I don't know how many times I've said that I'll never wake up early for the sunrise. It's cold, dark and always such a climb! Yet I still do. And if we didn't miss the train down, we would not have gotten this shot, seen the thriving flora, or find out how they paint CHINESE characters on the road. There is value in taking things slowly on vacation!
Lest you be misled by my photos, here's a disclaimer to say that, there are tons of people heading for the sunrise on Alishan. The train was so packed it was crawling and I didn't (or couldn't) take photos. But worth it? Very much. Just maybe don't buy a round trip ticket to and fro Chushan Station if you want to take your time to enjoy the sunrise and to feel the forest waking up. In fact walking down to the next station is quite scenic. In fact, we would have missed many sights if we simply took the train. By the way, I forgot to mention: It was COLD at 5.30 am!
My breakfast while awaiting the sunrise
Then the sun starts to peek out from behind the mountain ranges and it is always so surreal!
The guide was pretty entertaining, if you can understand Mandarin. He mentioned that we were lucky to have a clear view of the sunrise and it's true indeed! Oh and do help yourself to a cup of honey or citrus drink and try (and buy) some invigorating tree oil or essence.
A Tokyo Cherry Tree
Wandering off
By then we realised that we missed the train and had to walk down. Some signs along the way, some helpful, some not so helpful, some for the trains, some for the pedestrians
The forest is super easy to navigate, follow either the tracks, trails or roads.
A lookout point
The Chaoping Park
Back at the train stations
The flora on the mountain is so pretty, but I'm not surprised - Good Water, Good Air, Good Soil. Some grow naturally yet some were spotted at the workers' dorm.
The road sign reads "rail road". And I'm so lucky I managed to see these men hard at work. I'm impressed!
So they draft out the Chinese characters with chalk first before using paint.
A bear-dog on the way down.
I guess this means goodbye Alishan and hello Kaoshiung!
More pictures are available on my Flickr (simply click any photo).
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Beautiful. It was always too early for me to get up.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean! Sunrises are early... And dark. And cold!
ReplyDelete