Today our plan is to visit Alishan first and then go up to Yushan National Park. From Fenqihu we drive up and up and a very serpentine road with bridges and tunnels. On the way we stop a few times at some roadside stops to enjoy the views, they are quite breathtaking. Unfortunately when we arrive at Alishan it is full, really full. Like the cars are not let inside the park at all and then driving up and down for about fiveteen minutes every parking spot, both legal or not, are taken. So we decide to switch up go to Yushan first and see if we can find a parking spot and then return to Alishan later.
We are really lucky and find a parking spot close to the Tataka Visitor Center and the trailhead to Dongpu Prairie Trail. There is even a map here so we use it to orient ourselves after enjoying the views. And then it is time to start exploring, first the visitor center we decide.
The visitor center is quite large from the outside, we cannot even find the actual entrance initially. In fact the visitor centers in Taiwan are always larger than we expect and more impressive which is nice.
Inside the visitor center is also quite large and has a few exhibits that we find quite interesting even though there aren’t as many as we expected.
We especially like the historical exhibits, both relating to the Japanese era and to the Bunun people, the indigenous people here. There is also a restaurant but we decide to return to it later after our hike.
Next is the Dongpu Prairie Trail, a trail that we have chosen as it is considered to be moderate. Moderate here is quite difficult to us, with stairs climbing continuously up into the clouds almost or so it seems. We are also at high elevation so climbing really takes our breath away and we have to stop multiple times to catch our breath and also listen to birds.
We find a few birds including an Eurasian Jay which is the first one we see here and is of the Taiwanese subspecies so it is a nice find for us.
And then the stairs end and we are at the top of the trail but unfortunately only halfway in. Which means that the trail is half up and then half down and when returning it will be again half up and half down. How cool, uhm, not really. At least at the top is a large sitting area where we catch our breath and listen for birds before continuing on.
Actually the second part is not that bad, it is more level than we expected so we have more time to think about and look for birds and mammals.
And there are some special birds here including a bird that we missed in Daxueshan even though our guide saw it, the Flamecrest. It does not escape us here, it is quite beautiful and agile, no wonder it escaped us the previous time.
And then suddenly we are at the end of the trail and it ends on a paved road that leads from the main road to another major trailhead that climbs to the highest peak in Taiwan. However we walk on it only as far as the restrooms before deciding to return as rain seems to be approaching from everywhere.
On this short stretch we see a few macaques and a muntjac so it is a welcome diversion before we have to return via the Prairie Trail.
It is a shorter climb on the return hike and then it is time to go down the stairs on our protesting knees. At least the rain threat seems to have passed, we got lucky this time.
On the return trip the birds that we see are mostly tits in a few flocks, we really like the black throated tits especially, they are quite colorful.
Returning at the visitor center we decide to eat lunch at the restaurant as we are not sure where we can find another restaurant today and we are quite hungry. The food takes a bit to arrive but is quite interesting especially the dessert that we actually take with us to eat later. And now it is time to explore Alishan again, can we find a parking spot now or do we have to give up on visiting the famous forest?
