Taiwan: Alishan Forest Recreation Area - Ruili (阿里山国家森林遊乐区 - 瑞里）

*continuing from Taiwan: JiuFen - Pingxi (九份-平溪)

The lights came on, the bus came to a complete stop, I woke up from my sleep thinking “Where are we?!!”

It’s Day 3 in Taiwan but our erratic schedule make it seems like a dream. It took me a few moments to reset my mind.

"Oooh, it’s not a dream, I am in Taiwan and we just arrived AliShan via overnight bus." (TIP # 1: Click Here to get full list of things to do/transportation/ weather forecast/ accomodation in Alishan National Scenic Area)

Map of Alishan

Heck it’s almost 3am in the morning. T.T Sooo Sleepy.

As soon as I got down from the bus, the chill in the air woke me up! It’s freezing cold!! 

I shivered my way to the ticket office and it’s not open, yet! *&$#($@)#)@!

Until, around 3.30am, the staff finally let us in. 

I learnt my lesson:DO NOT go to Alishan in Short Pants and Tee! (Tip # 2)

Ideally, you'll need long pants, sweater, scarfs, gloves and SUNGLASSES (for watching sunrise)! Otherwise, you can buy a cheap one at TWD 20 (Rm 2). (Tip #3)

Useful Recommendations (Tip # 4):

 We board the first scheduled train to ChuShan  for Sunrise (祝山线). According to the guide, the weather wasn't good in the past 2 weeks, but he guaranteed a clear sunrise today! (We are really lucky! ^^ ^^)

 Useful info (Tip # 5):

 Long queue for Train tix!

 Waiting for the Train!

There is no luggage locker here, so if you have luggage along (like us), head up to their first floor office, the staff will take good care of them. (Tip # 6)

It takes 30 mins to travel from the tix office to ChuShan (祝山). It's even cooler here! *shiver* Luckily, hot food and drink can be bought here!

Here comes the moment we are waiting for:

Cloud sea!

Dawn!

Put on your sunglasses! 

Here comes the yolk! lol!

Do not stare into the sun, it does hurt!

A quick photo of us! :) :)

Good morning! ^^ ^^

That is one magical moment! ^^ ^^ (So glad I spent it with you, my dear)

When the lights shine onto the earth, bringing a hue of blue colours to the sky, the birds welcome the new day with its churps and declare a brand new day in Alishan!

Hello world! It's beautiful here! And did you seee the Red Dragonflies at the  top right corner? There were actually a lot more, but our camera only manage to capture these few.

And hello to our 阿里山的姑娘 Hahahahaha!!

He was feeling cold in his shorts so I gave him my Sarung! LOL!

According to the guide, there are 3 treasures of Alishan:

1) Alishan Red Cypress tree

2) Alishan Honey

3) Alishan Tea

I am holding the Cypress tree where the Cypress tree volatile oil behind is extracted from. 

It's sold at 2 sets of 3 for TWD 1000 (average of Rm 16.70/pc).  I forgot it they got free stuff boh, since Kenny was the one who bought that. 

I bought 1 sets of 3 Cypress Tree volatile oil with 2 jars of Alishan Honey for TWD 1000.

Stars denotes Treasures of Alishan

Remember to check your train departure time or you'll have to hike down the hill (which would take 1- 1.5 hours). (Tip # 7)

Here comes the train! *stood and wave goodbye* It's so pretty to watch the train chugging by from the top, it just made the whole place even majestic!

Love greenery too, it made me feel at peace. :)

Mother nature has made Alishan so spectacular!

As we hike down the hill, the cypress tree along the road gave off a heady scent. Yay~!! Extra bonus! *chest circles*  (Cause Taiwanese believe that Cypress trees are sacred and its scent do them plenty of good.)

The air is so revitalizing, I felt like I was doing a spa in the forest LOL!

Photo of Us! ^^ ^^

Long story short, if you're not fit enough or didn't have a good sleep the day before (like us), it's better not to do it lah~ 

Cause half way through, zombie mode was on and were dead tired (don't play play, hike 1 -1.5 hours leh).

