Nous nous levons tôt (encore) pour aller voir le levé de soleil au sommet de la montagne d'Alishan à 2900m. nous achetons le ticket et prenons le petit train de 5:00. Malheureusement les nuages se sont levés aussi tôt que nous et nous ne voyons pas vraiment le soleil... Cela donne une ambiance mystique (oui oui mystique) avec les lumières autour du chemin. Ca me permet aussi de discuter photo avec une japonaise qui a le même appareil que moi (le 7R en fait) et qui me conseille sur les réglages. Nous ratons le dernier train de 6:50 (ggrrr) et nous devons rentrer à la station à pied. Finalement la marche est très agréable à travers la forêt et en descente. Et nous apercevons même le ciel bleu (mieux vaut tard que jamais)
Après une sieste rapide nous partons en voiture à 9:00 vers Sun Moon Lake. Nous devons redescendre par une route montagneuse très sinueuse avec de jolies paysages. Nous y arrivons vers midi et juste après manger nous décidons de marcher à travers des champs de thé jusqu'à un point de vue (des singes nous accueillant avec des bruits hostiles). La pluie recommence à tomber et nous gâche un peu la vue.
Nous reprenons la voiture (le but étant d'arriver le soir à Hualien à l'Est ) et continuons à travers le brouillard et la pluie avec des routes toujours plus étroites et sinueuses. Nous traversons un village nommé Qingjing Farm il y avait des maisons Tudor, des chalets suisses et des granges hollandaises surnommés la Petite Europe... Ca avait l'air d'avoir du succès avec les touristes asiatiques...
Après avoir atteint le sommet du parc de Taroko à 3100m, nous arrivons presque à Hualien où nous avions réserver notre logement, mais à 70km de là à 19:30 nous tombons sur un tunnel en travaux, fermé de 18h à 6:30 [ click ] et bien sûr c'est le seul moyen d'y arriver. Nous demandons donc à l’hôtel 5* du village perdu le prix de la chambre: £200... hmm non merci. Nous trouvons finalement une auberge de jeunesse où nous pouvons dormir et avoir un semblant de repas (soupe de pâtes) car tout est fermé. Après s'être levé à 4h avec presque 7h de route (pour 250km) la journée s’achève enfin vers minuit.
Et bien sur nous nous levons à 6:45 le lendemain pour pouvoir passer le tunnel (heure d'ouverture 6:30-8:00 / 12:00-13:00 / 17:00-18:00)... La suite au prochain numéro...
Yet another very early start to see the sunrise from the top of a mountain in Alishan. We got the train from Alishan station and walked 400m to the summit (2900m) only to be met with a thick blanket of cloud. We waited patiently for the sunrise, but we only caught a brief glimpse of the sun. Guillaume still managed to get some good photos, but we missed the last train back to Alishan (leaving at 6:50...) so had to walk back - at least it was downhill and by the time we reached the village the sun was out and there was even some blue sky so it was worth it.
After a quick nap we packed up the car and set off for Sun Moon Lake (the same characters as Day Month Lake, which makes sense). Very twisty, windy roads up into the mountains and the fog descended quickly. We arrived at Sun Moon Lake at lunchtime and walked up to a viewpoint to see the lake and some teafields. The clouds and fog gave it all a mysterious air but it would have been nice to have seen it in the sun and be able to appreciate the mountains on the far side of the lake...
The afternoon drive was horrible. Truly awful. Thick fog and windy roads that were only wide enough for one car in places combined with drivers driving in the middle of the road while going round blind corners. Guillaume did very well - I would have cracked and refused to keep going, especially once it got dark. We passed a peculiar village called Qingjing Farm on the way - there were Tudor houses, Swiss chalets and Dutch barns for a good few kilometres looking very out of place. Our guidebook didn't even mention it but apparently it's all for the benefit of tourists (presumably not European tourists...) and is fittingly called 'Little Europe'.
Finally we made it to the end of the mountain roads and were almost at Hualien (where we were staying for the night) when we reached a tunnel, with a closed gate in front of it. The sign attached to the gate informed us that the tunnel was closed apart from 6:30-8:00, 12:00-13:00 and 17:00-18:00. It was half past seven. We traipsed to a nearby hotel to ask how we could get to Hualien. The answer: we couldn't until 6:30 in the morning - the tunnel is the only way and it was closed. This is what we felt like: click
The hotel had a room available for about £200, so we declined and went to find somewhere a bit cheaper. We ended up in a sort of youth hostel, which was fine (hot, powerful shower, clean, comfy beds, amazing view from the window and a lot better than the car).
Unfortunately we had no food and even the 7 Eleven in the village was shut. The receptionist in the youth hostel told us we could buy food from the shop on site, but not until 9:30 because the China Youth Corps were having some sort of disco/brainwashing event in the hall next to it. So finally, at 10pm we tucked into our MSG and goodness only knows what else-filled pot noodles and set our alarm for 6:45 so that we could get through the tunnel to Taroko national park.
