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One of the many places I have always wanted to go in Taiwan was Hehuanshan. My curiosity for the destination started when I first got here, listening to fellow teachers of mine talk about how beautiful it was, and more specifically, the sunrise. Part of the central mountain range, Hehuanshan rests right on the edge of Hualien County and Nantou County, making it possible to see both the sunrise and the sunset. As a lover of nature (perhaps an obsessed one at that), I have had this peak on my Taiwan bucket list nearly since the beginning. And I finally made it.
Just days after spending New Years’ Eve in Hsinchu, my best friend and I joined other friends of hers to traverse to the top. We passed many signs, several of them for places I have been to before: Caotun, Nantou, Taroko National Park, and Changhua. It only took two hours up the mountain, which despite being January, was lush and green and unfortunately, so cloudy it was nearly impossible to see much of anything. Still, we drove up to the top, bombarded by clouds and cold temperatures. It was probably the one instance I actually wanted my winter coat that was sitting in a box in the basement of my parents’ house. It was only forty degrees Fahrenheit!
A little defeated the first day, we went back to the hotel, where we rented a two floor cabin-esque set up. It was comfortably quiet and serene. Since we were so high up, we had to boil water before we used it, as we relied on the mountain water to relieve ourselves of our thirst. And then we headed out for dinner, to a place laced with red lanterns and stairs, with what I imagined in my mind to be a remarkable scene of the mountains below us, if not for the clouds masking them. We retired for the night, setting our alarms for three thirty in order to get up for the sunrise, the big attraction.
Groggy and definitely sleep deprived, we all rose and climbed aboard the tour bus, where the intercom spoke jokes that nearly no one laughed at on the way up. We stopped about halfway up and the view was astounding. Stars scattered throughout the midnight blue skies, and if I only had a better lens and some time, I would have captured the coolest shot of the constellations. It was the most vivid view of the stars, and the most stars I had ever seen in the night sky in my life. But, there was still more to come: sunrise.
Stopping off at a random little dirt road just a little ways down the mountain on the way to Hualien, we set up our cameras. The skies were a faint pink and orange, illuminating the clouds around them. I held my camera up for the forty minutes leading up to the sun actually rising above the mountain tops. We were so high up, the clouds created a blanket over the smaller mountains, moving quickly. Some people got some time lapses, which turned out to be captivating in themselves. Our spot for watching the sunrise was so beautiful, I imagine no one really cared that it was only thirty-eight degrees Fahrenheit outside. I forgot how numb my toes were when the sun finally made an appearance, followed by the “oos” and “ahs” from everyone around us.
For being a short little day and a half on top of one of the highest peaks in Taiwan, my only wish was that there was more time to bask in the beauty of the area, and for the clouds to have disappeared when we needed them to the first day. And of course, I was so grateful that all those poisonous snake and bee signs I saw on our hike through Cingjing Farm proved to be nothing other than warnings. Could you imagine what a trip that could have turned out to be?!
To another place off my Taiwan bucket list, I only hope I can return again and witness both a sunrise and sunset on Hehuan’s peak. Until next time,
