Taiwan Trip, Day 5

Seeing the sunrise in one of the big touristy things to do at Alishan—there’s a special place to view it and you can take another small train to a peak called Jhushan, every morning, in the dark, and then wait for sunrise. This was what I did. The place was absolutely ridiculously packed! There were a huge number of tourists there—all crowded around the main viewing platform. I couldn’t even get a spot on the rail! I got a decent spot on a little staircase though, and waited for sunrise.



The sunrise was very beautiful, and it was fun to wait for it with all the other Taiwanese people—there was a cool sense of anticipation.



However, in the end, it was just a normal sunrise. The view was glorious, but the sea of clouds was not present this morning. I suppose in a way it was just as well, because we got a beautiful view all the way down the mountain, over the forests and tea plantations.

After the sunrise finished rising, a man came up and started selling his dried fruits and nuts. He put on quite the show, and it was very entertaining. I sampled some random tropical looking dried fruits and then headed back down the path. Rather than taking the train, I wanted to walk.



The walk was pleasant and surprisingly almost deserted—in fact, I almost got lost because there was no one else there! I went down through the forests, took a brief detour for another nice viewing spot, and ended up by another train station I didn’t know the name of. I eventually found my way back to the main village and returned to my hotel.

I inquired at the desk and found that, to my joy, the nice boy from the hotel had gotten me a ticket! I triumphantly paid my bill, packed up my bags, and headed to the train station.



The train itself was quite the adventure! It is really tiny—the train is just two seats across, with one on each window and an aisle down the middle, so everyone has a window seat. The ticket has a hilarious map on it, as you can see. Yes, that is the train`s route. It takes 4 and a half hours—2 hours more than the bus—because the traintracks have such a complicated and strange pathway. At one point, the train actually goes backwards, like it is doing a 3 point turn, in order to get around a particularly sharp curve.



The views were very impressive, and I enjoyed the strange little train a lot.



When I arrived back Chiayi, I bought a ticket onward to Tainan. Unfortunately, I said the name of the town wrong and the man selling tickets sold me a ticket to a similarly named, but far away town. Luckily, I realized this before I got on the train, but unluckily, I missed the train. Near Chiayi station, there was a tourist information booth and the people inside spoke English. I told the lady my tragic tale and she very kindly escorted me to the ticket counter and negotiated for a proper ticket. Unfortunately, there were no seats left for that train, so I had to get a standing-only ticket, but I still appreciated what she did so much! She was yet another very kind Taiwanese person who went out of their way to help me. On the train, I leaned against the wall and read my book until we arrived in Tainan. I didn’t have a reservation here either, so I went to the hotel Lonely Planet recommended, and they had a room for me, luckily enough! The room was a bit gross and had a weird hole in the wall and no windows (!) but hey, it wasn’t that bad! It was en-suite and very cheap, anyways, and I didn’t see any bugs. I explored the shopping area of the town a bit, and then went to sleep.