There is no train/bus/car passing by so the only way out is to keep walking. 

How did we make it down? 

Cheeky me!

 By thinking of the reward, of course!

 This is what Taiwanese called it '龙须菜' (Long Xu Cai). It's a local veg.

But I think it's a clone of our local Paku. Taste exactly like ti too!

 三杯鸡 (San Bei Ji) - which the direct translate in english means '3 cups chicken'. Reason being, during cooking process, 1 cup each of Soya sauce, Cooking oil and Rice wine is added, hence the name '3 cups'.

Jiap baba jin ho kun (hokkien)! We took a short nap at one of the B & B. (Tip # 8: Ask for REST rate (休息) - it should cost < TWD 500.)

After recharging, we bought a return tix from Alishan (阿里山) to Sacred Tree (神木) for TWD 80.

 Super love this retro shoot!

 Journey to Sacred Tree (神木)

 Here we are!

 In front of the train station is a gigantic fallen tree. Wow!! No wonder it's called sacred tree. Trees here are huge!

Photo uf our fingers! hehe, leaving our fingerprints here!

 Photo of us!

 I'm like a midget in front of the giant tree!

A 'Us' photo with one of the giant tree!

That's Red Cypress tree number 34, aged about 800 years, 26 meters high, hahaha I don't know why they call it '胸围' (breast diameter). LOL. It sounds like they wear bras. LOL!

 After we crossed this suspension bridge, we came to this temple.

I find it weird that in Taiwan, meat stalls are allowed outside the temples! In other parts of the world, it's actually seen as disrespectful to the God.

I love this pond next to the temple. With such turquoise colour in the midst of the forest, it just seem so poetic. 

The black dots are tadpoles

 Ahhh~ so nice!

Just when we were intoxicated by the beauty of the nature, we overheard a conversation between a grumpy tour guide and his tour group.

Tour guide: *RAGE* WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE PEOPLE!! THIS IS THE MOST TIRING GROUP EVER!

Tour guide: 倒霉！！

Tour guide:  WHY DO YOU ALL NEVER PAY ATTENTION TO ME? 

His group: CAUSE YOU ARE NOT HANDSOME ENOUGH!!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!! Does it make it to Joke of the day? LOL!! 

A photo of us in front of the amazing 三代木 (Three Generation Tree). 

It's said that the first generation was 1500 y.o, 250 years after it withered, a new tree started to grow on it  (2nd Generation) and 300 years later the 3rd Generation. Hence the name Three Generation Tree. (BTW, I am showing my index finger not middle finger)

This is it! Alishan Sianglin Sacred Tree! 

*checklist ticked*

We hopped on a bus to Jiayi (嘉义) (Tip #9: you can buy it at the Convenience Store, if not mistaken it's 7-eleven, otherwise use your Easycard (悠游卡). Make sure you have enough credit, cause we got scolded (yes, scolded) with insufficient credit. Re-loadable at any Chain Convenience Store.)

Okay, this is probably the hardest bit! - RENTING BIKE in Jiayi! ( I mean motorbike lah)

From Jiayi (嘉义) there are public transport to Ruili (瑞里) but that is not what we op for.

We only brought clothes we needed for the next day and lock the remaining into a locker. (TIP #10: make use of the locker (in main bus and train stations) esp on bike trip)

It's hard for foreigner to rent a bike nowadays in Taiwan. According to the bike owner, the reason was if we got a fine and they are at the loosing end. 

But keep looking! Cause we successfully found one after the 4th attempt! :) (Tip # 11: You will need at least 125cc bike to head up to Ruili (瑞里) cause it's pretty hilly there)

Yay! Let's make the move!

Off to Ruili (瑞里) -  where mushroom glows and fireflies fly! 

:) 

What did we do in Ruili (瑞里)? It's up next weekend!

And that was what happened on 1st of June! :) :)

*Next: Taiwan: Ruili (瑞里)*