Taiwan Day 3

We woke up early to take the western train to Chiayi, a jumpoff town for Alishan, a nature preservation area situated in a mountainous area famed for it’s five treasures of cherry blossoms, rolling sea of clouds a la chinese swordfighting movies, sunrise, sunset, and snow capped mountains. Absolutely enjoyed the 4 hour train ride to Chiayi, with wonderful scenery outside the window.

Whenever I go to another country I always like to try the fastfood local specialty. For Taiwan Macdonald, they offer the most plastic bagel I have ever seen.

Once in Chiayi, it was another 1 hour bus trip up to our bed and breakfast. So I tried to take stalker shots of Taiwan Mei Mei’s.

Mei Mei 1 - Scooter Mei Mei

While many people chose to stay on top of the mountain in order to wake up for the sunrise at freaking 4.30am, we chose not to and instead opted for a bed and breakfast halfway up that also offered some night activities like firefly gazing and white squirrel spotting. The view outside our bed and breakfast was amazing. The room sadly, was not. It looked nothing like the photos on the website.

While it could have been a really bad experience based on the room itself, the night was saved by the activities and the hospitality of the hosts. They specialise in eco-tourism – making money by promoting and protecting the local wildlife. They also had their own mini tea plantation where they grow tea for export. After we settled in and drank quite a bit of tea, they drove us to a area which was far away from the light of the villages to see the fireflies. The fireflies are usually hidden and they don’t emit light but they are really stupid because they will be attracted to the sight of a lighted cigarette and come buzzing around. Tried to take photos but it was in total darkness so too bad. After that we set off to look for a white squirrel. The white squirrel is really cute, wish I had a real photo to show you but I only have a picture of the toy they are preparing to launch in collaboration with the government.

Who's cuter?

We were treated to an impromptu magic show by the husband which capped off a delightful night.