If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: the mountains in Taiwan are stunning. But arguably the most famous in the country is none other than Alishan, home to sunrises above a sea of clouds, beautiful cherry blossoms and an old time railroad. This mountain range has been on my bucket list since moving to Taiwan, but it was only recently that I was able to find time to visit. It was well worth the wait.
Emily and I took a local train down to Chiayi before taking a three hour bus up twisting mountain roads (cue car sickness in even the sturdiest of stomachs). But the benefit of taking public transportation is the discount on the entrance fee. Usually $300NT, if you arrive by bus, the entrance ticket is only $150NT (in essence providing free transportation). We stepped foot in the park and were immediately enveloped in a cool mist that clung to the mountain ridge. As we walked to our hotel, we marveled at the quiet, a major change from being in our bustling cities.
We checked into the hotel, and walked up the five flights of stairs (no elevator) to our room. It was a cute space, with a little window that let us look out over the closest forest ridge and an electric blanket that would be a boon in the evenings to come. We set down our packs and headed for the trails, intent on sussing out the route we would take the next morning to make it to the sunrise.
Despite going for time, we got waylaid quite often for photography breaks and figuring out where the heck we were going. Luckily the park was full of maps, and after an hour or so we found ourselves at the DuiGaoYue platform looking out over the Alishan mountain range. The promised sea of clouds floated in the valley, swirling over the ridges, pooling and twisting like dry ice. With the platform empty, a photo shoot for the ages ensued. There was also much oohing and ahhing. And some stunned reverent silences.
When our sweat cooled to the point of being chilly, we headed back down the mountain. On the way down, Emily was attacked by a rogue frog on the path. We nearly died of fright, while it hopped undisturbed back into the bushes. We caught the sunset at a different platform before grabbing dinner and retreating to our room by 7:30pm. As we set three alarms for 3:45 the next morning, it started to rain.
“What if it’s raining in the morning? Do you think we should still go?” Emily asked.
”I don’t know. Let’s hope it’s not raining.“
With our fate in the hands of the weather gods, we fell asleep. I slept fitfully, dreaming that I either woke up to watch the sunset, woke up too late and missed it, or didn't wake up at all, and a random dream about being a game show contestant. When the morning came, it came with a vengeance. It took herculean effort to pull ourselves out of bed, but once we were up, the adrenaline started pumping and we were ready to hit the trail.
As we walked to the start, through the darkness of the morning, the old orange train emerged. It chugged past us, heading up to the viewing platforms. Behind fogged up windows, a crush of people stared out at the morning.
"Remind me why we aren't taking that up the mountain?" I asked, envious of the ease and warmth.
Our worries about missing the sunrise were assuaged when we ran into another pack of hikers. We kept their pace for a while before pushing on ahead. In front of us, the sky was beginning to lighten, the trees becoming silhouettes against a navy blue. We walked faster. The boardwalk to the platform was draped in early morning spiderwebs, but we pushed through undeterred (okay, slightly deterred). Up ahead we could see the sky painted in bright pinks and yellows. We burst onto the platform, awed by the scene before us. The mountains stretched in inky shadows beneath a vibrant sky.
Just before sunrise, a group of young at heart retirees joined us, exclaiming over the view and drawing us into their fold. We watched the sun rise over the mountains together, then they began their photoshoot. These grandmas were jumping in the air and striking poses models would be jealous of, all while singing and laughing and having a grand old time. An art teacher pulled us into the mix, having us join photos and teaching us how to jump and get good angles. We found out later that they'd been adventuring all over Taiwan, even including some paragliding. Emily and I both hoped to be like them when we grow up.
Once they left we took our own photos, giggling like little kids. The view was truly grand, and we had fun trying to capture it. After, we walked about another mile to the other more famous viewing platform at Zhongshan station. We had it all to ourselves, just us and mountains stretching as far as the eye could see. After enjoying the view for a while, the early wake up hit us. We trudged back down the mountain and grabbed breakfast at 8:30am, 12,000 steps already under our belts.
