19th September

We woke up very very early this morning because we had to catch the earliest HSR (6.30 AM) to Chiayi. I think we woke up before 5AM! 

We took a taxi to Taipei Station because the earliest Metro only starts at 6.00 AM. We were still being charged a night-time fare which costed us around NT$ 195 :/ 

If you're going to Alishan (and I would totally recommend it to anyone), it's better to do a thorough research on the must-dos, transportation and accommodation and be sure to plan really well before you go. There were a lot of travel blogs giving advice on planning Alishan trip so be sure to read them.

Now, transportation to Alishan was a bit complicated because there was limited transportation available and we had to coordinate the schedule carefully so as transportation to and fro each checkpoint connects perfectly.

First, I had to decide where were stopping. An Alishan trip usually includes Alishan National Park and also Fenqihu 奮起湖. Alishan National Park is the main attraction and Fenqihu is just a small town located halfway on the route to Alishan. Most tourists will stop by at Fenqihu to try the famous Fenqihu Railway Bento 奮起湖鐵路便當. Heard that it's very tasty.

And one of the main attraction of Alishan is the Alishan forest railway, particularly the train that takes passengers up to Fenqihu. Last time, the train could take passengers up until Alishan station but after a natural disaster damaged the railway years ago, now the train could only reach Fenqihu. The mountain view during the ride was said to be scenic, more so on the ride uphill than downhill. It's definitely worth the ride although it's more expensive (NT$ 384) and takes a longer time (2 hours and 20 minutes) than taking the public bus 臺灣好行大巴. However, there is only one train that runs uphill everyday at 9AM. I think on weekends and public holidays there will be three trains that are going uphill at 8.30AM, 9AM and 9.30AM if I'm not mistaken. Also after reaching Fenqihu, you have to make sure you have transport to go Alishan. There were only a few buses going uphill after 11 AM when you reach Fenqihu. If you miss the last bus then you'll have to take the expensive private cars.

It's important to reserve tickets early because the tickets sell out very fast. Tickets can be bought online through their official website with a valid Taiwanese ID only, or bought at a few train stations in Chiayi only. Yeah, so it's quite tricky to get a train ride uphill to Alishan. 

These are the official websites to buy tickets and also search for more information:

Website to buy tickets (which I used to check ticket availability only)

Information website

So, I didn't buy the tickets early because I didn't have anyone staying at Chiayi to help buying the tickets. But I didn't lose hope on getting train tickets. I was still willing to take the leap of faith and rush to Chiayi train station to see whether I can still get tickets at the counter.

Haha so yeah, if you absolutely must take the Alishan forest train uphill, you have to arrange the rest of your schedule according to the train schedule. 

The fastest way to travel long distance on land like from the North to the Central region of Taiwan is via the High Speed Rail (HSR) 高鐵. Collecting tickets at the counter was a breeze as there wasn't a long queue in the morning. The staffs were also more friendly than those in normal train stations. Finding platforms was also much much easier than for normal trains. We took the earliest HSR train at 6.30AM from Taipei Main Station to Chiayi HSR Station 嘉義高鐵站. The HSR ride took 1 hour 15 minutes and costed us NT$ 860/ticket.

I topped up our Easy Cards at the Family Mart @ HSR Station to make sure there's enough balance for the bus fee if needed. Take note that in Chiayi, the HSR station and train station 嘉義臺鐵站 are located far from each other, they're not at the same place like the Taipei Main Station where its a hub for all kinds of transportation.

Therefore, we had to take taxi to get to the Chiayi Train Station from HSR Station which costed us NT$ 390. Yeah, very expensive. The taxi ride took around 30 minutes I think? There was a cheaper alternative which was the BRT buss but I thought if we reach the train station earlier means higher chance of getting tickets? If you didn't want to take the Alishan forest train, you can just take the public bus from HSR station directly to Alishan.

When we reached the train station around 8.15 AM, a Taiwanese aunty approached me and asked if we wanna get a ride up to Alishan (just as what I read on other people's blogs). I just ignored them and head straight to the Alishan forest train counter located left to the train station entrance. There was one old uncle buying ticket at the counter and another tourist couple queuing next in line. I thought that must be a good sign showing tickets were still available right? 

However, when it was my turn, I was told that there was only one ticket left. Arghhhh, so close. While the ticketing staff very kindly explaining to me on how to take a bus to Alishan, one uncle asked if I wanted to take one ticket that he's going to return. I was like, no, I need 4 tickets. Arghhhh, I didn't know what I felt at that moment. After all that efforts of planning and travelling, we missed it. But we were so close! If only my mum and sis didn't take so long at the washroom at HSR station, we might just be one step faster than the couple in front of me in the line, we might just have chance to get all four train tickets to Alishan. Haih, there's no "if only". 

