Search
The #Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office (AFR) has launched a new tour package that will allow tourists to ride on a mountain train and enjoy scenic views of red maple leaves in Alishan, Chiayi County in December.
https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202010240007
Saving the best for last 😍😍😍
Here with Taiwan's hottest biker chicks Cynthia Wang and 王晨飄, both proud owners of a Ducati 959 Panigale and Aprilia RSV4!!
Staying warm together in the 14°C chilly weather with some really good hot chocolate and talking about everything under the sun, before catching the last flight back home to Singapore! 😀
--
Woke up at 3:00am to catch the train from Alishan to Zhu Shan to catch the sunrise. It was pretty cold at 5 deg. Too bad it was a little cloudy but still a breathtaking sight to behold.
Thankfully tho, we were just in time for the Alishan Flower Season where we saw lots of pretty cherry blossoms, so incredibly beautiful as we slowly make our way down the mountain from Alishan and on towards Tai Chung!
--
From Kenting, we happily thought that Day 4 of our ride to Alishan mountain will take us just 4 hours via the Freeway.
Turns out, it ended up as my first time involved in a high speed chase here in Taiwan because we were on the Freeway towards Chiayi where motorcycles are actually not allowed on.
Best part was I had no clue the police was chasing with his loud speaker on behind as I was happily throttling off on the Freeway, taking photos, and listening to my favourite "That's What I Like" Bruno Mars song until the rear view of my friends were replaced with a BMW with red/blue blinker lights right behind me 😂
On a serious note, I would like to genuinely apologize for my route mistake, and would like to take this opportunity to commend the police officer who stopped us as he exercised so much grace, understanding and hospitality toward us that left us speechless. He carefully explained the road rules for motorcycles here in Taiwan, and showed us the right route to take to Alishan.
He even left his phone number before wishing us a safe and enjoyable journey as we continued our way up over 2,000m above sea level to Alishan Mountain with nothing but smiles in our helmet and a thankful heart!
Full details will be up on the blog.
--
From the Northernmost part of Taiwan to the Southernmost, after doing more than 500km of both mountain and coastal roads, we are finally soaking up some sun here at Kenting on Day 3 of our ride!
The beach here is gorgeous, the weather is perfect, a great getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life.
Taking it all in, falling asleep to the sound of the gentle waves, before we prepare ourselves for the ascend of up to more than 2,000metres in altitude for the next day's ride, to Alishan!
--
Cloudy on the second day of our ride but at least it stopped raining! Exploring the magnificent Taroko Gorge, riding alongside an abundance of all that natural marble and gushing river before making our way down South to Kenting! The Hawaii of Taiwan 😀
--
First day of our ride saw 7 straight hours of rain as we made our way from Taipei to Hualien. The coastal roads were beautiful as it overlooked the gorgeous Pacific Ocean, but before that was carefully getting through more than 100km of slippery mountain corners.
My arms got so tired from gripping the bars too tightly because I tend to tense up from the phobia of skidding off sharp corners especically when the roads are wet :/
Gloves are completely damped and it's gonna feel oh so gross stuffing my hands into them for the next day's ride! 😂
Let's hope the weather improves for the second day of our ride!
www.vaunephan.blogspot.sg
--
Arrived in Taipei safely and all ready for the ride!!
First time riding a motorcycle in Taiwan and rain or shine, cold or hot, we're gonna tour around almost the whole of this beautiful country through gorgeous mountains curves and coastal roads lining the Pacific Ocean with temperatures averaging at 14°C.
Ride for the trip - The Aprilia Shiver 750!
Much thanks to my local friend, Jason, for arranging the bikes!
First leg of the journey - Taking it easy with 181km from Taipei City to Hualien!
Clocking another adventure in 2017! Leggooooo!
www.vaunephan.blogspot.sg
Hi! My name is Ting Ting. I’m an Australian, I live in Kaohsiung and my mission is to share Taiwan with the world one place at a time one delicious meal at a time. If you’re new to my channel welcome, lovely to have you along and if you’d like to be part of the fun just hit the subscribe button and hit the bell so that you know when I upload a new video.
