we moved out from Kaohsiung just pass midnight...the journey there and up is really long and dark...takes around 1 hour to Chiayi (嘉義) and another 2 hours++ up Alishan (阿里山) itself...road is really winding round and round...turn left, right, left, right...must have been really tiring on Kevin =/ ...i also introduced our Singapore local singers to him...Kelly and Kevin...and he really likes Kelly's songs...so glad cos i think Kelly is really good too hehe...reached there around 3.30am...took a short nap before taking the Alishan Forest Railway up to the peak which is situated near Zhushan Station (祝山)...it is around a 30 mins train ride...and damn it was really cold!...temperature is at 8 degree celcius and i didn't bring any sweater with me lol...so i just have to make do with wearing 2 shirts lol...so fun that i experienced the temperature extreme within days...38 degree at Green Island and now 8 at Alishan lol...the sunrise is abit after 5.30am...so the guide took this time to explain to us the surroundings as well as provided us with some information...the position and time of the sunrise actually changes according to seasons...we were at around 2500m above sea level and just directly opposite us is the Yushan (玉山)'s peak which is at 3900++m, tallest in Taiwan...maybe i can plan to conquer it someday hehe...finally the moment of truth...it is really damn damn spectacular!!!...it takes only a minute for the sun to appear from nothing to its full bloom...most of us just couldn't take our eyes off it althou it does start to get abit glaring haha...all the sleeplessness is definitely worthed it i think for just this 1 minute ^^ ...no amount of words or pictures can describe it and you just have to see it yourself...and i am really lucky cos the past 6 days, they haven't been able to see the sunrise due to bad weather...and Kevin has come here like 10 times and only saw 3 sunrises out of them...blessed!!!...took the train back down and found a place where we managed to steal some sleep in the car lol...then we continue to head down to Fengqi Lake (奮起湖) to have our lunch...abit of sight-seeing around before finally driving back to Chiayi to meet another Taiwan friend 毀滅 (dunno his real name >.< ) ...relax and play a little online game before me and Kevin move out for Taichung (台中)...check out the youth hostel that i gonna stay for the next few days before we found a cheap hotel to stay for the night...wanted to meet another friend 小天...but too bad we couldn't find her...hit the night market for dinner and finally more sleep haha...
the place where u take the last stretch of the railway to the peak
man and woman...young and old rushing to catch the sunrise
can't see me can u? lol
before the sun pops out
our guide introducing to us the surroundings
the sun is coming!
full burst of the sun rays within a minute!
hmm...where do you find a last train at 6am!!!...and Kevin caught in a candid shot =p
me and the train at the back
people gathering at the train station, waiting to get down
few of the mountain forest railways left in the world that we travelled on
surrounding where we took a break
railway thru the forest
more scenery
entrance to the small town of 奮起湖...which isn't a lake actually
the popular 便當 with fair share of meats and veggies + tasty bamboo shoot soup
famous place where they make the best 便當
hmmm...wonder what caught my eyes lol
me and those old time steam powered train that operates on coal
i always like bamboos alot...no idea why haha
