Alishan, Day 1

In our 2 years here, our travel has centred around the train hotspots in Taiwan. Last June, we visited Taiping Shan to ride the Bong Bong train. In Dec, we saw the historical roundhouse in Changhua. I thought it was time for us to pay tribute to perhaps the most famous attraction in Taiwan - Alishan, to pay tribute to the iconic forest railway.

Alishan means 'Mount Ali'. It all becomes a bit confusing when Mummy tries to answer the 'Are we there yet?' question because there is no mountain there called Ali. Alishan covers a mountainous area which boasts several mountains (none called Ali). The name is derived from the name of a tribal chief, Abali. When out hunting with Abali, the aborigines never went home empty handed. Hence, Abali was revered among the aborigines and they named his hunting ground after him. When it became too much of  a mouthful, they shorted it to Alishan. (retold from memory, with poetic licence). On our trip, we explored the Alishan National Scenic Area (ANSA) and spend about a day in the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area (ANFRA) within the ANSA.
Unfortunately, about a week before we were scheduled to leave. The little forest railway was derailed by falling tree branches, killing 30 Chinese tourist. The little train service was suspended and remains suspended today as I write. It was a major disappointment for us but we were so looking forward to the trip that we proceeded anyway.

The Alishan National Scenic Area website is a great resource although the news has not been updated since 2010. I can't help but conclude that the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan is not actively encouraging people to visit Alishan. As I went along the trip, I understood why. Large stretches of Provincial Highway 18 leading to the ANFRA, damaged by Typhoon Morakot in 2010 are still being repaired. We saw signs of fresh landslides along the way. Twice, we came to roads that had collapsed and had to turn back and change our plans. It was scary.

So, lets get to our trip.

There are several ways to get to Alishan. The Taiwan High Speed Rail connects to Chiayi. A cheaper option is the ordinary train by the Taiwan Railway Administration or buses from Taipei. In Chiayi, one can transfer to buses or trains to the ANSA and ANFRA. A large number of visitors take advantage of this excellent public transport arrangement. Erm..we chose to self-drive for various reasons - I am a detailed packer and didn't want to risk leaving the kids' toilet seat on the train and my husband is a control freak who addresses himself as 'The Captain' (of his vessel).

We started off on a wet and smoggy Monday morning following a map provided by Mr. He, our favorite airport limo service provider. We decided to forgo the GPS at this point, as our device seem to have a penchant for small country lanes. Our route was National Highway 1, all the way to Yun Lin --> Provincial Highway 78 to Gukeng --> National Highway 3. It was somewhere along National Highway 3, that our GPS started to show its fetish for the narrow country lanes again. Somewhere around Jhuci, we found ourselves going up a small winding mountain road. The mist was coming in fast although it was around 4pm. Suddenly the little mountain road came to an end. Up in front was the remains of a road, broken and we could not see beyond that for the mist.

Ew became really worried. My son is an expressive worry wart. He worries out loud. That's my husband's gene, I know. I am the stoic, let's project an optimistic front type. My palms may be sweaty, my heart may be pounding but my lips are sealed. My son needs certainty. At his point of his life, he gets that from us. To see us hesitating, calling, stopping, turning back. That's outside his comfort zone. I want his to learn to be mindful of this as he grows.

At this point, I called our accommodation for the first night and found to my dismay we were off course. We had to head to Provincial Highway 18. We shifted the sails and turned back. In actual fact, the road was too narrow, we had to reverse down it. But as the mist cleared so did our spirits. We whooped when we saw this.

Well kids, we are sort of there

Well, it was another hours drive Shizhou, near where we were going to stay. It is within the ANSA and just outside the fringe of the ANFRA. Staying outside the ANFRA is cheaper. It also gives you the base to explore the attractions of the ANSA. There are many hidden gems.

We decided to make an impromptu stop when we spotted a train engine. We were getting fatigued having been in the car for about 5 hours. I have no idea where this is. If it is any help, the name starts with the Chinese character for bamboo. It was a fun 15 minutes piss stop.

The road started to get windy and my dear son became queasy. While his sister glugged down a bottle of milk, he puked up the little green Skittle and whatever liquid left in his stomach. Poor chap. It was quite impossible to stop. The mist came in again. Traffic up the mountains was heavy.

There are very few petrol stations in the ANSA. Consult the ANSA website for the locations. When in doubt, top up your tank as we did in Shizhou.  Finally arrived at our destination for the Day 1 - Lauya Restaurant and Guesthouse. Read my review of Lauya on Tripadvisor.

A balm for the weary travellers



Our room - second one from the left



Magnificent mountains showed themselves
when the mist cleared in the morning

Frogs were everywhere - we counted 8 hopping around us at night.
There were fireflies across the main road and in the slopes behind.

Ready to call it a day, we were disappointed to learn that the cooks at Lauya were away tending the farm plot. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, we were very happy with our dinner that evening. About 10 minutes drive from Lauya, in Shizhou we found a gem of a restaurant. They have an English menu. We feasted on tea oil chicken, tofu, mountain vegetable. Our hostess was warm and efficient. During our trip, we went back a second time. To my amazement, she remembered what we ate 2 days ago and which table we sat at. That is customer delight !

This is it ! Pardon my inability of read Chinese.
It is along the main road in Shizhou,
opposite Hi Lite. Tel: 05-2562732

 To be continued....