If you haven't read my previous post on Alishan National Park, do read it HERE first before coming back for our sunrise-watching experience at Alishan.
To catch the sunrise, we actually bought the train tickets at Alishan Station the day before (when we were leaving the park) and got Lauya to arrange for a pick up service (pooled with some others who are also heading up to catch the sunrise) at 3:30am in the morning to take the one and only "sunrise" train at 5 plus 6am to Zhushan station. According Lauya's owner, sometimes there might be a 2nd train if demand calls for it.
The train moves slowly and it took about 30 minutes to reach Zhushan station.
We reached the Zhushan Viewing Lot at about 6:30am and a cute uncle (at first we thought he's the local guide but in the end he turned out to be one of the sellers selling woodcrafts there) jumped out of nowhere and start entertaining us with humour-injected introduction of the place.
So while waiting for the estimated sunrise timing of 7:05am and praying for the thick clouds to disperse, we started trying out our camera filters....
To catch the sunrise, we actually bought the train tickets at Alishan Station the day before (when we were leaving the park) and got Lauya to arrange for a pick up service (pooled with some others who are also heading up to catch the sunrise) at 3:30am in the morning to take the one and only "sunrise" train at 5 plus 6am to Zhushan station. According Lauya's owner, sometimes there might be a 2nd train if demand calls for it.
The train moves slowly and it took about 30 minutes to reach Zhushan station.
We reached the Zhushan Viewing Lot at about 6:30am and a cute uncle (at first we thought he's the local guide but in the end he turned out to be one of the sellers selling woodcrafts there) jumped out of nowhere and start entertaining us with humour-injected introduction of the place.
So while waiting for the estimated sunrise timing of 7:05am and praying for the thick clouds to disperse, we started trying out our camera filters....
Just a shot to show you the crowd is as 'thick' as the clouds.
Soon, it was 7:05am, and there wasn't the 'jumping yolk' sunrise for us. Sickening clouds. T.T
Don't ask me what's the jumping about, we've merely heard that the sun at Alishan's sunrise jumps.
No jumping sun, but at least we managed to catch the yun hai (cloud sea) before we took the train back down and got ready to leave Alishan for our next destination.
It was a mad rush for the bus down to Chiayi THSR station and we all promptly dozed off on the 1.5 hour bus ride to catch up on our lack of sleep. From the THSR station, it was another 30 minutes train ride to Taichung station, where we took the private pick up service arrange by the helpful owners of Lauya, instead of the 2 hours Nantou Tour Bus ride up to Cingjing Vienna Pleasance Cottage.
If these aren't enough to convince you that the owners at Vienna are cat lovers....
Then meet Momo, their beloved cat!
Since it's the cold winter, Momo got socks for scarf, soft comfy blanket, and her warm fluffy bed place right beside the warm fireplace.
She's so tamed and sweet, that even with our constant harassing, she's still so chill!
This is how our room area looks like in the night...
And in the day.
And the breathtaking view from our balcony.
-credits to booking.com-
The room was pretty basic, very much smaller (compared to our Lauya room) and didn't have a heater in the room, which we got exceptionally worried about after experiencing the cold in the room at Lauya. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the reason why there weren't any room heaters was because it's really not required. Somehow, even if the weather outside was pretty cold, the room still remained at a much higher temperature than outside (I can't say it's warm) and with the electric blanket, all was well.
Slippers (room and bathroom) and towels are provided and the hot water at the standing shower is pretty stable to not freeze yourself this second and cook yourself alive the next.
One good thing about Vienna is that it's within a 5 minute walking distance to 7-ll, Carton King and Little Swiss Garden!
I had a little mishap (my boots came apart, BOTH OF THEM) and with help from the Vienna staff, managed to get a car drive to the nearest 'village' that sells shoes. And after getting out dinner along the way back, it was already pretty dark when we get to Swiss Garden.
The darkness wasn't really an issue as the night lightings were so beautiful, but due to thick fog, nothing came up in the photos. :(
Fortunately, buying the tickets at night allow us to return the next day, so stick around for my update on my virgin snow experience at He Huan Shan & Qing Qing Cao Yuan in my next travelogue.
Day 5 Travelogue is up HERE
For booking of Vienna Pleasance Cottage, visit booking.com, hotels.com, agoda.com or expedia.com for better deals!
Till then,
Mia Foo
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