I didn't want to stay in Chiayi the night before because I thought there's nothing much to do in Chiayi. Maybe it would be a better idea because I would have the chance to buy train tickets at the train station one night before.

After that, I would have to change to Plan B, which was taking the bus. We just decided to wait at the bus station because we didn't want to miss it. Not a minute we stood at the bus station, an uncle on a walking stick already approached us and suggested us to take his bus to Alishan. He said that we would have to wait another 40 minutes for the next bus and he could bring us up now. I politely refused him because I still wanted to visit Fenqihu but his ride would take us directly to Alishan only. Besides that, I already knew that he was one of those private transportation company that would charge expensive fee.

OK Now I would start ramble about the unpleasant encounter with this uncle. So skip it if you're not interested haha.

But he didn't give up just like that. He kept trying to persuade me by keep telling me we had to wait very long for the bus, and the bus would drop us at the park entrance and we had to walk to our hotel. He also suggested that I can take the Alishan train downhill the next day and stop at Fenqihu. But I was skeptical. I didn't really trust him from the way he speaks. And the arrival time of bus that he kept telling me was different from the schedule I searched online. But I didn't know for sure whether there's any updates in the schedule. After some quick rescheduling of my plans and comparing his price to the bus price, I decided to just take his bus because the weather looked so good at that moment. According to the weather forecast, there would be rain or even thunderstorm in the afternoon at Alishan every day. So I figured if we go up earlier, we may be able to spend more time in the park. And he offered to give us a ride to Alishan at NT$ 300 / person, which wasn't a big difference from the bus ticket fare I checked online (NT$ 240). And I decided to give up Fenqihu coz I think it's just a town like Jiufen or Shifen.

I confirmed with him that we could depart now and he said there's already two customers waiting at his vehicle. So, we followed him to his vehicle. We had to cross the road and walked some distance to reach the place he parked his vehicle. It was actually a mini bus, like a van. Then, I realised there was nobody in the bus. He started to load our luggage in his bus but I confronted him, asking him where were the two customers that he mentioned. He said they're drinking tea somewhere nearby. =_= What the... then we asked him what time can we leave, he said just give them 10 minutes. I felt very very suspicious at that moment and I asked was he sure that we could leave after 10 minutes because just now he said one thing and now he said another thing. Then I said if we couldn't leave now then just forget it we would just take the bus and I wanted to go back to the train station to wait for the bus. He tried to prevent us from going back to the bus station and he said the two customers were already coming. =_= Without even answering phone or anything, he could lie JUST LIKE THAT. I almost snapped at him and said I couldn't take his ride anymore coz I cannot believe anything that he said. He was still trying to keep us from going back to the train station but my dad said why not we wait at for the customers at the train station together instead of waiting at the parking lot because we wouldn't know if the bus arrived or not. The uncle was still reluctant to let us go back to the train station but we insisted lol.

So, we went back to the train station to wait for the bus. And the uncle kept babbling beside us =_= we just ignored him. Then, an aunty who I believed worked for the same company as the uncle brought two Chinese tourist girls from China towards us and the uncle said we can leave already. By that time, it was already 9.30 AM =_=. 10 more minutes and the bus would have arrived. We followed him anyway since we already promised him that if he can make sure we leave before the bus arrives then we would follow his bus. Lol it seemed that that two Chinese girls also felt suspicious of that uncle like scare he would con us. When we were already in the car, I actually still felt worried that we would be conned.

End of rambling haha

The ride was quite long that it took us around 2 hours. I think just like what the uncle claimed, it took a shorter time than taking the public bus. During the ride, I started to relax from the unpleasant incident that just happened because of the scenic view along the way. I guess we didn't really miss it all from not being able to get on the Alishan train. The uncle as driving quite fast and fearlessly on the mountain roads. I guess that's why we reached Alishan faster than taking the public bus.

When we reached the park entrance, we were required to pay an entrance fee as expected. But I got a shock when we were asked to pay NT$ 300 / person because I was expecting to pay NT$ 150 only by using the discount for public transport users. Then I realised I miscalculated on this part... this private bus was not considered a public transport. And the uncle very conveniently didn't mention this to us. The two Chinese girls was also shocked that it's different from what they read online. Haih... by that time we couldn't argue anything so we just paid the full amount to get in. But luckily, the uncle did send us to the doorstep of our hotel. But actually the hotel wasn't that far from the entrance. It was just a 5-minute walk at most =_= And our hotel actually provides shuttle service if we inform them earlier.

Anyway, we dropped our luggage at the lobby first because it was only 11.30 AM. The check-in time was 2 PM. After dropping off our luggage, we started our Alishan exploration. 

Yeah! Finally can write about the Alishan trip that I loved the most about this Taiwan trip!

Our hotel was located in the hotel area where most of the hotels were and it's just a 5 minutes walk away from the tourist information centre, shops and Alishan train station.

