Taiwan Trip: Alishan - Getaway to Greenland

CHIA YI (嘉義)

This little town is 99km away from Taichung. The reason to transit at this part of the country is due to its proximity for our next pit stop: Alishan. Checking in at Ron Gong Hotel (1300 yuan for quad room), we had a quick bite at Wen Hua Night Market which is about 10 minutes walk from our place.

Google Maps calculated the distance from the city to Alishan is 60km. We thought, oh, we could reach the place in one hour. However, the friendly old lady at our hotel mentioned it would be a 2-hour car journey to get there due to hilly road. The thought of seeing sunrise was sort of aborted almost immediately as the sun rises at 5.30am, meaning we need to depart by 3.30am, that excludes the hike. Regardless, we were adamant to make the trip happened (we didn't plan for the sunrise in the first place).

Alishan (阿里山)

"阿里山的姑娘美如水呀

阿里山的少年壮如山"

"The lady of Alishan is as pretty as the water,

The guy of Alishan is as strong as the mountain"

My friend has been humming this song after knowing Alishan is included in our itinerary. Had dumplings for breakfast at opposite of our hotel, checking out and we started our journey uphill. No kidding, the road is pretty steep with sharp turns, one shall not speed here. The view is very scenic but I have to pay attention to the road most of the time (me and my friend took turn to drive and it happened to be my turn to driving on the day we are going up the mountain). Paying an entrance fee of 200 yuan each, we arrived at the destination after 2.5 hours of driving. The temperature drops to 16 degree Celcius there.

The place is well-equipped with amenities: Bus Station (you could actually use bus from Chia Yi to get up here. There were plenty of buses when we were on our way up), restaurants, souvenirs shops and 7-Eleven (Oh, 7-Eleven is almost everywhere in Taiwan. No matter how small or big the city is, you won't fail to find them around). Stocked up our bag with necessities such as snack and drinking water, we began our little hike. 

阿里山的少年

阿里山的姑娘

Friend's attempt to blend with the nature

Sun Moon Lake is not included in our overall Taiwan itinerary. However, we did come across a number of lakes in the park, well, not as enormous but it still does the job. We picked the route that led us to Cao Ping Garden which eventually brought us to this Sister's Lake.

The sisters

Walked further along the lake and up the hill would bring you to Cao Ping Train Station. The train provides shuttle service to and from Alishan Station (the place we parked our car). One can actually ride train from the city to Alishan too. From what I read, it cost 400 yuan per way.

This train is believed to be of the same specification as it was before World War 2.

We were informed that Zhusan is the popular spot for sunrise view, 40 minutes walk from the train station. However, since it was already 2pm and the mist was rather thick in which we believed we couldn't see anything anyway, we agreed to detour half way when we came across another view point.

Can't help but to take photo with the railway

Waiting for train that will never come..

Final pose at Chao Ping Garden before heading back

We didn't make it to the peak but we spend around 4 hours enjoying the greenery of Alishan. I may not know how to differentiate the types of forest but I still could feel the distinctiveness of Alishan compared to our tropical rainforest. Being an amateur hiker, I should come back next time to conquer the peak for its sunrise.

We rejuvenated ourselves by having cup noodles at 7-Eleven before getting to our next destination, which is 130km away.

Tainan (台南)

By the time we reached Tainan, it was already close to 8pm, just about right time for dinner, which is our initial intention anyway. We were guided by a local friend to try the food around the city. He claimed that most of the famous Taiwan food originated in Tainan, for it used to be the capital before being taken over by Taipei. We didn't go to night market but went to the specialised shops instead as recommended by him.

 

Wan Guo (Meat-filled rice pudding)

The sweet pudding blended with the meat, it is quite an appetizer

Guan Cai Ban (Toast served with seafood gravy)

A unique combination, I must say

Yu Geng (Fish served with gravy)

The gravy is viscous and tasted fishy. I guess I was a little full that day to enjoy this meal.

