Day 3: Travel up the Alishan mountain

No Taiwan trip is complete without seeing the Famous Alishan Sunrise, up in the mountains, over a sea of clouds.

On day 3 we left for Alishan, on a bullet train from Taipei. It was Prasha's first bullet train ride.

One can get as much as 35% off if booked a train ride 28 days or before.

Refer this website for more details.

They dont let you wander on the platform but it is more like waiting for your plane to dock at the gate number at airports. There is a waiting area and you cant even be there to see the train leaving or entering the station. 

We had left the luggage at the Taipei hostel.

To get there you need to travel towards Khaosiung in the HSR or High Speed Railway.

It is a long journey towards Alishan.  We took the 8:36 AM THSR to Chiayi from Taipei. 

The train reached at 10:00, our bus was at 10:10 just outside the station. Tickets on board.

The Chiayi HSR is 15 km outside from the city but is connected by a free shuttle bus to the city.

Also there are 3 buses in a day for Alishan direct from the Chiayi HSR station.

More details here .

Once on the bus we dozed off. It is a winding journey through hilly area. The air starts getting chilly as the bus  negotiates steep slopes and climbs up the atmosphere.

Cherry blossoms are seen in February in Taipei for about a week. So in April, Alishan was our last hope to see the famous Sakura or Cherry Blossoms in Taiwan.

We got off the bus and head straight to the hotel Alishan Shermuh Hotel .

It was time for a quick dip in the hot tub! We had been travelling for over 2 hours now and it was really cold outside. The clouds were floating at line of sight...

Once refreshed we headed off to the attractions of Alishan mountains. Sister ponds was the main attraction in mind. The Sacred tree line was about to dispatch in another 40 min.

All other restaurants were out for Tea and hence not open for business!

 So we headed to the 7-11 nearby.
They have vegetarian noodles! They provide sitting place and hot water for free.

The destination station.

The sister pond is at a little walking distance from the station.

You are not alone.. people accompany you. But it is still eerie in the jungle even in the day time.

The scenery on the way:-

Sisters pond

The pig 

The  ❤ shape of a fallen tree

Walk back to the main town...

Thats me at work!

A chinese temple on the way back.

The beautiful sunset in the mountains

Local Wasabi produce

Shopping for local farm products.

When we reached the town it was already dark and restaurants were serving early dinners.

We bought the tickets for the next day early morning train. It is wise to do so because otherwise you have to wakeup even earlier to book the tickets. 

We bought another veggie noodle at the 7-11 and retreated to the hotel to enjoy another hot water tub dip...
Life was never so beautiful before.....

Reaching Taiwan!

Passports !✔

Visas ! ✔

Taiwan currency ! ✔

Hotel Booking printouts !✔

Onward flights booking printout!✔

All set to fly to Taiwan!

It was an early morning flight to Taipei...

Changi airport was not that busy...

The flight left at 7 AM

We reached Taoyuan airport Terminal 1 by 12 PM. The airport was like a big prayer room, with tall sloping roofs, looked liked made of bamboos tied together.

Once out of immigration, there is a Sim card counter at the floor 1(ground floor). Image courtesy:- fellow traveller

  There is a convenience store at the basement on the way. If you are hungry then you can cook the ready to eat food offered by the shop. There are tables on the right for quick bite. Recharge yourself and your electronic gadgets at the charging points. The bus ticket can be bought before boarding the bus.

The bus station is at the basement; Bus no 1819 goes to the Taipei main station.

The buses are frequent and comfortable. An hour's ride over the tallest highways I ever saw in my life!

Source

We reached Ximending in time for lunch. Had our ready to eat Indian packet at hotel...

The 7-11 s in Taiwan allow you to use their microwaves for heating your food. So you can buy your favourite snack there; heat in your own microwave safe box and continue your trip. We had bought the ready to eat packets of Indian food at 2 SGD each.  The scenes from hotel windows here.

The Taipei MRT map looks something like the below. Source here

We soon headed for Taipei 101 as it was approaching sunset. But to our disappointment they had closed their west gallery and there was still one hour waiting time in the line. We decided to chuck the idea of going to the top. Instead wandered around to absorb the atmosphere.

Below is the Ximending Night Market....

We stayed at the Smart Hostel (Ximending Taipei).

It was a pleasant stay considering it is not a hotel. However the home like feeling  with home like fitting....

Sleep took over once I was done ogling at the Taipei 101 seen from the hostel room on 13th Floor.

A Short Taiwan and South Korean tour..

For those who interested to know where is Taiwan, see the map below.

I never heard any of my friends mentioning travel to Taiwan or Korea before.
But budget airlines do go there from Singapore.
So one fine day in December 2013, I said to myself why not....

There were different kinds of questions asked when i told someone about my plans. Like, where is Taiwan? Is it in China? Which Korea are you going to? What is t he food that you get there?

Most of them didnt knew where these countries are on world map, neither did I few years back. So why not see these places and come back with stories, bring back a piece of time I spent there to share with my extended family... I liked the idea...

The visa process was very simple.

Fill up and print the the Taiwan Visa Online form.

The South Korean visa rules in detail here.

I had to submit the forms with the letter from employer and my bank statements that I receive in my snail-mailbox.

The total process takes about 3-4 days. So allow yourself to plan well in advance.

Also the Taiwanese tourism authorities give goodies for people with Confirmed air ticket and accommodation reservations. Why not check these before you fly there too?  

Are you flying to Taiwan too?

Now the important part of planning is when do you travel there. The Spring and autumn are my most recommended times for anything above the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn. These are distinct seasons which can be enjoyed for a brief period of times near the topics.

So I chose the spring.... Start of April it is.... More to come in further pages....