Wanderings

January 13, 2025

The express train (1) from Kaohsiung to Chiayi follows the coastal plane of western Taiwan (2). During Japanese rule of Taiwan (1895 to 1945), the colonizers wanted to access the valuable cypress and cedar forests in the mountains of central Taiwan. Transport was a problem, so they began construction of the narrow guage (3) Alishan Forest Railway in 1911 from Chiayi east into the mountains

At Chiayi station, I popped into a mini mart for breakfast. Examing the hot items on offer to avoid anything with seafood, a woman approached and told me to try the special Taiwan eggs, hard boiled in strong tea. Hearing I was visiting Taiwan, she reached into her purse and pulled out a small block of wood. Mimicking sanding the wood, she put it to her nose, handed the block to me and said "to remember Taiwan," (4). A quick smell told me it was cedar.

A through train to Alishan had not been bookable online, but I had a ticket to Fenqihu, about halfway up. The helpful ticket seller arranged for a ticket on a different train from there to Alishan. The train starts in the coastal plane at 30 meters elevation, then begins a steep climb. At Dulishan, the train goes through 1260° to gain elevation, looping over myself 3.5 times.

At Fenqihu, numerous restaurants serve bento box lunches; I opted for the pork chop. Soft-serve wasabi ice cream is sold here, an unexpected combination of cold and spicy, but quite good.

The train from Fenqihu up to Alishan featured a guide pointing put the history and engineering accomplishment of the line, this portion of which had been closed for a number of years until mid-2024 due to a tunnel collapse. Entering tunnel 42, she asked with a playful smile "guess which tunnel number is next?" She was pleased and surprised with my correct reply (in Mandarin) of 44 (I guessed). The new tunnel bypasses old # 43.

Lacking room for loops as it nears Alishan, the line follows a series of three switchbacks: the train pulls into a dead-end, then reverses out to climb the steep terrain (5), arriving at Alishan National Forest at 2,216 meters elevation after 71.4 track kms from Chiayi (6).

Alishan is known throughout Taiwan for sunsets on a sea of clouds. Asking two people the best spot to watch the sunset yielded three opinions. I opted for a large platform just north of the village. The view is unobstructed due west, but a bit obscured by trees to the southwest, where the sun was setting on this winter's day. The show was still grand, with the oranges and purples playing on the cloud tops and mountains (7).

Walking back to town, Venus appeared, and the light of full moon behind the mountains danced on the clouds floating by. The chicken at dinner was so spicy that I could hardly see to reach the napkins to wipe them through my watery eyes

(1) Not to be confused with a high speed train, which runs on separate standard-guage tracks up the west coast, but from different stations.

(2) The normal guage on Taiwan is 3.5 feet, as are the railroads on the Russian far-east Salkalin Island, also formerly part of Japan.

(3) The forest railway is 2.5 foot guage.

(4) Or maybe she just thought my clothes smelled bad.

(5) The Ecuador railways uses the same approach, called "El zig zag" to climb the Andes.

(6) Although only 23 miles as the crow flies from Chiayi due to the loops &c.

(7) A good friend from China sent me a link to a pop song about Alishan that is popular in Taiwan and on the mainland. My friend tells the song's story as follows "This song tells the story of a Tsou tribal girl who fell in love with a young man. However, due to conflicts between their tribes, their love was tragically cut short. They escaped into Alishan Mountain and transformed into the green mountains and clear waters." (a)

(a) Better outcome than the lovers in Bulgaria who offended the gods. They were turned into two mountain ranges: the Balkan and Rhodope; forever to see each other, never again to touch.

Track 1 at Chiayi station

Climbing to Fenhiqu. The engine is always on the downhill side for safety.

Diagram of the Dulishan loops

At Fenqihu

The bento box kitchen

Getting ready to depart Fenqihu

Glimpses from the train

Entrance to old tunnel 42

Zig zag

Erwanping Station at 2,000 meters

Shemshu (sacred tree) fell in 1997. The tree had been 150 meters tall with 18 meter circumference. Felled by lightning strikes and heavy rains.

Another zig zag

"Ming" whistle sign

At Alishan station, made of local wood.

Mosaic at Alishan

Sunset at Alishan

January 12, 2025

Nansam (south mountain) (1) (2) in Seoul rises about 800 feet above the town. The climb follows the old city walls and hillside fortifications. Walking up in the 17°F weather, I was glad I did not venture further out of the city for a hike. Wooden origami cranes hung at the summit outside the tower, where I had some lunch and gazed through the haze at the city below.

Stopping at an overlook on the climb down, a man set next to me and began to talk in broken English. After covering American and Korean presidential politics (3), he went on to personal matters. One of 10 children, his mother died at age 44 as a result of a chemical abortion when she got pregnant again (4). He has one son, who does not plan to have children (5). After about 45 minutes, I excused myself and continued downward.

Planning to go to the Korean National Museum, my route was impeded by an American military base and the Korean Presidential residence. The Korean War Museum was readily accessible, so I stopped there instead. One exhibit showed a movie about the bitter winter of 1950-1951, complete with snow falling on the audience. While the Museum was informative, the gift shop sold no books (in any language) to provide more context.

Outside is a naval vessel, which sunk a North Korean ship in 2002. A reminder that, while an armistice was signed in 1953, the Korean War never officially ended.

The low sun in the western sky signaled time to hop the train to the airport (6) for an evening flight to Kaohsiung (7) in Southern Taiwan.

(1) I'm so used to rivers being the center of cities, it's hard to remember that, while south of the city center, south mountain is north of the river.

(2) Stopping for coffee before the climb, the barrista asked if I worked at the American Embassy. A number of people living in the building where the café is located do.

(3) I think he was anti-Yoon, calling his wife a former "call girl."

(4) "Nothing else to do in a rural town."

he said.

(5) Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the developed world, well below replacement level.

(6) A screen on the train showed a short film about the sovereignty of Dokdo Rocks, which Korea controls, but Japan claims.

(7) I had never heard of the place either, but I found a cheap flight.