2019-01-22T01:03:25.000Z • Alishan, Taiwan

Alishan

The Lees go on a road trip up to Alishan, but this time I'm on the bike and my parents drive a support van.

Bike

Day 1: Chiyayi -> Alishan

My family dropped me off at a 7-11 at the base of Alishan. We roughly went over the rest stops along the way and off we went. The tarmac in Taiwan is best in class. Not too long into the climb, the clouds were lingering low enough to obstruct the visibility of the roads ahead.

"慢“ - Slow, written on the tarmac to warn all traffic as the roads became more windy going upwards.

Along the way there were temples and food vendors. That's the beauty of riding in Taiwan – you never really have to pack food because there are an abundance of convenience stores every few kilometers!

There were also plenty of look out points along the way. This was from 隙頂象山觀景台.

Taiwan is considered one of the most mountainous places in the world, with 268 peaks that are over 3,000 meters above sea level. On a good day you can clearly see mountain ranges stacked densely next to each other, stunning.

We all met up at the final destination of the day – Erwanping, a railway station on the Forestry Bureau Alishan Forest Railway line.

Bike

Day 2: Alishan -> Checheng

Day two was a sweet 2000m of descent from Erwanping lodge to Sun Moon Lake! The morning was chilly 🥶 but glad it was at least dry.

I didn't have much of a winter kit but at least I had a snood to keep the chill off my face.

The descent allowed me to easily cruise down to Checheng whilst soaking in more of the Alishan scenery. I'm glad to be able to ride Alishan this trip. We couldn’t have asked for a better weather, too. Stay rad, Taiwan!