Draft = Full blogpost will come later:

I woke up really early today — before 6 AM — but still felt great! I’m heading to Alishan, a National Park where I’ll be staying for about 24 hours, including one night. Getting there is a bit of an ordeal: first a train, then a very specific bus that takes 2.5 hours. I bought a train ticket online but somehow lost it (no confirmation email, nothing), and I couldn’t book the bus because the whole site was in Mandarin. So… fingers crossed it all works out.

I checked out earlier than planned, got to the train station earlier than planned, and the train to Chiayi was shorter than I expected. Luckily, all of this meant I could catch two buses earlier than originally scheduled.

On the train I finally realized I could buy my bus ticket through Klook. I don’t know why that didn’t occur to me earlier, but at least it worked out.

Before leaving Kaohsiung, I wanted to buy a keychain. Tall Bear really grew on me and I wanted to bring him along forever, but all the souvenir shops were still closed — and my train wouldn’t wait.

I boarded the bus and started working on my blogs. But after an hour, the bus began its winding climb toward the National Park. Tight turns + stuffy air + an overcrowded bus = a bad combination. I eventually just closed my eyes and tried to nap until we arrived.

When we finally did, I was relieved to step outside and breathe in fresh forest air. I hadn’t looked out the windows during the climb — my eyelids had handled all the scenery — but once I opened them, the views were stunning.

I hauled all my baggage — two backpacks and a big red carrier — to my hotel. I checked in, though my room wasn’t ready yet, so I decided to explore a bit. During check-in, the staff showed me a map of the area… which was so busy and chaotic that I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Up to this point, my plan was very simple:

A small hike the day I arrive
Go to bed early
Take the sunrise train
Walk back down slowly
Check out
Take the bus back

But after seeing the map, I felt like I needed way more time to understand the layout. There weren’t any clearly marked “trails” to follow.

So I grabbed lunch, went back to my hotel to change and quickly jot down a rough plan, and then headed out again to explore before sunset. Arriving early turned out to be a huge benefit — if I had taken my originally planned bus, I would’ve arrived after dark, and the park closes at sundown.

I took a quick stroll, trying to see as much as possible in about an hour and a half. Surprisingly, that was plenty. I visited a temple area, Two Sisters Pond, and several other viewpoints.

On my way back, I bought my sunrise train ticket, plus breakfast and snacks for tomorrow. I also picked up souvenirs early to save time — and managed to get a really nice keychain!

Back at the hotel, I talked through my plan with a very helpful receptionist and got some useful insights.

Sunrise would be at 6:40, and the train leaves at 5:20. I was told to arrive early to make sure I got a seat. I assumed that meant an hour in advance, but apparently 20 minutes is enough. Still, to be safe, I planned to arrive 30 minutes early. With what I learned from my short hike, I now had a solid plan for the next day.

For dinner, I went for hotpot — probably not the best idea for a hotpot newbie, especially showing up 20 minutes before closing. But the staff were kind and helped me out. I didn’t know what half the ingredients were, but I did know I was hungry, so I just went for it. It turned out to be pretty good!

After that, I went to bed early, ready for the next day.