Day3 - Took a car pool from chiayi to alishan, 公车客满. Nt250 each. All others r taiwanese. Most speak 台语，understand abit but when they started blabbering at full spd, i'll have prompt them for 国语. Sweat. 3 hr car ride. The mountainous road is most probably 10 times more winding than that of cameron highlands. Not pukish. Thanks to the cold refreshing wind perhaps.
麻油鸡和排骨面汤 for lunch. 暖かい食べが一番です. Finally waited till 2 pm to chk in. Only 2 destinations for the forest railway train, 神木 or 沼平。Decided for 神木. Nt80 each. Saw signs indicating 800-2300 yr old red cypress aka 红桧。Buttress. Huge trunk. But abt 15-18m tall only. Nice wooden trail. Time-chked walk so as to catch the last train at 4pm, but we covered most of it except for the sisters pond.
Day4 - lost the war to 周公 for train to the sunrise viewing spot at 5 am. Woke up at 7 instead. Bfast from 7/11, with 竹笋肉包和关东煮🍢。earliest train to 沼平 is at 10! So decided to walk. Detour to signs pointing to 祝山instead. Air is really thin. But serene hike up thru the forest. Enjoyed it totally. The forest power n energy. Some parts look scary with denser trees. Long thin tree trunks everywhere. Reminds me of the harry potter movie and the black forest which i didnt really get to climb. Took photos along the way. And all of a sudden, a black dog appear. We stared at each other for at least a min, none of us moved. Nobody else. I made the first move, walk naturally n it started following. I crushed the map in my hands. Prepared to use it as weapon, knowing it wont help in the case of any attack. Anyway shaking off negative thots, speaking out loud, maybe it is our guardian angel, c'mon go infront and lead us. And it jus hurry ahead of us! I ddint even slow down. Buy then it's gone, didnt see it later on.
Finally found the way to the top. A helipad! Breathtaking view of the small settlement in the valley. For only one min. The clouds moved over and then surrounded us. Fog. Waited for 15 min. Do not think it is clearing. Decided to return. Walking downslope in the clouds. Damp. Cold. But the walk kept us warm. Lucky i got the gloves from the shop the previous day, else it would have been worse. Forest in the fog is magical. The leaves rustlin in the leaves give an orchestrated n melodious performance. the silhouettes of the trees looming around the blurred path ahead with only 3 metres of clear view. the air smells of damp leaves n soil. Unforgettable.
Unfortunately or fortunately, once we r out of the forest, it rained. Heavily. Rushed for shelter n we're at the 沼平 train station. Waited for the next train back to be jus in time for lunch and to chk out at 12. Terrible bus down and up to sun moon lake. Winding road thruout for 3 hrs. Totally pukish. Swayed left and right. Wonder if i have slight concussion for the brain to swing left and right against the skull. Had to keep the window slightly ajar for the light drizzle and cold wind to keep my face afreshed. Hope the chill didnt reach others in the bus. I tried.
