Alishan Vacation Pictures

Alishan (mountain area, central Taiwan) 1/2 to 1/3

Companions: Emily, Allyn, Ronnie, Stella, Rich, Mom, Dad

Posing in front of the trees in the wonderful mountains. I felt like I was back home! Do you like my new, expensive coat? It kept me warm.
Stella and Emily in the forest.

For my brother. I've finally figured out the pose.

Emily, Rich, Allyn, Stella on an awesome bridge.

Allyn, Emily, and I on our hike.

Sacred Tree #2. It's over 1000 years old. The first one was struck by lightning twice and fell down. (isn't he so cute?!)

Stella c.c (Stella & Rich's mom said that was her English name. I don't get it) and I showing our train tickets. Part of Sacred Tree 1 is behind us.

Rich and his dad waiting for the train. Dad didn't want to be in any pictures.

Our hotel room. I laughed when I walked in. So Asian! My companions said its Japanese.

Our little table with bum pillows.

Most awkward shower of my life. They call this a bathtub/shower? Nowhere to hook the water spout.

5 am and this was just funny to me! Time to start hiking. I refuse to miss the sunrise.

I'm the tallest!! Ha ha. No heads in my sunrise pictures.

Emily holding on tight while I got fabulous pictures for everyone.

"Here comes the sun . . . "

It's here to stay! (there are 30 pictures between this and the previous one. I thought I'd just give you the highlights)

Looking down at the "little people" from my fabulous vantage point.Allyn, Stella, Emily, Ronnie

The giant! My coat even blends with the sky = perfect.

The early risers. We woke up at 4:30. The sun came up at 7:00. (I lead the pack on this hike too.)

Frost and flowers side by side. A great contrast. The girls I was with were excited to see the frost. he he. I would've preferred snow - then we could've had a snowball fight!

Stella & I posing. See the smaller post in the left corner? That's what I was standing on for the sunrise. It even wobbles -- perfect.

"Walking" stick --- I like to pick them up. I don't know why this l-o-n-g piece of bamboo was the one that caught my eye this time. Oh well. I enjoyed it. I tried to use it as a high-jumping stick but it broke and Emily was nervous. (she's worse than my own mother, always saying "that's dangerous" or "be careful" I've learned the Chinese words for "be careful" because of her!)

Trailhead. Look at the beautiful stone sun! (the real thing is better but harder to look at. Trust me.)

Funny stone men. Rich is the funniest kid! I love it. We stopped on our drive down the mountain. There were 2 awesome bridges. Emily wouldn't stop at the first one, but I made her stop at the second one :)

Funny stone men again. Practicing Tai-che moves.

Confucious. We ended up back in Tainan on 1/3. So I started and ended my vacation in that city.

Calligraphy Chinese characters. I was pretending I had just written them. Ha ha. That takes more patience and effort than I'm willing to put into writing. I just want to get my thoughts out of my head fast.

I couldn't walk by this without taking a picture. What a great claim to fame! "My city has a giant metal ear" ba ha ha.

We went to monkey mountain to try and find monkeys, but we were too late. They were going to bed. That's the 2nd time I've missed out. I'm bummed. I MUST see them before I leave Taiwan. I did find this awesome tree chair. An okay consolation prize.