decided on the first restaurant we saw. After finishing dinner we all headed back to the hotel and stayed up until around midnight playing card games and chatting.
The courtesy call came in at 4:50 AM. We quickly got ready and then slowly worked our way up to the train station, which would take us to the famous spot for viewing the sunrise.
Unfortunately, once we arrived, the tranquil viewing of the sunrise was interrupted with chinese tour guides screaming through megaphones explaining the location and talking about the sunrise – way to kill a peaceful viewing of the sunrise.
I don’t understand why this is one of the most famous things to do in Taiwan. It’s a sunrise; and while the scenery is pretty, once you’ve seen one sunrise, you’ve seen them all (and I’ve seen much better without having to hear someone scream through a megaphone the entire time).
We watched the sunrise and then strolled back to the village to wait on our bus to take us back to Chiayi City. We bought our return tickets at the same time as purchasing our ones to get to the park, so when we went to board the bus we were wondering why there were so many people.
Sunrise!
Turns out we had to check in that morning and get assigned seats. The next bus didn’t leave for two hours, which would put us getting back into Chungli after 4 PM causing some of us to be late for work. We decided to stand, and so two and a half hours of standing on a bus that was swerving through the mountains ensued.
Once off, we transferred to the high-speed rail and head back to Taoyuan. It was a fun trip and I’m glad that I did it, but it’s not something I would recommend to someone with limited time in Taiwan to experience. The country has so many more amazing things to do and see, and if you get up early enough you could watch a sunrise at any of them and be better off.