Follow me!
FB: https://www.facebook.com/tingtingstaiwan
IG: http://instagram.com/tingtingstaiwan
I hope this Taiwan Alishan travel guide video and notes below helps you. If you have a question please leave a comment below.
- 8:30 AM ARRIVE CHIAYI STATION
That’s the TRA station - not the high speed rail. If arriving by high speed rail allow up to 30 minutes to catch a taxi to the TRA station.
For a guide to trains and buying train tickets in Taiwan see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDpdUGs7HNM)
- 9:00 AM TRAIN FROM CHIAYI STATION TO FENQIHU STATION (runs at 9:00 on weekdays, 9:30 and 10:00 on weekends, trip time 2.5 hours)
You can’t go all the way to Alishan station now as the track was damaged in a typhoon and they’re not going to fix it).
You can buy tickets in advance here: https://afrch.forest.gov.tw/. The website is only in Chinese so use google chrome on your computer to translate the page. Pay by credit card then pick the ticket up at ANY major train station when you arrive in Taiwan (show your passport at the ticket window).
Guide to the train numbers here: http://taiwan-itinerary.blogspot.com/2016/10/alisan-railway-tickets.html.
- LUNCH AT FENQIHU
Fenqihu was the popular stop for loggers at lunchtime so it’s a really cute little old town. The bento shop shown in the video is next to the 7-Eleven. When you arrive at Fenqihu, go all the way down the stairs, walk straight down the street and you’ll see it. Fenqihu isn’t big so you can wander around for the rest of the time. Unfortunately unless you stay in Fenqihu overnight, there’s not enough time to go hiking or see the lake (which is what the town is named after).
- BUS FROM FENQIHU TO ALISHAN TRANSPORT STATION
Use google maps for directions on where to catch the bus from (up on the highway). Set your destination as “Alishan station” and select directions for public transport. Schedules say the bus leaves at 2:40 but we arrived at the highway just before 2:30 and the driver said it was already past time to leave. So get there a little early! This is apparently the last bus, although you can catch another bus to Shizao, then change for a bus to Alishan (that seemed too annoying so we didn’t do it).
- DINNER AT ALISHAN
I haven’t seen one good food review on Alishan (it’s not what you’re there for anyway!) - so we just got beers and instant noodles from the 7 Eleven and enjoyed them at the hotel.
- STAY AT ALISHAN HOUSE
Look around for deals online, or stay at another hotel near the Alishan station (https://goo.gl/maps/Mn2yTnAAoWn). There are quite a few. Don’t expect a cheap hotel to have good facilities, this is a very popular tourist destination. Book early especially in peak season!
- SUNRISE TRAIN
Tickets for the sunrise train (around 350nt round trip) are sold the afternoon before at the Alishan train station. If staying at Alishan house you can buy them straight from the hotel reception, or if staying somewhere else, go to Alishan train station to buy these.
- HIKING
There are trails around the train station area. Pick up a map from the station or your hotel. The train on top of the mountain can also take you to some of the attractions if you’re tired of walking.
- BUS BACK TO CHIAYI
Get a timetable from the 7-11 at the transport station (or your hotel will have one). Use your easycard/ipass card to pay for the bus fare BUT you need to “save your bus spot” at the 7 Eleven first. I tried doing this 30 minutes before catching the bus but there were no spots left so we had to wait 1.5 hours until the next bus. So do this as early as you can. The last bus leaving from Alishan transport station to go down the mountain is around 5:00 pm.
There are taxi drivers around the transport station trying to get you to go down the mountain with them. I don’t recommend this option.
Tracks:
Theme: www.bensound.com
Below all Creative Commons 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
A.L.O.N.E. by Mike Leite https://soundcloud.com/mikeleite
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/hoTdJShnvVE
Roads by LiQWYD https://soundcloud.com/liqwyd
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/6XhY6AMmkLA
Endless Summer by extenz https://soundcloud.com/extenz
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/dH8sbGnmfZo
Sunburst by Scandinavianz https://soundcloud.com/scandinavianz
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/WJgyf_n83b4
