阿里山日月潭二日游（上）
24 Jan 2011 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mayoraaseiSo a while ago I went on a tour of Alishan and the Sun and Moon Lake over two days. It was probably the only proper sight-seeing I've done in Taiwan so far XD
阿里山 is in the middle of Taiwan and is more a mountain area than one mountain. It, along with the neighbouring 玉山 (Yushan), form two of the tallest peaks in Taiwan and supposedly in north-east Asia...whatever that means LOL
We were picked up from 嘉義高鉄 at 8am in the morning (because we asked) and after picking up a quick brekkie at the 7/11 (and marvelling at the cheapness and edibility - seriously, my ginger pork rice was only $55 = <$2, and anything under $5 in Australia is inedible), we were on our way.
It was about an hour's drive to the foot of 阿里山. 嘉義 itself looked a lot more rundown than I expected of Taiwan. It reminded me of rural China or some other developing Asian country. Narrow streets and dusty decrepit blocks of buildings. It was a cloudy morning and for some reason the streets were deserted, which added to the whole melancholic ghost town feel.
A little further out from 嘉義 the shops became interspersed with fields of tall thin trees that looked like palm trees. They are betel trees, and our driver explains that the locals love chewing on betel nuts because it is a stimulant.
"A lot of foreigners come here and go away shocked. They say 'the taxi drivers in Taiwan are so 拼命. They drive until they vomit blood!' It's because chewing betel nut dyes your mouth a reddish colour." (It also apparently causes oral cancers, but that was something I found out back in Taipei XD)
We stop at the foot of 阿里山, where there is a really bizarre temple that worshipped both 關公 and 濟公 and a number of other deities both Taoist and Buddhist. There is a long hanging bridge that connected the road to the foot of the mountain. Our guide tells us that a lot of mainland tours, for the sake of saving money, would stop at the foot of the mountain and tell them that they've seen 阿里山 already. People would walk the bridge and take photos of the entrance arch without any idea that they haven't even entered into 阿里山.
The road into 阿里山 is very tortuous. I'd like to make an aside here about driving in Taiwan - it is absolutely ridiculous how people manage NOT to get killed on the roads. Apparently traffic rules are merely guidelines. If you don't watch where you're going, who cares if it's your green light.
A lot of drivers would drive through the double lines in order to maintain as straight a trajectory as possible. Cannot tell you how scary that is when you can't see the oncoming traffic around the bend and the roads are narrow two lanes.
Our guide begins to tell us stories about 阿里山 as we pass frequent construction work. It reminds me of Koom Valley. Dam Koom Valley - the mountain is always changing. It's like a beast that the people living on it must try at all times to keep tame. Landslides, mudslides, falling trees, flash floods, earthquakes...the mountain wall beside the roads are matted with nets and braces to stop mudslides, but the work will never be done. Our guide tells us that the flood of 2009 killed 200+ indigenous villagers in a flash. The government wanted to seal off the mountain for 5 years, but that would have meant death for the budding tourism industry, so now repairs and maintenance can only be done in patches.
We are held up, briefly, as a small group of workers overhead try to secure an old tree to the loosening cliff it grows on. They may be able to secure it for another few years, but when it falls...right now there is nothing to impede its 10 meter tumble onto the road below.
We arrive at 奮起湖 after an hour, which, contrary to its misleading name, has no lake. It's a homonym for what the indigenous people had named it. There is a short shopping street which offers plenty of free tastings of local produce, such as 愛玉, fresh wasabi, fresh persimmon and pomegranate, sweets, pickles, cured meats, etc. Our guide then takes us to see the 阿里山 rail, which has stopped running after mudslides the year before, but they're hoping to get it repaired in time for the sakura season this year (2011). There is a rail museum, which houses the old steam trains. Apparently when running, there is a sentinel train that goes ahead before the real train leaves to make sure the rail is clear.
阿里山, famously, is home to some of Taiwan's best tea. We would often see fields of tea by the roadside, encased by fog. We had arrived with the cold front. The fog - or the clouds - would blow in with the wind, rolling over the even green tea trees and within a minute, hiding them. When the cloud was around you, it was so thick and cold that you could only see perhaps two or three meters in front of you.
The fog is vital to 阿里山's unique tea. It ensures that the tea trees are soaked in moisture at all times, as well as reducing the amount of sunlight and warmth the tea trees are exposed to. We stop at a teahouse on the way, and the 老闆娘 makes up fresh tea for us from her factory.
The fragrance of 阿里山's "high mountain tea" is unforgettable once you taste it. There is a slight milky/wheat-like aroma about it, but the most important quality is that it leaves an enduring sweet aftertaste in your throat. There is no bitterness at all. The tea itself is a beautiful clear yellow and you can smell the fragrance long before you taste it.
By lunch we arrive at our hotel in the middle of the mountain. This is pretty much the tourism village, and has convenience stores, restaurants and hotels all in the same area. The hotel is freezing cold because they refuse to turn on the heating until the evening. The amazing thing is none of the shops have any heating, in spite of the biting wind and temperatures close to 0. We are encouraged to take a walk around the park, but decide against it because of the fine drizzle and the thick fog.
We end up curled in bed with two thick blankets and watching TV XDD The hotel has a scary announcement system in every room that you can't switch off, and randomly a loud announcement would come over the speakers...no matter if you're not with their tour group.
In the evening we sidle out, wrapped in as many clothes as we could put on, for dinner. The menu consisted primarily of local produce - mountain mushrooms, bamboo shoots, deer meat, mountain hog...etc. Venison is surprisingly nice XD
As we get back to the hotel, we are accosted by a man who talks us into joining his morning bus tour to see the sunrise on 玉山. We were originally planning to take the train up, but he explains that the train will be very cold, and there is a 45 minute wait, and they don't go up as high.
