玉山看日出 Watching sunrise @ yushan

參加了民宿的TWD300看日出團,  一清早４點多起床出發到玉山！在阿里山也可以乘小火車到祝山看日出，不過聽說會很多人而且玉山的位置比較高，所以選了這個團

We joined the TWD300 sunrise tour to Yushan in our hostel and woke up at around 4am to go to Yushan.  You can actually take the "little train" to Zhushan to watch the sunrise in Alishan too, but as we heard that it would be very crowded and the location of Yushan is a bit higher, we chose to join this tour.

沿途會有小停站，包括昨天經過的夫妻樹跟塔塔加，不同時間看有不同感覺吧
There are some stopping points on the way, including the Couples tree and Tataka we passed by yesterday.

去玉山的車 our minivan to Yushan 

佔了有利位置等看日出，但可惜這天很多雲霧看不到日出...
Unfortunately, we could not see the sunrise on that day as it was cloudy...

回程時途經千年神木 a thousand-year-old-plus tree plank we passed by on the way back

some shopping! 

Day 4: 玉山看日出->奮起湖->嘉義車站->(國光客運)台中車站->新驛旅店->逢甲夜市
Day 4: Watch sunrise at Yushan -> Fenqi Hu-> Jiayi Station-> (Kingbus) Taichung station-> CityInn Hotel->Feng Chia Night market

阿里山森林遊樂區神木步道 Alishan Forest Recreation Area Giant Tree Plank Trail (Shenmu)

在阿里山裡有很多不同的步道(可去阿里山的網頁看看），這次行了森林遊樂區的神木步道

There are many walking trails in Alishan (can visit their website for more info). We chose the Giant Tree Plank Trail this time

民宿老板娘提醒我們沼平站到神木站是下坡，比較好行，全長大約２個多小時
our minsu host reminded us that it's better to walk from  Zhaoping station to Shenmu station as it's downward sloping all the way.  It took around 2.5 hrs for the whole walk. 

阿里山火車站-> 5-min 小火車-> 沼平站-> 天空步道-> 姊妹潭-> 神木站-> 森林遊樂區
Alishan station -> 5-min forest railway -> Zhaoping station -> skywalk trail -> Sisters' lake -> Shenmu station -> Forest Recreation Area

阿里山火車站 Alishan Station

小火車 Forest railway

沼平站旁邊的天空步道
Skytrail next to the Zhaoping Station

姊妹潭 Sisters' lake

永結同心神木 - happily ever after Giant tree? 

很舒服很清新的空氣
super relaxing there with fresh air 

特產山葵 - wasabi

神木車站 Shenmu Station
最後去阿里山站的列車在下午５點開出 The last train left for Alishan station at 5pm. 

被雷擊倒的神木 giant tree plank after thunder

三代木 Three generation tree

幸運﹣回去的時後在阿里山賓館看到夕陽！
lucky - saw sunset again on our way back outside Alishan hostel

Day 3: 日月潭 (員林客運)->阿里山-> 九九九餐廳午餐-> 阿里山森林遊樂區步道-> 山芝鄉風味館-> 新順利民宿
Day 3: Sun Moon Lake (Yunlin Bus) -> Alishan-> lunch at 999 restaurant-> Walking trail in Alishan Forest Recreational area -> dinner at the "Shanzhixiang" restaurant -> Xinshunli Minsu

新順利民宿 Xinshunli Minsu + 999餐廳 999 restaurant + 山芝鄉風味館 "Shanzhixiang" restaurant

在阿里山選的是新順利民宿，在７﹣１１旁邊的斜路上, 比我想像中乾淨，沒有發霉那些的，棉被很厚很舒服，有wifi! 洗手間有一點簡陋但還可以

We chose the Xinshunli Minsu at Alishan.  It is located on the slope next to 7-11, much cleaner than I had expected, with wifi, and thick blankets were provided to conquer the cold! the washroom is a bit small but overall it's pretty nice!


放下行李急不及待去吃午餐。在森林遊樂區裡的餐廳幾乎都在附近，很好找。這趟試了bloggers 介紹的兩間

Headed out immediately for lunch after unpacking.  The restaurants in the Alishan Recreational area are  very close to each other so it's easy to find one.  This time we tried two restaurants that many bloggers recommended.

午餐﹣999餐廳 Lunch - 999 restaurant
在樓梯旁邊 right next to the stairs

山豬肉很好吃！the pork taste really nice

晚餐﹣山芝鄉風味館餐廳  Dinner - "Shanzhixiang" restaurant
在新順利民宿斜路旁邊 right next to the slope near Xinshunli Minsu

天寒地冬打邊爐很滿足 felt so satisfied after having hotpot in such a cold weather! 

