Alishan trip, Taiwan: Day 2

Wake at 4:20 and walk to an Alishan railway station. We take the train to a sunrise viewing platform with a bunch of other people crazy enough to get up that early.


It's bloody cold out waiting for the sunrise.


Alishan is famous for its sunrise and sunset.





It wasn't anywhere near spectacular, however, that's probably because the clouds weren't cooperating.

Post-sunrise, we walked around the forest.

There are only two other trains in the world like the mountain-venturing Alishan Forest Railway. (The others are in Peru and India.) The train runs from Chiayi at an elevation of 30 metres to Alishan at a maximum of 2216 metres. In one section the track winds around a mountain three times to climb higher. In another section the train track zigzags to permit a climb or descent.



The railway passes through three types of forests: temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical. While riding the train it was odd to see pines on one side and bamboo on the other. There were many cherry and magnolia trees as well.


Happiness from Golden Pig:


Shoujhen (?) Temple:


Wasabi:



After our walk, we took the train back to our hotel area.



Lunch and several hours later we took a train to Fenchihu. The place has "Lake" in its name, however there is no lake there. The area looks like a dust pan, and so the name deceptively goes.


Old street:


We hiked on a few trails by town.


After a long upward climb with the promise of a shrine, we arrived at this. There's not much left to Fenchihu Shrine. It was built by the Japanese during the occupation.



It was unclear and took so long to get to the Divine Tree. We wondered if there really was a tree there at all, or if there would just be a spot marked where the tree used to be.



Bus to Chiayi. Train to Zhongli. Arrived late at night. Pooped.