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Alishan National Forest Recreation Area, Taiwan (2018)
Alishan National Forest Recreation Area, Taiwan (2018)
Alishan, the famed mountain in southern Taiwan, is a place that I had wanted to visit for a long time, even before the historic railway track was damaged by an earthquake. The railway has been partially restored to Fengchihu from Chiayi. So with the camera packed, we set off to Alishan.
One of the must-do activities at Alishan is to watch the sunrise. The best sunrise spot is at Mt Ogasawara Viewing Platform. To get to the platform, visitors had to wake up at 4.30 am to catch the 5.30 am train from Alishan station to Zhushan station, a journey of 25 minutes. The viewing platform is about 15 15-minute hike from Zhushan. As we stayed at Alishan for 2 nights, we did this early morning trip twice!
The train we took from Chiayi arrived at Fengchihu Station.
This vintage train winds along the ancient track used for bring pine logs during the Japanese Occupation. The track was partial restored after the devastating earthquake.
The
Sunrise on day 1. One bonus we did not expect this late in the year was the lingering red leaves on the maple trees.
Sunrise on day 1. One bonus we did not expect this late in the year was the lingering red leaves on the maple trees.
After the sunrise, we hiked down to Zhaoping through the Zhushan footpath passing cedars trees and ground cover carpeted with moss, lichen and lush green vegetation.
Forest floor carpeted by moss.
The forest was so peaceful here that even the cat sat down and meditate; or maybe it was stalking a bird for dinner.
At Zhaoping, we hiked along a disused railway track to the Shuishan Giant Tree which is still alive after 2300 years..,
We also visited the Xianglin Sacred Tree, the thousand year Cypress, the Tree Spirit Pagoda and the nearby Ciyun Temple where there were some exquisite Calla lillies which immediately reminded me of Marplethorpe's classic images which I tried to emulate.
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