Road trip in Taiwan – Alishan Forest and the sea of clouds

· by · in Asia, Taiwan, Western and central Taiwan. ·

Last November, we went to Taiwan for two weeks and we did a road trip around the island and it was fabulous ! The weather, the people.. and the food, oh the food…. it was just amazing ! We landed in Taipei and we started to drive clockwise around the island. Previous parts can be found here : Taiwan 

That day, we decided to drive towards Alishan National Scenic Area also known as Mount Ali. It is a very popular tourist attraction in Taiwan, very famous for the production of high mountain tea and for the iconic sea of clouds.

We drove towards that location quite early in the morning, saw a lot of tea pickers and despite being that early in the morning it was already really hot outside !

Tea picking

After roughly one hour of driving, we realised that there was no petrol station on Alishan and that we had to drive back down to fill the tank up :-( Oh dear, that was a bit scary and so stupid of us. We went back down, put some petrol and drove back up the mountain again, loosing a few hours… but the landscape was so beautiful that it was not really wasting time, we were lucky to see it twice :-)

We visited the main national scenic area, walked on different paths, saw the forest and the very old trees and it was nice but not quite what I was expecting.

It is built for tourists and not very wild anymore. When we drove down the mountain, the sea of clouds was breathtaking ! And at that exact moment I understood why a lot of people are attracted to this spot.

Alishan sea of clouds

Our accommodation that night was really amazing. We had food prepared by the host and we even witnessed some tea roasting the neighbour house. We ended up buying some and I think the packaging was really clever :-)

68 responses to “Road trip in Taiwan – Alishan Forest and the sea of clouds”

  3. So glad I found those posts of yours! we are actually contemplating a trip there this winter, and I know that the moment I ll show your pics to my husband, he ll forget about visiting Australia instead. Thanks a lot :)

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  5. I love your pictures I really like the bridge going downward or upward depending on the direction of travel. I get a lot of my ideas for my stories from other peoples pictures. Have you ever thought about other people telling their own tales about your pictures? Do you sell copies of your pictures? Think about it I have 2 sites here on wordpress and I will add my email to my sites also I’m on facebook, twitter too. let me know what you think…Please I’m following you now so I will be around. kat

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    • Yes, it was in a way. But I really thought we would find petrol station on top of it, because it didn’t look that remote and no signs were indicating it was the last petrol station :-) At least you will be prepared if you ever go there :-)

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    • It’s a very strange experience. You feel a lot of serenity and peace, looking at these clouds. I had the same feeling when I went to Mindo in Ecuador, there is also a forest of clouds over there :-) I hope you are alright ! Have you found a new camera yet ? :-)

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      • I had a friend from Mindo, but she always told me that there was nothing interesting , grr¬¬
        Everything is fine here, thank you : ) I purchased online a Samsung NX500 but the seller backed off (guess he sold it to other person), after that I saw a Sony a5000, tried it a days but I disliked the experience. I saw yesterday a compact camera, a Fujifilm X30, perhaps I am just going to buy that camera. Haha, well, I think the short answer had been a “no” :$

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        • Haha :-) I quite liked Mindo, I love the forest with all these interesting plants.. they also had a butterfly farm and I found the visit very interesting. I think Mindo is really a nice place (maybe local are a bit indifferent because they are living in it)

          I think it’s important to try a camera and use what you feel comfortable with. I had a DSLR for a while but it was too heavy for me, so I went for a micro 4/3 and I really enjoy it. It’s tiny with small lenses, easier to carry for me :-)

          Can’t wait to see more pictures from you !

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  16. Love your attitude, guys – you are happy to see the scenery twice instead of nagging about your mistake :) It speaks volumes about you. A secret of happiness is in your possession for sure :)
    Breathtaking sea of clouds, hope to see it some day.

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  22. Wow just breathtaking! Yes I too can see why such a spot would be popular. Good thing to be safe regarding fuel rather than sorry. Love your positive attitude in getting ot see the beauty twice.

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      • You two will love Canada. British Colombia is so beautiful. Really wish we drove. So much more to see with a car.

        The one bad thing about seeing Muir woods (outside SF) when I was little. It was the first forest I ever stepped foot in and some of the tallest trees I’ve ever seen. So all other trees out there seem like disappointments compared to them. The trees are still really old and big in Canada just not as tall as those redwoods. One day we’d like to go spend more time with the redwood trees.

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        • I can’t wait to buy the flight tickets, I’m so excited !

          I’ve also seen very big trees in Sequoia National Park, it was very impressive. Are the trees in Redwook bigger than sequoia ?

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          • I think the redwoods and the Sequioas are the huge trees. I have to check. They make the British Colombia ones look small. I would really like to be surrounded by trees right now. Its been so hot the past couple of days. I can’t wait for the heat wave to be over.

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  27. Oh no, hahaha, no petrol! But as you said, you got to see the beautiful scenery twice and time was on your side. Sometimes you can never go wrong waking up early in the morning :D Then again, odd that there isn’t a petrol station on the way…you would think so but sometimes that’s the way it is.

    That shot of the clouds over the mountains is amazing. It almost looks like you are floating in the sky :D

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