Alishan, where you can kiss the clouds

Alishan was a place we had been interested in visiting for a long time but had never really gotten around to. The occasion of Erin's (Andrea's sister) stay with us mandated for getting up into the mountains. We live very close to the coast and so showing Erin the beach here was easy. But we couldn't let Erin leave the country without experiencing Taiwan at elevations greater than 100 metres above sea level, especially not when mountains are so central to the character of Taiwanese geography and at the heart of conceptions of Taiwan in general.

I've circled Alishan on the map above. To say that we went to Alishan is actually pretty vague and requires a bit of clarification. Alishan could refer to: A) The Alishan mountain range ("Alishan" in Chinese literally means "Ali Mountain"); B) The Alishan National Scenic Area, which is like a national park; or C) The township of Alishan. We caught a bus from Chiayi to Alishan township up in the mountains. The scenery on the way up was a wonderful reprieve from the flatness of Tainan.

And when we got to the top we found beautiful mountain vistas, cool fresh air, a different range of flora and fauna, and ... Starbucks. And a giant car park. Oh well, it wasn't a great surprise, just a disappointing inclusion within a beautiful setting.

We had booked our accommodation before we left Tainan and after a couple of queries we managed to locate our hotel down the hill from the main car park. Our room was fresh and light and didn't smell of stale cigarette smoke. Incredibly, the temperature was cool enough that we could lie under heavy quilts and feel very comfortable. Back in Tainan we would have been sleeping on top of our beds with the fan blowing on us all night. The temperature up here in the mountains had the effect of rapidly energizing us, or so I found.

We left our hotel room to do a bit of scouting about before the day's end but first we needed some nourishment, and what better place to find nutritious nourishment than the local 7-11. We consumed some nourishing drinks, pumpkin seeds, and baked snacks which fortified us against the demanding ramble that was to follow.

I think the wall upon which this mosaic resides is part of the wall that defines the boundary between the township and the National Scenic Area proper. We had passed through a checkpoint and paid an entry fee for the national park on the way up in the bus. Erin and Andrea could be sisters in this photo. I guess that's not as surprising as the implication that they might not be sisters in other photos.

We found our way to one of the two Giant Trees Trails within the park. These trails take the pedestrian sightseer through some magnificent stands of very tall trees, the cypress being notable among these. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan from 1895-1945 the Japanese constructed a railway line from Chiayi up to the Alishan range to make logging of the cypress here feasible. Today the same railway line is famous as the Alishan Forest Railway, the red engine of which has become synonymous with Alishan and appears on all manner of related advertising and paraphernalia. The walk trail was fantastic. It was so refreshing to be among such tall trees and the air smelled of living things.

Erin and I stand in a shaft of sunlight that cuts its way through the blanket of shadow covering almost everything at ground level. This felt like a real forest.

On our walk-about we took a path through a grove of cherry blossoms and found this view of the clouds smothering the mountains at the end of the day. It was a beautiful evening, a world away from Tainan.

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The following morning we took the famous Alishan Forest Railway down the mountains to Chiayi. You pass through three climatic zones (some sources claim four zones) on the way down and there was a noticeable change in vegetation as the train descended. However, there was also a noticeable change in our opinion of the forest railway as we realised that it was quite loud, clunky, and not too comfortable. The whole journey from Alishan to Chiayi took some four hours (including the short hike from one rail line to another halfway down the mountain) and we were more than happy to alight at the end of the journey.

Inspiring views on the way down compensate for some of the discomfort of the old train.

The end of the line in Chiayi and relief for us all as we are able to experience the joy of walking again. You can see that famous engine behind us.

Our trip to Alishan really broke up our routines, both practical and psychological, and allowed us to exist in a very different space for a weekend. Andrea and I want to return to the area and hike the Fenqihu trail but there's no word yet on when the Forest Railway or the Fenqihu trail will reopen after being damaged by Typhoon Morakot.

A few links: Forestry Bureau site, really nice National Scenic Area site, the Wikipedia site.

Andrea's sister comes to Taiwan

In July Andrea's sister, Erin, came to visit and stayed with us for over two weeks. It really is great to have someone from home come to visit so that you can share your home away from home with them, although when you come from places like Canada and Australia, Taiwan is more like a world away from home. When we get the opportunity to share someone else's first experience of Taiwan it prompts us to see things anew again and consider our environment from an outside perspective, something that we wouldn't usually do due to the amount of time we've spent living here and our habituation to the environment. All of the amazing and interesting things here in Taiwan have become normal for us but of course for someone like Erin, visiting for the first time, things are... just... similar but different. Anyway, we had a great time having her here and I'm sure it was a great experience for her.

Erin paid a visit to Andrea's school and talked to the children in Andrea's class. Not having been there, I can only assume that Erin was talking to them about her work with the Emergency Services in Canada and not teaching them about the differences between North American and Taiwanese fashion.

I wasn't present when the girls got their massage either but I'm sure it was a very positive aspect of the cultural experience.

Here we are at a local night market. I've just purchased a mixed-fruit juice from the juice stall next to us. You can buy all sorts of night-market snacks in these places and you can also find cheap clothes, shoes, and accessories besides other knick-knacks and random things. Taiwanese people seem to love to be where everyone else is so these places can get very crowded and sometimes a little overwhelming when you're shuffling along behind the person in front of you trying to get from point A to point B without being jostled about too much.

Here's Erin on the grounds of one of Tainan's many multifarious temples. This one is very famous and very old; it's called the Confucius Temple (that should probably be Confucian Temple but who am I to argue with what they call their important places of worship). I think I remember that this place was also a school for Confucian scholars. I don't know whether to capitalise Confucian or not but I think I might err on the side of caution and give it a big C.

And here's a temple roof. Temple roofs are works of art and some are covered in highly detailed and intricate decorations. Going by what I've seen they often portray the deity or entity being honored, usually in the process of doing whatever it is that they are renowned for doing.

Erin returned to Canada after a busy couple of weeks with us. I'm sure she now misses Taiwanese style ice teas and being able to go to the beach. Taiwan sure is an interesting and challenging place.

Nothing in particular

I haven't posted for a while because we've been too busy to do any of the sorts of things we would take photographs of and so, my blog usually being photo-driven, I haven't been motivated to post. However, while it may not be pretty to look at, a few significant things are happening in our lives at the moment.
For a start, Andrea's sister Erin is in Taiwan for three weeks. I think her main motivation for coming here is to spend time with her sister but it also gives us the opportunity to show someone else around Taiwan (well, Tainan anyway) and eat out a lot.
The world games are on in Kaohsiung right now, conveniently a 45-minute train ride away from Tainan Rail Station. There will definitely be photos from the games up on my blog later. The international sumo wrestling was very interesting; I had no idea there were Australian sumo wrestlers.
My school's graduation show is on in two weeks and a week after it is over I will be flying to Australia to invest two weeks with my family who haven't seen me for quite a while now.

That's enough for now. I have only just discovered that HowStuffWorks.com includes videos on their site. I'm going to finish the one I was watching about New Zealand's geography.