Alishan (阿里山), Taiwan

Alishan (阿里山), Taiwan (31 Mar ~ 2 Apr 2014)

Day 1: Getting to the Alishan National Scenic Area (阿里山國家風景區)

Another year has passed and I was back at Taiwan again touring around places that I have yet to visit as well as places I would like to revisit.  After completing our 4-Day Mt Nanhu trek, I returned to civilization and put on my tourist hat. This round, I visited the famous Alishan. It was a Monday morning and the skies were in a gloomy state, maybe to support the student protest that had occurred over the weekend over the trade agenda with China. Getting to Alishan was our day’s objective. Together with climbing mates, we dropped our bags at Taipei, packed what we need and hopped onto the HSR to Chiayi. This is the fastest way to get to Alishan and from the Chiayi HSR station, there are fixed schedules (limited) for buses that departs from the HSR to Alishan.  There used to be a train service under the TRA (Taiwan Railway Administration) that departs from the TRA Chiayi Station ( non HSR) to Alishan Station but part of the railroad has been damaged by the typhoon years ago and the local government did find it worth to fix it and so visitors can only take the road up to Alishan.

The HSR journey from Taipei to Chiayi takes around 1.5hrs and is very much near the last station of Zuoying (Kaoshiong). 

ChiaYi HSR Station exterior

Alishan and nearby destination bus bay

 

At the station, we went to the tourist information counter to check on the next bus timing to go Alishan. Since there is limited schedule (3 timings only), it is best to plan ahead and make sure to get onto the buses on time.  The bus to Alishan is quite crowded and so after getting the correct bus berth, we started to join the queue of luggage already line up for the bus.  The bus has a name of “阿里山 7329”, so make sure you get into the right queue.  There are many mainland Chinese also choosing to get to Alishan via this route instead of joining their counterparts with the big tour group coaches.  Bus tickets are bought when you board, so get your money ready. Some of the passengers just couldn’t bear to put their big fat hard case luggage in the bus compartment and lugged them onto the crowded bus. 

 

The bus journey to the Alishan terminal takes about 2 hrs, climbing slowly up the meandering road but being a big bus, the nausea effect is less than that of a speedy car or minivan. The bus made a rest stop at a small village midway up the mountain road. Along the way we saw many tea houses and tea farms decorated along the road. This is the famous Alishan Oolong tea and the prices can range from few hundred NT to NT1000-2000. Welcome to the home of Taiwan best grade Oolong Tea.

 

Bus loads of tourist just after the park entrance

The bus that we took did not bring us all the way into the end point bus terminal located inside the Alishan Forest Park right in front of the 7-eleven convenient store ( used to be Family Mart, well they seems to be constantly switching owners), but stopped short just outside the National park entrance. Everyone has to alight to purchase entrance tickets into the park. I didn’t read this information on the web and so was something new to me.  The bus terminates its service at the park entrance but proceeded into the park after everyone has left the bus. So out there with light drizzle, we queued for the tickets. Even for a weekday, a long queue was there but the waiting time wasn’t that bad. I think we queued for 20mins before getting our tickets and walked pass the booth. 

Within the Alishan Recreation Area town centre

The walk to the Alishan tourist area (bus terminal) was a short one. Couldn’t remember the distance but it was not that far.  All the shops, eateries and bus terminal is all located in the same area, encompassing a big car park lot for car owners.  Tea houses, local stir fry, souvenir shops, post office, police station and the forever crowded 7-eleven. I am always amazed by these convenient stores in Taiwan, They are everywhere and when there is demand, there will always be one of them. Bus tickets for the descend can be bought from these 7-eleven place. Sometimes it is better to book your tickets for the next day to go down. Of course there are taxi that will charge a higher price and normally they will pool and wait till their profit margin is met before driving off. For us for the descend as some of our friends needs to back to the airport and so we took the hotel offer for the transport service to send us back to the Chiayi HSR.

For those that read about the little train (小火車) to see the sunrise the next morning, please get your tickets the afternoon before the next morning trip. The tickets tend to be sold out fast if you intend to wake up early in the morning to get the tickets on the actual day itself. Of course if you have the morning leg power, you can do the 1 hr hike along the forest path (well maintained stone steps) to the Jhushan (祝山) sunrise viewing station.

YingShan Hotel

We booked out accommodation at the Yingshan Hotel (櫻山大飯店 ) just a short distance away from the bus terminal. This is value for money place to stay for its proximity to the food, transport and it is located inside the park. The hotel may not be as well maintained as the big hotels you find in the big cities, but at least the cleanliness and the staff was friendly and helpful. Central heating turns on only at night when it is very cold and for a short duration only. So do bring along some warm clothing for sleeping if you go there in the colder months. There are quite a fair bit of Minsu located outside the park and you need to arrange for transport to bring you to the park. Getting back maybe easier as there are buses leaving Alishan park but my suggestion is stay within the park so that you can walk around as and when you like. Some of the minus are located along the road that leads to Alishan, there is really nothing, as in nothing near some of these minus. Getting food and getting around cis very difficult. There are other hotels inside Alishan National park; the most expensive and highest standard in terms of room looks and facilities is the Alishan House (阿里山賓館). 

For our late lunch, we settled it in one of the stir fry shop.  The term stir fry (快抄) means quick fry in plain translation. It is a shop that serves local food that is prepared immediately out of Chinese wok; Dishes of vegetables and meat stuff are common. The price at Alishan is higher than back in the cities but the price is still reasonable and considerably cheap if shared with a group of friends. But the choices in this small little “town” of eateries are limited. Maybe the skills of the chefs will set the differences.

