Our morning started with a final meal from our Shizhuo tea farm bed and breakfast. We enjoyed some tea from their farm and the same food items as the night before. They also had a machine that would fry you some eggs that looked like an old school scanning machine. We had never seen one before and thought it was very cool. After a relaxed morning we hopped in our taxi for a short 45 minute drive that took us to our next hotel in the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area.

We did not realize it when we booked, but we were in Alishan during a big holiday. Everything was fully booked so we felt lucky we had sorted everything out ahead of time. Due to the holiday no other accommodations were available except for the Alishan Hotel. This is a historic hotel right in the park that was definitely nicer than what we were used to, but ended up being a very fun experience. Can’t stay at cheap places all the time! Our room was in the historic Japanese building, which they’ve built the modern hotel around.

The area was very pedestrian friendly, which we enjoyed. Nick and I got lunch at Shan Bin Restaurant, a cute establishment near the 7-Eleven and postal office. Each booth had its own window with a wooden frame and flower pots. We shared several dishes including wild boar stir fry (our favorite), fried pork belly and tofu stir fry, rice, durian hand pies, and smoked plum juice. It was all yummy.

Our first day there happened to be the day they run the antique hinoki train that has a cypress interior. It runs on the Zhaoping/Chaoping Line so we took that all the way to the end station. The train was full so we were happy we got tickets ahead of time and lined up early. Inside it smelled wonderfully of wet wood and the views were of the cozy misted forest.

Once we arrived to the end station we quickly headed off on our hike to try and avoid the crowds. Near the station is the Shuishan Giant Tree Trail which is along an old railway line through the forest. We had it all to ourselves the entire way in to see the giant tree. It was an incredible hike with tall thick trees. We could understand why the Japanese loved the area for logging, which was the original purpose of the railway lines.

We combined this hike with Shuishan Healing trail and did them both as an out and back. This is when we started to see a few more groups of hikers. It seemed the most popular tourist type was domestic. They were always very polite and happy to welcome us to Taiwan. In total it took us 1.5 hours. We lucked out on our way back to the trailhead as the forest started to fill with mist, making it all the more magical.

There were many hikes and areas to explore near the train station so we meandered in the area. First we walked Zhaoping Park and then the Cherry Blossom Sky Walk. There were not many cherry blossom in bloom as we had just missed the peak, but it was still a nice sky walk.

We followed a longer trail through the woods where we saw the sister ponds. The Younger Sister Pond had reflections of the forest and the Elder Sister Pond had a nice pagoda. The forest was misty, which, in case anyone reading can’t already tell, we enjoy a lot.

The trail led us to the Mangolia Garden, which had many flowers, water features, and a path that led all the way around to give views of every angle of the opening. There were not as many flowers as there are in peak season but it was still beautiful. Next the trail opened up to the Alishan Shouzhen Temple. The temple was beautiful with a similar design to ones we saw in Taipei. I enjoyed a mango ice cream while taking in the view.

Continuing along the path, we did part of the Giant Tree Boardwalk. This took us past Xianglin arch bridge and Zhouzi (boat) bridge. A highlight was the Shenmu station which was on the other side of the stone bridge and near the dam. The train station is situated in a thicker forested area. The mist was incredibly thick, making the station seem haunted.

We continued along the many path options eventually making our way to Ciyun Temple and the sunset viewing platform area to see if we thought it would be a good spot for after dinner. As it turns out our hotel had a rooftop that had panoramic views of the forest so we opted to do this every night after dinner instead of hiking back down the trails.

Dinner was wonderful the first night. The crowds from the holiday had not arrived yet (that mayhem would be tomorrow). The hotel dinner was buffet style with some options in a made to order area. Some of our favorites from the first night included the salmon and bacon fried rice, spicy mussels, bamboo shoots, whitebelt fish rolls with wild mushroom sauce, stir-fried abalone with basil, chalo creek shrimp, scallop fries, vegetables, and the watermelon. There was also all you could drink tea, coffee, and a variety of fun juices. Nick tried the plum and I opted for passion fruit. I enjoyed the scoop it yourself ice cream freezer.

The following morning was an early wake up. The area is famous for its sunrises so at 3:30am we made the walk to the Alishan train station in the dark. The sunrise train departed at 4:30am and we had our tickets already, which meant we got a nice spot in line. The train ride was a fun experience, but we didn’t actually see very much as it was very dark. Once we arrived at Zhushan Station we saw many stalls selling tea eggs, tea, and pour over coffees. The region is famous for its tea, but the coffee they grow is also quite nice according to Nick. He enjoyed his pour over Alishan coffee, and I enjoyed my hot chocolate.

Thinking we would be leaving the massive crowds behind, we walked further away from the train station sunrise viewing platform up to the Mt. Ogasawara 360 view of platform. Us and 100 other people had the same idea. The clouds were thick and we were worried for a few minutes that it would all be for nothing. Eventually the clouds parted enough to show a beautiful sunrise. Our view included forest and many layers of mountain peaks in front of us. The colors were dramatic and the clouds lower down made the sunrise look like a painting. I was happy I was filming and taking photos throughout because it changed quickly. The hope was to see the ‘sea of clouds’, a phenomenon where the clouds are thick and heavy between the mountains, looking like a fjord with clouds instead of water. We felt it was partially successful, but we didn’t get the full effect.

After the incredible sunrise we started the hike back down the mountain which started by following the road downhill. We checked out the botanical garden area on the way. It was nice, but seemed to be about the same as all other areas, which we found funny. A highlight was our visit to the Duigaoyue train station. The views from here were fabulous. There were many flowers, and the mountains looked like a postcard. If we had had the energy to do another sunrise the next morning (spoiler alert: we did not), we told ourselves we would come straight here.

Finally we made it to the Zhushan Sunrise Trail which we took back to Chaoping train station following by a short walk to our hotel. Finally it was time for our hotel breakfast. We enjoyed hash browns, fried chicken, steamed John Dory with fermented black beans, and pork steam buns.

After a quick rest we did the Tashan Trail which is 3.7km straight up a mountain. It was hot and humid, which made all the stairs very difficult. We saw a Formosan laughing thrush, which was a cute looking bird. The views at the top supposedly include many mountains but it was just the inside of a cloud when we made it. We’ve experienced that before, so we’ve had practice not being disappointed.

After the Tashan Trail we made our walk back to the temple area to enjoy some ice cream cones. The trail was completely different than the day before. There was less mist and so many people. This was when we clued in that there must be a holiday happening. We were happy we got to experience the park both when it was quiet and when it was busy. The picture to the right was from the same spot the day before. I can tell you it did not look like this the day after.

After watching a monkey eat clover as fast as it could, Nick and I went to the Giant Tree Boardwalk Trail to complete both areas we had not been to yet. The boardwalk was nice and highlighted many notable stumps and large trees. We enjoyed this section of the park. It was a big walking day, though, so we were happy when we got to rest a bit before dinner.

Dinner was a madhouse. The night before we just walked up and grabbed what we wanted, no need to wait behind anyone. This night we needed to wait in a very big line in order to grab anything. Some favorites were roast lamb shank with mashed potatoes, scallops in tomato sauce, noodles, and vegetables. We did our after dinner rooftop visit and then went to bed. After our jam packed two days we slept great. Alishan was well worth the stop, holiday crowds and all.