We go to sleep early, praying that the morning call the next day won't come in the form of an announcement over the loudspeakers......
阿里山 is in the middle of Taiwan and is more a mountain area than one mountain. It, along with the neighbouring 玉山 (Yushan), form two of the tallest peaks in Taiwan and supposedly in north-east Asia...whatever that means LOL
We were picked up from 嘉義高鉄 at 8am in the morning (because we asked) and after picking up a quick brekkie at the 7/11 (and marvelling at the cheapness and edibility - seriously, my ginger pork rice was only $55 = <$2, and anything under $5 in Australia is inedible), we were on our way.
It was about an hour's drive to the foot of 阿里山. 嘉義 itself looked a lot more rundown than I expected of Taiwan. It reminded me of rural China or some other developing Asian country. Narrow streets and dusty decrepit blocks of buildings. It was a cloudy morning and for some reason the streets were deserted, which added to the whole melancholic ghost town feel.
A little further out from 嘉義 the shops became interspersed with fields of tall thin trees that looked like palm trees. They are betel trees, and our driver explains that the locals love chewing on betel nuts because it is a stimulant.
"A lot of foreigners come here and go away shocked. They say 'the taxi drivers in Taiwan are so 拼命. They drive until they vomit blood!' It's because chewing betel nut dyes your mouth a reddish colour." (It also apparently causes oral cancers, but that was something I found out back in Taipei XD)
We stop at the foot of 阿里山, where there is a really bizarre temple that worshipped both 關公 and 濟公 and a number of other deities both Taoist and Buddhist. There is a long hanging bridge that connected the road to the foot of the mountain. Our guide tells us that a lot of mainland tours, for the sake of saving money, would stop at the foot of the mountain and tell them that they've seen 阿里山 already. People would walk the bridge and take photos of the entrance arch without any idea that they haven't even entered into 阿里山.
The road into 阿里山 is very tortuous. I'd like to make an aside here about driving in Taiwan - it is absolutely ridiculous how people manage NOT to get killed on the roads. Apparently traffic rules are merely guidelines. If you don't watch where you're going, who cares if it's your green light.
A lot of drivers would drive through the double lines in order to maintain as straight a trajectory as possible. Cannot tell you how scary that is when you can't see the oncoming traffic around the bend and the roads are narrow two lanes.
Our guide begins to tell us stories about 阿里山 as we pass frequent construction work. It reminds me of Koom Valley. Dam Koom Valley - the mountain is always changing. It's like a beast that the people living on it must try at all times to keep tame. Landslides, mudslides, falling trees, flash floods, earthquakes...the mountain wall beside the roads are matted with nets and braces to stop mudslides, but the work will never be done. Our guide tells us that the flood of 2009 killed 200+ indigenous villagers in a flash. The government wanted to seal off the mountain for 5 years, but that would have meant death for the budding tourism industry, so now repairs and maintenance can only be done in patches.
We are held up, briefly, as a small group of workers overhead try to secure an old tree to the loosening cliff it grows on. They may be able to secure it for another few years, but when it falls...right now there is nothing to impede its 10 meter tumble onto the road below.
We arrive at 奮起湖 after an hour, which, contrary to its misleading name, has no lake. It's a homonym for what the indigenous people had named it. There is a short shopping street which offers plenty of free tastings of local produce, such as 愛玉, fresh wasabi, fresh persimmon and pomegranate, sweets, pickles, cured meats, etc. Our guide then takes us to see the 阿里山 rail, which has stopped running after mudslides the year before, but they're hoping to get it repaired in time for the sakura season this year (2011). There is a rail museum, which houses the old steam trains. Apparently when running, there is a sentinel train that goes ahead before the real train leaves to make sure the rail is clear.
阿里山, famously, is home to some of Taiwan's best tea. We would often see fields of tea by the roadside, encased by fog. We had arrived with the cold front. The fog - or the clouds - would blow in with the wind, rolling over the even green tea trees and within a minute, hiding them. When the cloud was around you, it was so thick and cold that you could only see perhaps two or three meters in front of you.
The fog is vital to 阿里山's unique tea. It ensures that the tea trees are soaked in moisture at all times, as well as reducing the amount of sunlight and warmth the tea trees are exposed to. We stop at a teahouse on the way, and the 老闆娘 makes up fresh tea for us from her factory.
The fragrance of 阿里山's "high mountain tea" is unforgettable once you taste it. There is a slight milky/wheat-like aroma about it, but the most important quality is that it leaves an enduring sweet aftertaste in your throat. There is no bitterness at all. The tea itself is a beautiful clear yellow and you can smell the fragrance long before you taste it.
By lunch we arrive at our hotel in the middle of the mountain. This is pretty much the tourism village, and has convenience stores, restaurants and hotels all in the same area. The hotel is freezing cold because they refuse to turn on the heating until the evening. The amazing thing is none of the shops have any heating, in spite of the biting wind and temperatures close to 0. We are encouraged to take a walk around the park, but decide against it because of the fine drizzle and the thick fog.
We end up curled in bed with two thick blankets and watching TV XDD The hotel has a scary announcement system in every room that you can't switch off, and randomly a loud announcement would come over the speakers...no matter if you're not with their tour group.
In the evening we sidle out, wrapped in as many clothes as we could put on, for dinner. The menu consisted primarily of local produce - mountain mushrooms, bamboo shoots, deer meat, mountain hog...etc. Venison is surprisingly nice XD
As we get back to the hotel, we are accosted by a man who talks us into joining his morning bus tour to see the sunrise on 玉山. We were originally planning to take the train up, but he explains that the train will be very cold, and there is a 45 minute wait, and they don't go up as high.
We go to sleep early, praying that the morning call the next day won't come in the form of an announcement over the loudspeakers......