Columns of cypress trees along the walkway

Cherry blossoms in late spring

After lunch we brace the little drizzle and started walking within the park itself after dropping our bags at the hotel (not check in time).  We took to the wooden walkway besides the tar road and just follow the tourist directional signs to the attractions. It was end April and we were told it was still the cherry blossom season, and yes we went to see the cherry blossoms. It wasn’t full bloom as we were nearing to the end of the season but there were still quite many of them still attached to the trees. Get a map from the hotel that you are staying will help to make your walk easier. There are cases of visitors lost their way in the park in the early morning when trying to get to see the sunrise at Jhushan (祝山).

Signage near the Zhaoping Station

Close shot of the cherry blossoms

For the inconsiderate visitors.

 

We only managed to walk a short distance to the next train station (ZhaoPing Station) within the park before the rain got heavier and we were forced to seek shelter. There is a tourist train (the big red train that was showcase in Taiwan tourism website and many posters throttling along both rows of pink cherry blossoms) that ply within the park itself for the day. The train service for the morning sunrise at Jhushan only runs in the morning to bring visitors to the viewing station and back; after which the service will be stopped leaving the ones that ply within the park.  We waited for the rain to stop before making our way back to the 7-eleven store at the town center to get our dinner. Dinner for the day was those big bowl of instant noodle coupled with tidbits and beverages. I am attracted the variety of convenient store beverages like milk teas and juices. So we had a mini little dinner session in one of the rooms with chitchats and TV.

Dinner of yummy instant noodles and drinks

 

Day 2: Touring Around 

The weather forecast wasn’t too good for us for the day. But at least the skies stopped raining but everything was gloomy and grey. We used the map given to us by our hotel staff and made our way touring the park itself.  The park was actually a small mountain village. Even though it is a fee paying park, there are residential houses within it, with schools and temples as well. The tourist trade has helped to develop the area and allow the locals to benefit from the trade.

We did what the tour groups would do and went around each of the attractions stated in the map. Every morning, the hordes of tour buses ferry many mainland Chinese tourist can be seen at the town center.  The alishan forest walking was quite calming (if minus away the noisy tourists) even with the grey skies. On a clear good day, the tall green trees would definitely be much attractive to visitors. These trees are thousands of years and there are a few of them near the school which was packed with tourists. There is not a place there that you can find a spot to take a picture without them getting into the photograph.  

View from the walkway platform near Zhaoping Station

No rain but cloudy day

A tree roots cave

Stone steps within the forest

  

 

We went to the Two Sisters Pond (姊妹潭), and really waited for quite a while to get into taking a picture of the pond with the words inscribed onto a monument there. There is a climbing path to the highest summit in Alishan area which is the Datashan (大塔山) reaching 2,663 meters.  Which is just next to this two sister pond. A climb on this trail could take up 6 hrs to and fro. But it is definitely worth it on a good weather day to see the surrounding Alishan Mountains from there. And to stay away from the noisy crowd. 

The Two Sister Pond

Closer view of the straw pavilion

 

Chinese Temple within the park

Sovernir & snacks stalls near the temple

Signpost near the temple

The Thousand Year Cypress tree

The tree has lightning conductors at its side to prevent strikes

The Alishan Museum (near the 1000 yr cypress tree)

The Alishan House (Hotel, most expensive in Alishan)

The little red train, famously found in Taiwan tourism advertisements

Train approaching.

Come afternoon time, as mentioned on the internet, you more or less can have the whole place to yourself after the loads of tour buses left Alishan.   We had our lunch again with another stir fry shop, ordering something different. After lunch we did not know what to do next and seeing a lot of time to spare, we did the 1 hr hike up the trail to Jhusan station.  Well, there wasn’t any train service anymore to Jhusan and so we just do a bit of calories burning.  The light hike requires a fair bit of leg power as the path cuts across the winding road which service trucks will ply to get to Jhushan. 

 

Afternoon sun coming in to lighten up the forest path to ZhuShan

Steps & more steps

Another 1km to the Zhushan Station

 

Train service not running at this time of the day (afternoon)

We had a bit of sun as we walked along the path going to Jhushan but heavy mist started settling on us. When we reached the Jhushan station, there wasn’t a soul in site. The station was closed, the stalls that lines the station was also closed. And with the bad weather coming, no one would come here like the 4 of us. But when we started to make our way down, there was a couple strolling up the road to the station. 

Row of close stalls at the ZhuShan station

A sign board at the deserted ZhuSan Station

Making our way down back to town.

Back at the town centre for dinner

 

We were back at the town center around 5pm and for dinner, we had something different. Hot pot in one of the hot pot restaurant. The setup was more modern, comparable to shops in the cities. It was ala carte and each of us ordered our portion but the hot pot stove was shared.  There wasn’t much to do after dinner and the town center area was all the entertainment you can find. There was a small market area at one corner with just one or 2 stall selling stuffs you would find in the big night markets but that area seemed does not seem to catch much of the tourism economy.

Day 3: Leaving Alishan

Better weather on the day we leaving Alishan

Today is the day we bid farewell to our friends who were flying back home as me and my wife continue our journey to our next location. We booked with our hotel the ferry service to send us back to Chiayi HSR station. At 8 am, the minivan picked us up and once again we went through the same winding road but at a faster speed back to the station. Again there were times when we started to leave the weather started to improve. The morning sun clear away the mist and after so many days we saw the sun as we drove away from Alishan. For me and my wife, our next destination would be CingJing. 清境( our 2^nd visit), and so we took the HSR at Chiayi and dropped off at just one station away at Taichung HSR. You can refer to the other blog post on “Motor Biking to CingJing” that I would also be writing about.