Taiwan – Cing Jing [清境]

This is going back to January of 2016. A short snapshot of the 10 day journey in Taiwan with Carmen’s sister, Kiki, and her family!
We arrived at Taipei around 4pm, got our luggage…only to find that I had booked the rental car pickup at Kaohsiung, the other side of the island about 400km apart.


Luckily the rental company was very accommodating and found a big van for us! We had to take 2 bus connections to the railway station for pickup.


After picking up the van, we still had to drive south and then up the mountain. This is what a 9 passenger van looked like loaded down with 4 suitcases and 2 strollers.
By the time we arrived at the final destination it was past 11pm.


Carmen & Kiki had done all the research and planning, so I didn’t even know what to expect.
It was a pleasant surprise to see such a great view of the mountains when we woke up the next morning.


For 3 days we stayed at Ailiga Travel Villa [清境愛立家民宿].
The weather was quite chilly so we had to abandon the crib for Amber and keep in the same bed with us.


We enjoyed driving along the mountain roads and trying out local dishes. Jolie, our niece, is really drawn to animals and was feeding the owner’s cats.


It was a rainy day so we continued down the mountain and explored the nearby towns.




The smaller towns are quite charming with their low-rise buildings and narrow roads.


Trying out local snacks and visiting the markets.




We happen to be there during the Taiwan General Election, there was a lot of banners and canvassing.


The cousins getting to know each other better.


The next morning the skies were clear and we decided to go higher altitude.




We visited the Cing Jing Farm [青青草原].


They let the sheep herd roam the pasture as well provide educational talks for the guests.






You can even feed the sheep too, Jolie was very eager to try while Amber was afraid of these big animals.


I thought this was really funny!


We continued up the winding mountain roads.


Per the recommendation by the locals, we got snowchains installed. It is amazing they allow driving with the chains on dry surfaces, it must damage the roads pretty quickly.


At the peak of Hehuanshan [合歡山], altitude of 3,422 m (11,227 ft).


Seems like a Taiwanese tradition to make snowmen on the front windshield, some are very elaborate.




On the route back, we had to climb a pretty steep hill. Our van was very slipping and sliding, upon investigation they had installed the chains to the front wheel to a rear-wheel drive vehicle. So we were pushing the chains with the slippery all-season tires!
A few well-equipped ‘tow-trucks’ offered to tow us up the hill for a pretty hefty fee. Not willing to give up I had to disconnect and move the snowchains to the rear. Took about 30min but we eventually made it up the hill and see the sunset still!




Next day we packed up and moved to the Taichung City [臺中市]. We were all excited to check out the famous night markets!