Taiwan: Alishan Forest Railway

The next few days were a whirlwind tour of Taichung City, and later some trekking at Alishan and Yushan. Perhaps what i could remember best was taking the forest railway at Alishan at 5 in the morning to catch the fabled Alishan sunrise. The ride was atmospheric, the traditional fire engine red train passing by forests where tendrils of the early morning mist still lingered amongst the bamboo groves and trees. Dropped off at the railway station, a short ride away, which was just as well since that the train was packed and i couldnt get a seat.

Stepping off the train into the large spacious railway station, with the first rays of sunlight seeping through the high roof, was like going back in time to Europe in the industrial age, where train travel was all the rage following the invention of the steam engine. Railway stations always have this effect on me, and what more with people standing around in the stations with trays hung over their front, hawking stuff like watches, and in this case eye protectors of sorts for you to view the sunrise. Again, another weird parallel to industrial age Europe, where quirky science inventions like Radium pills (really, im not kidding) for an extra energy boost sold like hot cakes.

We were welcomed by the booming voice of the highest chief in Taiwan. A pompous title, a correct one at that, if misleading - He was, geographically, the highest chief in Taiwan. And joining in the electoral fever, declared himself higher up than Ah-Bien, old President Chen, to much laughter from the people gathered around him as he boomed welcomes and introductions, perched on a rather large boulder.

It was really a matter of luck if the sun was out or not. Umm. Actually had not meant it in an apocalyptic way. What i meant, ahem, was that whether we would have a view of the sunrise was a matter of luck - it might just be obscured by a passing cloud. Supposedly the best view of the sunrise in the world, the rationale being in Japan, the land of the rising sun itself, the sunrise was obscured by industrial smog from China.

Well we weren't disappointed. The sun rose that day to much gasps from the gathered crowd, which by then had swelled to a considerable size. The sunrise was not as spectacular in itself. What made it so was the gorgeous view from that lookout point on Alishan - the mountains below, the marshmallow clouds, being warmed by the gradual rising sun, painting everything in warm hues of red and orange. The sun had risen, and the silent anticipation and awe soon gave way to chatter and talk as travellers moved around, embarking on their treks or headed downwards to sample some of the mountain tea or the wasabi that Alishan is famous for.