I found myself already felt full after having 3 courses of meal and concluded my dinner with a cup of Guan Yin Milk Tea. We called it a day when we checked in at Kaohsiung (40km away from Tainan).

Taichung → CHIA YI → Kaohsiung/Kenting → Hua Lien → Jiufen/Shifen/Yehliu→ Hsinchu → Taipei

Taiwan Trip: Taichung - Tapestry of Colours

Taichung (台中)

Landed at 9.00am after 3 hours flight from Kota Kinabalu, we hopped onto U Bus from Taoyuan International Airport (Fare: 30 yuan) to get to Taoyuan High Speed Rail (HSR) Station to board onto their fast train (Fare: 570 yuan) to Taichung. Comparing to bus journey which may take around 2 hours, the train ride is just less than an hour. HSR tickets can be purchased online in advance for cheaper rate or can be bought over counter or at self-ticketing machine at the station. There are two types of tickets: reserved and non-reserved seats. Non-reserved seats are relatively cheaper but there is a risk that you might not get a seat due to peak hours but the journey between the cities are rather short and hence there is always a chance to grab one when the passengers hop off at subsequent station.

Upon our arrival at Taichung, we settled our car rental with the dealer in which we have made appointment earlier via online. 8500 yuan for 8 days is a good bargain. The dealer was kind enough to lend us one of his phone Sim card so that we can use it for internet while we travel around the island. Subscribed unlimited internet package for 500 yuan, our road trip kicked off pretty smoothly. 

One thing is to get a car but it's a different matter to drive it around. The traffic rules are completely opposite of what we used to in Malaysia and there has this weird left turning rule. That excludes the fact that there are many motorcyclists to watch out on the road and abundance of traffic lights. After a while, we are kind of getting a hang of it.

Checking in and settling down at The Enterpriser Hotel (1725 yuan for quad room) at 3pm, our Taiwan adventure begins.

Rainbow Village (彩虹眷村)

22 minutes drive from our hotel, this village is believed to be painted by a retired soldier. In the beginning, the old chap only painted his own house and eventually, spread out to the neighbourhood. The beauty of his work has prevented the government to abort their plan to demolish the place. It's free to enter this area. The village is quite small which can be easily covered in an hour.

We welcome you to Rainbow Village.

 The famous wall for photoshooting.

 There are rainbows on the tar road too.

Gao Mei Wetlands (高美湿地)

Driving for 36 minutes to catch the sunset at this spot but apparently it was already too late. Sun sets pretty soon at this part of the earth, at this point of time. It was rather cloudy and very chilly as the sea breeze blows. Still could enjoy the view of wind turbines by the beach. If I recalled it correctly, some of these wind turbines are damaged due to recent typhoon.

You could actually step onto the wetland.

Yours truly enjoyed the cold wind and the view despite of missing the sunset

Fenjia Night Market (逢甲夜市)
As the night falls, it calls for dinner and hence we headed back to the city for our very first night market. Before we could get off our car, it was a challenge to find parking as we weren't familiar with the rules which eventually cost us 200 yuan to park at designated area (portable double-storey car park). Parking caretakers seem to be doing a good business there.

Exiting to the main road, a stream of unpleasant smell rushed us through and only then I realised smelly "tofu" is a thing there. The smell was rather repelling and I couldn't comprehend how one could ingest to begin with. I didn't even give it a chance to try. Nonetheless. we tried plenty of snack as we stroll along the market.

 Sausage comes with rice cake and pepper

Porky serves with sauces and vegetables

French fries served with vegetables (one of us is a vegetarian)

Translated to English, this is called "Massaged chicken" and the texture is really soft!

Other than food stalls, apparently Taiwanese are pretty fond of arcade and games station as you can spot quite a number of them throughout the market.

Flower Market  (中社觀光花市)

Had our breakfast at the hotel which is inclusive in our room package, checking out and we proceed to Flower Market at Zhong She District.

 

Windmills in a flower garden, are they trying to imitate Keukenhof, Netherlands?