Day 3: 日月潭 (員林客運)->阿里山-> 九九九餐廳午餐-> 阿里山森林遊樂區步道-> 山芝鄉風味館-> 新順利民宿
Day 3: Sun Moon Lake (Yunlin Bus) -> Alishan-> lunch at 999 restaurant-> Walking trail in Alishan Forest Recreation area -> dinner at the "Shanzhixiang" restaurant -> Xinshunli Minsu

日月潭-> 阿里山 Sun Moon Lake -> Alishan

從日月潭是暫時沒有共乘車到阿里山 (有一家阿里山全方位旅遊的網頁上說有但是其實沒有，可以問問), 所以我們決定搭公車﹣員林客運﹣去阿里山. 3.5 hrs. 哈哈去之前聽朋友說會坐得很不舒服，但是我覺得還可以，起碼常暈車的我居然沒嘔！應該是中間有休息的地方跟一些景點吧，而且由熟路的司機載我們好像會更安全

從水社旅客中心出發, 每天兩班 (8am & 9am), 建議前一天先在水社旅客中心買票 (TWD350) 因為容易滿座

There is no carpool service from Sun Moon Lake to Alishan at the moment (one of the carpool companies "lets-go-alishan" mentioned on its website that there's such a service but there's none in reality when I made enquiries... can enquire with it again to see if there are any updates), so we decided to take public transportation - the Yunlin bus - to Alishan which took 3.5 hrs.  It's not that uncomfortable as my friend said probably because there are many rest points on the way, and it looked safer to have a driver who's familiar with the area to drive us there.

The bus departed from the Shueishe Tourist Centre at 8am &9am everyday.  It is better to purchase the tickets (TWD350) from the Shueishe Tourist Centre a day before as it gets full pretty easily.

Shueishe Tourist Centre

就是這台車, the bus from Sun Moon Lake to Alishan

第一站：梅子酒莊
stop one: the plum factory

第二站：夫妻樹- 原來被火燒後已經不會在生長了
Stop two: couple tree - no longer alive after some fireburnt

第三站: 塔塔加
Stop three: Tataka

Day 3: 日月潭 (員林客運)->阿里山-> 九九九餐廳午餐-> 阿里山森林遊樂區步道-> 山芝鄉風味館-> 新順利民宿
Day 3: Sun Moon Lake (Yunlin Bus) -> Alishan-> lunch at 999 restaurant-> Walking trail in Alishan Forest Recreation area -> dinner at the "Shanzhixiang" restaurant -> Xinshunli Minsu

兩人輕鬆遊 2013 ﹣台中/清境/日月潭/阿里山 Trip to Taichung/Cingjing/Sun Moon Lake/Alishan 07-11 Nov

真係好耐無見！其實係因為好少自由行既旅行 lol 

今次係同朋友2人去台中, 為免麻煩但又想慳錢, 所以找了共乘車＋公車作主要交通。4人以上包車當然係最方便同容易就時間，但2人包車會有點貴，所以有這些共乘車公司真的很好！除了遊客，台灣人也會搭 (不過溫馨提示一下：台中既的士司機話這些共乘車公司雖然是合法但未必有為客人買保險）

大概行程：

Day 1: 香港 - 清境 (住明琴清境山莊)
Day 2: 清境 - 日月潭 (住朵麗絲的家）
Day 3: 日月潭 - 阿里山 (住新順利民宿）
Day 4: 阿里山 - 奮起湖 - 台中 (住新驛旅店) 
Day 5: 台中 - 香港

看起來很趕吧？不過還好，因為其實中間的行程好 hea hahaha
特別留意從日月潭去阿里山既那一程係沒有共乘車的，但相反方向既有，所以如果會在嘉義那邊住一晚可以從阿里山出發。但從因為到達台中的時間是下午1 點多不想浪費一晚，所以先去清境 :D


This time I went to Taichung with my friend (only 2 of us) so we thought it would be better to "carpool" for most of the time to save money and time.  Of course it will be the best to rent a taxi with driver if there are more than 4 people, but that would be pretty expensive for the two of us.  So - a great thanks to these carpool companies! (but a gentle reminder: the taxi driver in Taichung told us that these carpool companies are legal but they might not have bought insurance for their customers)

Itinerary: 

Day 1: Hong Kong - Cingjing (stay at Ming Ging Farm)
Day 2: Cingjing - Sun Moon Lake (stay at Doris House)
Day 3: Sun Moon Lake - Alishan (stay at Xinshunli Minsu)
Day 4: Alishan - Fenqi Hu - Taichung (stay at CityInn Hotel Plus)
Day 5: Taichung - Hong Kong

The schedule is not that rush actually lol 
And since there was no carpooling service from Sun Moon Lake to Alishan, we took public bus instead.  However, there's actually carpooling service the other way round from Alishan to Sun Moon Lake, so if you plan to stay in Jiayi for a night, you might consider starting from Alishan.  Yet as our plane arrived Taichung at around 1pm and we didn't want to waste the day, we decided to head up to Cingjing first.