We decide to take a bit of a break and recuperate. During this time I got the chance to call a couple of old basketball teammates and catch up with them, which was awesome. Recharge completed, we headed back out to hike a closer loop, The Giant Tree Trail. On top of sunrises, Alishan is also famous for its giant cypress trees, some of which are over 2,000 years old and are 20 meters in circumference. The largest was found in 1906 and considered the sacred tree. In 1956 it was struck twice by lightening and was burned inside out. When it eventually fell in 1997, it was memorialized where it had once stood. A new sacred tree was chosen by vote, and was named Xianglin Giant Tree.
As we walked the path, a cloud crept over the mountain ridge. Fog slunk between the trees. I began to think about how long 2,000 years really is. Writing was first invented 5,000 years ago. 2,000 years ago Rome was conquering Egypt. Cleopatra was ending her reign. The Han Dynasty was just beginning in China. Pompeii was obliterated by Mt. Vesuvius. The Three Kingdoms period had begun in Korea. And to think that these trees had been alive when all that was happening. It begins to make sense why they are sacred.
We were dead tired once we completed the loop. We managed to make it back to the group of restaurants and find lunch before collapsing back in our hotel room. Just as we lay down, our window went white and rain started to pound outside. We spent the next few hours snuggled in drinking tea and watching dance videos with the electric blanket on high. But when the rain abated around 3:00pm, we figured we shouldn't waste our precious time on the mountain and ventured forth once more.
This time, we stayed close to home with a trip to Zhaoping Park. We walked through Poetry Road, where I tried with limited success to understand the calligraphic characters. The rain subsided to a drizzle. The green of the grass and plants burst forth against the grey overcast sky. We found a pavilion to take shelter under and relaxed, reveling in the crisp mountain air.
Around 7:00pm we grabbed dinner and snuggled in to watch Twoset Violin Youtube videos. We laughed our heads off for a couple hours before finally turning in around 9:00pm. As I lay down, my legs tingled, concrete pinning them to the mattress. I wondered if I'd even be able to walk the next morning.
The next morning, stiff and sore, we ambled up to the train station to see if we could secure a ride down the mountain. Usually same-day tickets are hard to come by, but it was the middle of the week and we got lucky, because we got tickets. Originally we were going to go back to the park to sit and write on our last morning, but with train tickets in hand we had to take an earlier bus. So we settled for a brief walk on the sky bridge before checking out of our hotel.
We took the bus twenty minutes down the mountain to the Shizilu train station, which was really more of some train tracks with a few shops nearby and scenic viewing spot. As we arrived, the train pulled in. A horde of people flocked off the train. Children jumped down the steps and began to frolic on the train tracks. It was very quaint, and we were both glad we had two hours to kill in the spot.
It was at this time that I was able to do something I've been wanting to do since arriving in Taiwan. Let me preface with a bit of background. As a white person, I stick out like a sore thumb amidst Taiwanese people. I am very obvious, and so people feel the need to shout "Hello" at me or whisper and point (or sometimes yell) "外国人" (foreigner) at me. Kids are by far the least subtle, so I've been planning a response. And on this day, my chance arrived.
As we were at the scenic viewing platform, a kid next to me looked at his dad and said:
"爸爸，外国人。" (dad, foreigner!)
To which I responded "外国人？真的吗？在哪里？我看不到!" (A foreigner? Really? Where? I can't see them!) while looking around dramatically.
The kid was shocked and hid behind his father. His parents were shocked as well, and we had the typical conversation of "how is your Chinese so good?" "where are you from?" "what are you doing in Taiwan?" "why do you live in Changhua?" before the kid, pushed forward by his father, asked if I knew Spiderman. The answer was, of course, yes.
After scarring the kid for life, I mean, making a lasting impact on the youth, we left to look for lunch. There was one cafe at the stop, and it had only one thing on the menu, so we ate a wonderful little lunch of sesame chicken noodles and sautéed bamboo shoots. We wandered around a for a little while longer under a thunderstorm rolled through the valley, unleashing a downpour right as we boarded the train. We stared out rain-studded windows at the mountains disappearing into the clouds as we rocked down the mountain. While it was cool to ride the old train, after three hours of rocking and jostling, I was ready to be off. We boarded a local train to Changhua, and arrived home two hours later, the end of a really amazing trip.
All in all the total cost of the trip (including transportation, lodging, food and entry fees) was $4,500NT ($150USD). It was well worth it for an awesome three days. If you are in Taiwan and have the chance, this place should definitely be on your travel itinerary.
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