First, we had our lunch at one of the random restaurants before doing anything else because we were starving. We had some typical Taiwanese dish which tasted okay at affordable price. Then we went to the tourist information center to get some tips on how we should explore the park. The park wasn't that big, but it would take a day or so to visit all the places. The lady at the tourist information center suggested us to walk through Zhaoping Station 沼平火車站 until Shenmu Station 神木火車站 and then take the Shenmu Line forest train 神木缐 back to Alishan Station 阿里山火車站 because the roads to Zhaoping and Shenmu were fairly easy to walk whereas the road back to Alishan Station was a uphill one.

Very useful map of Alishan park that I got from the tourist information center

Before we start exploring the park, we went to the train station to find the counter that sells the tickets to Chusan 祝山 for sunrise viewing the next morning. I knew that they only start to sell tickets from 1PM to 4.30PM and we were still early but I just wanted to make sure first. And BTW they only sell tickets for the next morning. So I made a mental note to myself to buy tickets before 4.30PM.

And then we started our exploration of Alishan!

First of all, I must say that the weather was unexpectedly very very lovely that day! The temperature was just nice for me. Cold but comfortable. The sky was cloudy I think but didn't look like it was gonna rain. Some parts of the park were a little foggy but in a good way. I personally thinks the fog made the place more magical! When I was planning this trip, I already prepared myself for the worst case scenario, which was raining whole day while we're in Alishan. This was because the weather forecast predicted rain every afternoon at Alishan! But we were very very lucky! Not only the weather was good, I managed to get some nice photos too! And I took a lot videos too but I'm not sure when will I start editing the videos lol.

I was so excited to explore this magical forest when I first stepped into the entrance coz the air was so refreshing and OMG THE TREES WERE SO BEAUTIFUL! Nothing like those we usually saw in Malaysia. But on the contrary, my parents couldn't wait to sit down to rest. We just started! Maybe they were exhausted from the climb at the stairs a while ago.

I was in awe with the cypress trees there.

Walking beside a forest railway was quite cool too. If you're lucky you might just see the train pass by beside you. I think Alishan forest railway is one of the few forest railways that's still exist in the world.

While walking pass Chaoping Station 沼平火車站, we found a spot in front of the station which was perfect for railway photography haha

Tall treessssssssss

We reached an area where all the weird trees were.

Dad =.=

Pretending to be hiding from rain =.=

Alishan's forest was a mossy forest I think.

Trees everywhere

Railway

The choo choo train at Chaoping Station

Can even see the fog around the train.

Passing by Chaoping Station

Railway in the forest

Walking in the forest

Fog comingggg

Another weird tree

Shouzhen Temple 受鎮宮

Our last stop was at this temple. We still have one main attraction area which was the Shenmu  神木 that we didn't visit but it started to drizzle around 3 PM and my dad said we better take the shuttle bus back to our hotel. I was a bit sad but I wouldn't want anyone of us to get sick in case the rain gets heavier. The bus ticket cost NT$ 50 per ride regardless of distance.


Argh who knows by the time we arrived back at Alishan Station, the rain stopped =.= But my parents seemed tired so we didn't go back to the park again.

We went to the 7-Eleven to buy breakfast for next morning. We bought some instant noodles and snacks for supper that we ended up didn't eat that night and some bread for the next morning. I spotted this alcoholic drink that I saw somebody drinking in the train the day before. The fruity smell attracted me and I thought it would be a sweet alcoholic drink that I like, judging from it's packaging design. But boy I had never been so wrong. It was bitter as hell and the fruity taste was like cough syrup =.= It's also a very big can wtf... had to force myself to drink!

Very bitter alcoholic drink from Japan! NT$ 99

Our hotel was nice. It looked more like a homestay than a hotel lol. But it did have a reception counter and shuttle service so I guess that qualifies as a hotel? As for the hotel fee, the hotel deducted half of the fee from my credit card few days before the check-in date and the balance was paid in cash during check-in. Total cost was NT$ 2800.


Accommodation: Wankou Hotel 萬國別舘


Here's my review on the AirBnB：

If planning to watch sunrise, this is a good place as its just 5-10 min walk to the Alishan train station. Also near to the restaurants. There is a bit distance from the place where the bus drop off passengers, but this hotel can arrange shuttle transport. Also provides breakfast buffet voucher at a restaurant nearby. Delicious Traditional Taiwanese Breakfast


That night was the first night in Taiwan that was relaxing for me. The first two days were stressful because we kept chasing schedules and at night I had to start thinking about the next day although I was tired as hell. That night though, we all coop up in our warm blankets, watch Taiwanese drama while eating snacks and drinking Taiwanese beer, like we had all the time in the world. Ahhh what a night... But on that night as well, I got bitten by an enormous mountain mosquito that kept me scratching the whole night and possibly the whole week! It also left hideous scars on my legs for more than a month!