Taking the Bus No 7322 from Chiayi Train Station to Alishan National Forest @ Taiwan

Since it would have been my second time to Alishan National Forest, I was hoping to take the old school forest railway train up the mountain. Alas, it was not to be as the tickets were quickly sold out online and even a last minute check onsite at Chiayi train station didn't result in any good news.

There's always a Plan B, and sometimes, Plan C. Plan B involved the use of public buses to bring is to Alishan National Forest. And this plan required me to navigate a website, using my rudimentary grasp of the Chinese written characters. 

Costing NT$240 (about S$10) for each person, the troublesome part was that I had to print and collect the tickets from one of the many Family Mart convenience stores in the country. QR codes would have been so much more convenient....

Worst part was that we had to navigate the self-service kiosk! As a foreigner who is more acquainted to reading English, I gave up when I saw so many options under transportation! On buses, there were four to choose from and nothing described the bus no 7322 that we would be boarding!

With the help from one of the busy staff member from the convenience stores, we finally managed to get our tickets roughly half an hour before the arrival of the bus. Maybe due to too many tourists who collected their tickets at the last minute, there's a new notice on the website informing customers to do so at least the day before. 

Let's not await the bus at the bus stop, which was right in front of Chiayi Railway Station. Incredibly easy to find and if you fail to do so; just ask one of the many friendly Taiwanese around.

There's even a large sticker indicating this would be the correct bus stop for bus no 7322. It's kind of amazing to see bus numbers going to the thousands since in Singapore, bus routes numbered just about 300 plus, and the highest bus number is 993. 

10.05 am and we were finally boarding bus no 7322. Nothing fanciful about the bus; there was a luggage compartment for our cabin luggage and seat configuration was two by two. 

Starting our bus journey.

And blessed by this blooming tree! 

Bypassed the imposing 嘉邑慈玄宮 temple. In total, it was said that Taiwan has over 15,000 official temples for both Taoism and Buddhism. Unofficially, the number was said to number at least 33,000! 

In my first two visits to Taiwan (in 2014 and 2023), I wondered why so called rivers were so narrow and dry. Turned out they served a preventive purpose, specifically during the annual typhoon season, when the island would face heavy rainfall.

Climbing up the mountains!

Sharing a trivia here; see those tall slender trees that looked like a very thin coconut trees? Want to guess what they are? According to our tour guide for my 2023 trip, they were betel trees! Yes, the one that gave us the betel nuts said to be stimulating, and could contribute to a higher risk of oral cancer! 

It's just so mentally comforting to see the mountains next to us. Another view that calm my soul would be that of the beach view, where there's nothing beyond the horizon, and we only have the water, the sand, the sky and the clouds above us.

Tea plantation. The mountain tea from Alishan, under the a type of Chinese tea known as oolong,  is renowned globally, and said to be "exquisitely sweet candy-like, floral and fruity". Well, I am no tea connoisseur. 

Getting higher and higher. 

Another tea plantation and there were plenty along the way. For a more immersive experience, staying in a minsu, similar to a B&B, is said to be less touristy. Many to choose from although I didn't opt for one as I am scared it would be too boring. Furthermore, we would likely require pricey, private transport.

Toilet break at about 11.40am at this place known as Shizuo (23°28'23.1"N 120°41'50.4"E). It started drizzling! Not good news for us as I would want to explore the natural trails and do so in the rain would just be too inconvenient! 

Incredible mountain view! 

After a journey that took us almost three hours, we finally arrived at the Alishan transport station, which was the final stop and the entrance of Alishan National Forest! Time of arrival, 12.40pm. 

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Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)