We woke up late again. In the end, we had to takeaway our breakfasts and had them on the High Speed train. Zhang大哥, being very nice, drove us to the train station free of charge. (Well, we paid for all his meals during the few days he was with us.)
Finally, we were alone again! It felt like the start of adventures. I felt that we were too well-protected by Zhang大哥. =P
Waited for quite a while at Chiayi High Speed Rail Station for our Minsu driver to pick us up. The first stop was lunch at 喷水, a restaurant.
We had turkey meat with rice. Turkey actually tasted much like chicken and I really could not differentiate between the two.
The car ride from Chiayi will take around 1-2hours to reach Alishan.
Next, we went to 阿里山风景区 where we heard a lot of legends and myths from our driver, 陈先生. He is a Taiwanese aboriginal and thus, has plenty of interesting stories to share.
That's him, showing us how the aboriginal people carried goods in the past. He said that in the past, they could carry up to 100kg per person using the method above! Power!
Next, we went to the famous 天长地久桥 in Chiayi. The 天长桥 was cordoned off because of damages due to the 88水灾 so we didn't get a chance to cross the bridge. It looked so exciting! *Sigh*
The after effects from the 88水灾.While crossing the 地久桥, we were attracted by loud bangings from gongs and the crackling of fireworks. We were lucky to stumble upon 济公游行. A man was possessed by the deity, 济公, and he was making rounds around a temple situated there. It was a real eye-opener!
The man in the patched black rope was the 济公.
Our guide drove us to 奋起湖 next. If the mountain railway is working, this is the place to take the train to watch the sunrise at the Alishan train station.
We grabbed our chance to take pictures on the railway. =P
Alishan is famous for the production of a fig called 爱玉. The smooth jelly 爱玉冰 was thus borned.
It looks like the ice jelly we have in Singapore but tasted much much better! It had a sweet, natural taste to it unlike our ice jelly which tastes bland. I bought a packet of 爱玉 back and will attempt to make the jelly one day!
These are TOMATOES!
On the left - mutated 耳朵饼.
After some shopping at the 阿里山老街, we went for dinner. We had the famous 阿里山火车便当 (Alishan Railway Boxes) for dinner! I could see why it is a hit with the tourists.
Served in a nostalgic metal lunchbox.
Tada! One chicken thigh and pork cutlet with plenty of rice and vegetables. A very satisfying and hearty dinner.
On the way to the Minsu, we managed to capture this breathtaking sight. It looks like we were on the top of the clouds.
Finally reached our Minsu around nightfall.
Here's our Minsu, 县云居.
Besides being home to us, the mountain is home to a vast ocean of insects. The insects, attracted by the light and warmth of the house, began suicide missions into the house. Their stupidity made me ran up and down this flight of stairs, screaming for a shelter without insects buzzing near my ears.
Our simple homely room which we didn't get to sleep much in. We had to wake up at 3.30am to catch the sunrise.
Our Minsu's homeowners have another sideline - they dry and pack tea leaves for sale. As it turned out, a batch of tea leaves they packed had won the first prize in the tea leaves competition held in Alishan! And we were so lucky to have a taste of the champion tea leaves.
The Minsu's homeowner, 吴大姐, taught us the art of tea-drinking. First, we had to pour the tea from the tall cup into the round cup. Before drinking, we had to sniff the tall cup and let the aroma filled our lungs. Then, we drank from the round cup. But hold on! We got to let it stay in our mouth while we soaked in the taste of the tea. Then, we swallowed. Hmmm.....
I must say, the tea from Alishan really tasted different from the ones in Singapore. It had a flowery scent and was bitter without the astringent taste that some teas have. I bought some back too!
A chat with 吴大姐 during the tea drinking made a startling realisation. We realised that the High Speed Railway does not reach Hualien, our next stop! Although, on the map, Hualien is just next to Chiayi (where Alishan is situated), it is seperated by the mountains and there is no direct route there! We were so shocked then!
We had to replan our itinerary. We then decided to take the High Speed train to Taipei and then take the normal train to Hualien. Total time for taking this route costed us 4 and a half precious hours.
Luckily, 吴大姐 pointed out our mistake and helped us rectify by planning the time with us.
After putting our luggage down, 陈先生 passed us a torch and we went to the backyard to look for fireflies. We were so dumb. We kept mistaking stars for fireflies. Haha! There was another funny episode with a moth. A huge white moth was attracted to the light from the torch and sped towards us. Our screams could match those in horror flicks. Haha!
陈先生 keeps a Laborador named 阿发. And this dog tried to hump Pei Xuan while we were playing with it! It grabbed onto PX's leg and got into its doggy position. PX was trying her best to pull away her leg but that dog was strong and in heat. Meanwhile, I was at the side, yelling my head off, "PX! Pull your leg away! It is trying to hump you!" Haha!!
This is the horny beast.After some fooling around in the backyard, 陈先生 drove us to another place to watch fireflies. When we reached there, we saw a group of Singaporeans too. I didn't realise it at that time, but they were capturing fireflies and putting them into glass bottles! Disgusting behaviour! They have totally no respect for nature and the creatures' lives! Should have walk up to them to scold them. Grrr...
Putting that aside, I really enjoyed the time spent there. That place is just a little rest area beside the main mountain road. As it was really dark, we could see lights twinkling from other villages in the opposite mountains. 陈先生 started telling us stories about his tribe and other tribes. There were so many interesting myths and legends! As the stories rolled out, I could feel the cold wind and hear the strange melodies made by the crickets. Although 陈先生 was just next to me, I couldn't see his face as it was so dark. All these factors made the stories more real and tangible. I was totally absorbed into the tales of old and magical. I was hooked.
Day 7 ended on the mountains.
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