Good morning from Taiwan—this vlog is my little solo slow-travel adventure up to Alishan for two nights and three days (even though, looking back, two nights was kinda overkill). I start by doing the very unglamorous but very necessary thing: luggage storage. I’ve been using public lockers a lot for short trips because lugging a big suitcase into the countryside is just not the biz—hours can be limited at stations, so I ended up using a nearby storage option that was cheaper and actually open. Then it’s train time, Dramamine time (because I refused to be car-sick), and figuring out the bus situation—heads up: the bus line gets really long, so show up early unless you want to stand the whole way. Once I’m in Alishan, I’m on a mission to secure sunrise train tickets (you can reserve online earlier, but the day before you have to buy in person). I check into an older-but-totally-fine hotel, grab budget-friendly food from smaller stalls, and prep for the cold with a raincoat and hand warmers. The next morning is a 4:30am train, misty mountain layers, and a sunrise that felt totally different from my Haleakala sunrise—more red, with clouds doing their dramatic thing. I wrap the day with a tea house stop (cute vibes, free cake, refills), a long walk through the park, and a reminder that weather changes everything—I was so glad I went when I did because the next day’s rain basically erased the sunrise and knocked down a lot of blossoms.