 

Flower girls

There has this piano in the middle of Lavender field for you to take photo with.

 Spotted a bee collecting nectar from sunflower, I think

To be honest, this garden is smaller than I thought it would be as the literal translation of the chinese name is "flower city". Even so, the flower arrangement is still quite a sight. The garden is accessible with a fee of 60 yuan.

Xin She Castle (新社古堡)
38 minutes away we visited another garden which is located at Xin She District.

Overview of the main garden

 A European-theme garden in the mid of Taichung

Goddess of Fountain (seem to be promoting my blog)

The iconic old castle of the garden

Apparently, there is no real history behind this garden. Loving the landscape and is a good spot for photography. Entrance fee is 250 yuan (personally I think it is quite pricey).

Xin She Mushroom
Had a fair share of adrenaline rush when we played go-kart for 200 yuan before having our dinner. Xin She is famous for its mushroom. Abundance of mushroom farms can be seen when you are going around the area.

This fried mushroom is rather scrumptious and the texture is like meat (and look like one too).

Bidding farewell to Taichung and we head to our next destination.

TAICHUNG → Chia Yi → Kaohsiung/Kenting → Hua Lien → Jiufen/Shifen/Yehliu→ Hsinchu → Taipei

Taiwan Trip: 欢迎光临

"超级星期天! Super!"

Recalling one of my childhood memories watching their entertainment shows (Super Sunday, Guess, About Romance etc.) and drama series, listening to their songs which are often sung by my peers during our karaoke session and the country becomes more prominent when their tallest building dethrones our dear twin towers. Sharing history with mainland China, Taiwan is in my Oriental countries bucket list to be ticked off, which has been done recently.

Me and the girls at our first pit stop

No visa is required for a visit of 30 days. Currency that is in used is New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) or the locals are more comfortably to call it "yuan" for simplicity. Exchange rate is MYR 14 for 100 NTD and this is valid during my visit back in early September. The notes come in 1000, 500 and 100 whereby coins go by 50, 10, 5 and 1. The weather was rather favourable during our trip: sunny during the day and gets chilly but still bearable as the night falls. No major showers and we were told there were minor earthquakes in which all of us happened to sleep through them. Taiwan shares the same time zone as Malaysia.

There was no shower from the sky but there was this fall we immersed ourselves into.

3 hours flight from Kota Kinabalu, our trip spanned for a total of 11 days and 10 nights: staying at 8 different accommodations, driving for more than 1000km, cruising through almost all the counties (and spending almost all my money). Landed at Taoyuan International Airport, our trip kicked off in Taichung and we went further south to Chia Yi, Kaohsiung and finally Kenting, the most southern part of the country. The journey continued along the east coast, one of my favourite ride, passing by Taitung to Hua Lien, stopping over at Jiufen and went to Hsinchu before concluding our trip at the capital.

Each city offers different experience which shall be narrated in a short while. Our itinerary comprises both indoor and outdoor activities, makes this getaway a rather happening one. To top that, it was my very first experience to drive overseas, other than getting acquaintance with a totally opposite traffic rules (till now I was still confused mistakenly turning my wipers on when I intended to put on light indicators).

Miss this black transporter which accompanied 80% of our journey.

Undoubtedly it is a Mandarin speaking country. Their accent/slang is more comprehensible compared to China. All the signage are in Mandarin but in major cities they do come with English translation. With our proficiency in speaking and reading Mandarin, there is hardly any constraint in communicating with the locals (and talking like locals).

The roadway system in Taiwan has to be one of the best in the region where all the counties are well connected which makes our road trip relatively convenient. The view, on the other hand, is another eyes-pleasing experience. What impresses me the most is their ticketless toll system. There is no toll station at all the entrances and exits of the highways.

Follow us on this incredible 10-day journey:

Taichung → Chia Yi → Kaohsiung/Kenting → Hua Lien → Jiufen/Shifen/Yehliu→ Hsinchu → Taipei