My Taiwan Trip

1
My Taiwan Trip

• 26.12.04 - 01.01.05
• Taipei - Changhua - Sun Moon Lake - Alishan -
  Tainan

2
Taipei - Changhua - Shuili

• The first stop of my trip was in Changhua. Its
  3.5 hours away from Taipei by train.
• I had 2 hours before changing into another train,
  so I had just time for some lunch and to visit
  the Giant Buddha park. The statue is 22m high and
  weighs 300 tonnes. Behind there is a big temple
  and some beautiful gardens.
• I was lucky to escape Taipeis clouds!

• Later a little train brought me to Shuili, where
  I spent the night. Its a little city close to
  the famous Sun Moon Lake. Nothing very exciting
  otherwise!

3
Sun Moon Lake

• The biggest lake in Taiwan, enlarged by a dam. At
  760m above sea level and surrounded by mountains.
  
• As the lake is really big, its difficult to
  sightsee the area without a vehicle. Luckily, one
  volunteer at the tourist office kindly offered to
  drive me around.
• There are temples, the big Pagoda, some walking
  trails and above all, a magnificent view.
• Well, its a good breath of fresh air and a
  peaceful place to escape crowded Taiwan.
• provided that you have the chance, as me, to
  visit it during the week and off season, of
  course!

The big Pagoda
4
Puli

• Later, the same volunteer drove me to another
  city, Puli. This place is notorious for having
  heavily suffered from the 921 earthquake (1999).
• We visited this huge Buddhist monastery. Its
  very impressive! The inside is full of giant
  statues.
• I heard that you can even pay to stay there for
  some days and live like a monk. However I dont
  know if you have to shave your head or if they
  accept couples...

• Puli is also famous for its wine and other
  alcoholic beverage production.
• At this place, everybody was eating ice cream.
  So, I also wanted one and I naively asked for the
  chocolate flavour. But, of course, there was only
  the special red wine ice cream! Interesting
  taste!
• I had some headache in the evening, though its
  still not clear whether it was because of the ice
  cream or because of the bus ride that took me
  back up to the mountain again...

5
Shuili - Chiayi - Alishan
Day 3

• My third day was again a day of train.
• I left Shuili in the morning and I had to change
  train at Ershui station. There, I first sat in
  the wrong train! I knew that my train was on
  platform 2 however platform 2 has side A and B,
  and I logically sat in the first train that
  arrived.
• I could get off the wrong train on time, but the
  right one had already left. Luckily another came
  not too long after.

Shuili

• From Chiayi you can go to the Alishan, the
  mountain resort. I had hardly got off the train
  that 2 or 3 older ladies jumped on me, shouting
  Alishan, Alishan! They wanted to make me book a
  room in one or the other hotel over there. At
  that time my only preoccupation was to get a bus
  ticket to Alishan, the cheapest and fastest
  option. They told me no bus today!, which of
  course I didnt believe. I managed myself to the
  bus station, but the information was confirmed.
  The ladies where still around me and had by the
  time lowered the price of the room by half.

Ershui station
6

• Back at the train station, another one proposed
  to take me there by taxi and share it with 3
  other people. I had to pay in advance and wait
  for one hour, the time they find 3 other people.
  I was naturally a bit suspicious. After 1.5 hour,
  I was still waiting and also feeling sick. I
  could finally take my money back and instead, pay
  for the little and only train a day that goes up
  there.

• This little train to Alishan is very famous the
  3.5 hours and 70km ride brings us from 37m up to
  2200m. The train crosses 50 tunnels and over 80
  bridges.
• The most interesting is to see the changing of
  vegetation. At the beginning, the tropical
  forest, then from 800m to 1800m the subtropical
  forest, and finally the temperate forest (mostly
  cypresses). And its amazing to still see forest
  above 2000 or 3000m!

• One time, because of railroad works, we had to
  get off the train, walk for a few minutes and
  take another train uphill.
• The temperature had already cool down.

7
Alishan

• This journey by train was finally a very good
  choice!
• We arrived to Alishan at 5pm, just at the time of
  the sunset. The mountains scenery was beautiful
  and there was a big sea of clouds below us.
• At 2200m, my Swiss heart could at last feel some
  winter climate!

8
Sunrise at 3000m

• You have not been to Alishan, if you didnt stand
  up to watch the sunrise.
• The hotel minibus took us to the Yushan National
  Park at 6am. This National Park hosts the highest
  mountain of Taiwan, Mount Jade (Yushan) 3952m.
• It was cold and windy, (no snow however) and we
  could enjoy a breathtaking panorama!

9

• And what is every tourist doing up there?

• But soon, everybody was driving back to Alishan,
  and the majority probably returned to sleep right
  after. I packed my stuff and started a little
  trail in the forest, in the middle of huge
  cypresses.
• The area was almost desert and again I was happy
  to be there off season. Later at the tourist
  office, I could see a little movie with crowded
  Alishan. Thanks God, I did not experience that!

10
Tainan
Days 56

• I spent my 2 last days in Tainan by Shirley. She
  is a Taiwanese girl that I met last summer in
  Geneva. She drove me around the whole city.
• Tainan was the former capital of Taiwan and has
  some remains of the Dutch settlement going back
  to the 17th century.
• The city is also full of temples. We visited the
  oldest Confucian temple in Taiwan (right photo).

11

• You probably wonder where I spent New year s
  Eve
• Well, for sure I was not in Taipei at the 101
  Tower inauguration ( the highest tower of the
  world, for those whore still not familiar with
  this name).
• Instead I participated to the count down in a
  Tainan new Protestant church with Shirleys
  sister and friends, after listening for more than
  one hour to several pastors speaking in the
  Taiwanese dialect. Why not?!

• Some conclusions of my trip
• Central and South Taiwan get more sunshine than
  Taipei.
• A lot of Taiwanese people didnt know that it was
  possible to visit these tourist places by using
  just public transportation.
• Travelling alone enables you more to speak
  Chinese with whoever. I improved my speaking a
  lot during this week.
• Some people doing business with tourists are very
  aggressive. But others are very kind and just
  keep apologising for their poor English. No
  problem, I can speak Chinese! (meiguanxi, wo hui
  shuo zhongwen)
• Taiwan is not Switzerland but has still some
  beautiful mountain regions.
• And, I will never eat sweet potatoes again, they
  definitively make me feel sick!!