Pensée du jour: Argh#@?! Flûte!
Thought for the day: Oh fiddlesticks
Après une sieste rapide nous partons en voiture à 9:00 vers Sun Moon Lake. Nous devons redescendre par une route montagneuse très sinueuse avec de jolies paysages. Nous y arrivons vers midi et juste après manger nous décidons de marcher à travers des champs de thé jusqu'à un point de vue (des singes nous accueillant avec des bruits hostiles). La pluie recommence à tomber et nous gâche un peu la vue.
Nous reprenons la voiture (le but étant d'arriver le soir à Hualien à l'Est ) et continuons à travers le brouillard et la pluie avec des routes toujours plus étroites et sinueuses. Nous traversons un village nommé Qingjing Farm il y avait des maisons Tudor, des chalets suisses et des granges hollandaises surnommés la Petite Europe... Ca avait l'air d'avoir du succès avec les touristes asiatiques...
Après avoir atteint le sommet du parc de Taroko à 3100m, nous arrivons presque à Hualien où nous avions réserver notre logement, mais à 70km de là à 19:30 nous tombons sur un tunnel en travaux, fermé de 18h à 6:30 [ click ] et bien sûr c'est le seul moyen d'y arriver. Nous demandons donc à l’hôtel 5* du village perdu le prix de la chambre: £200... hmm non merci. Nous trouvons finalement une auberge de jeunesse où nous pouvons dormir et avoir un semblant de repas (soupe de pâtes) car tout est fermé. Après s'être levé à 4h avec presque 7h de route (pour 250km) la journée s’achève enfin vers minuit.
Et bien sur nous nous levons à 6:45 le lendemain pour pouvoir passer le tunnel (heure d'ouverture 6:30-8:00 / 12:00-13:00 / 17:00-18:00)... La suite au prochain numéro...
Yet another very early start to see the sunrise from the top of a mountain in Alishan. We got the train from Alishan station and walked 400m to the summit (2900m) only to be met with a thick blanket of cloud. We waited patiently for the sunrise, but we only caught a brief glimpse of the sun. Guillaume still managed to get some good photos, but we missed the last train back to Alishan (leaving at 6:50...) so had to walk back - at least it was downhill and by the time we reached the village the sun was out and there was even some blue sky so it was worth it.
After a quick nap we packed up the car and set off for Sun Moon Lake (the same characters as Day Month Lake, which makes sense). Very twisty, windy roads up into the mountains and the fog descended quickly. We arrived at Sun Moon Lake at lunchtime and walked up to a viewpoint to see the lake and some teafields. The clouds and fog gave it all a mysterious air but it would have been nice to have seen it in the sun and be able to appreciate the mountains on the far side of the lake...
The afternoon drive was horrible. Truly awful. Thick fog and windy roads that were only wide enough for one car in places combined with drivers driving in the middle of the road while going round blind corners. Guillaume did very well - I would have cracked and refused to keep going, especially once it got dark. We passed a peculiar village called Qingjing Farm on the way - there were Tudor houses, Swiss chalets and Dutch barns for a good few kilometres looking very out of place. Our guidebook didn't even mention it but apparently it's all for the benefit of tourists (presumably not European tourists...) and is fittingly called 'Little Europe'.
Finally we made it to the end of the mountain roads and were almost at Hualien (where we were staying for the night) when we reached a tunnel, with a closed gate in front of it. The sign attached to the gate informed us that the tunnel was closed apart from 6:30-8:00, 12:00-13:00 and 17:00-18:00. It was half past seven. We traipsed to a nearby hotel to ask how we could get to Hualien. The answer: we couldn't until 6:30 in the morning - the tunnel is the only way and it was closed. This is what we felt like: click
The hotel had a room available for about £200, so we declined and went to find somewhere a bit cheaper. We ended up in a sort of youth hostel, which was fine (hot, powerful shower, clean, comfy beds, amazing view from the window and a lot better than the car).
Unfortunately we had no food and even the 7 Eleven in the village was shut. The receptionist in the youth hostel told us we could buy food from the shop on site, but not until 9:30 because the China Youth Corps were having some sort of disco/brainwashing event in the hall next to it. So finally, at 10pm we tucked into our MSG and goodness only knows what else-filled pot noodles and set our alarm for 6:45 so that we could get through the tunnel to Taroko national park.
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| faire la "queue" avec des chinois... à 5am... |
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| la malédiction du levé de soleil continue |
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| on the way down from the summit / en descendant du sommet |
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| Sun Moon Lake au loin |
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| là il faisait jour... |
Pensée du jour: Argh#@?! Flûte!
Thought for the day: Oh fiddlesticks
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