dinks

Hi.

My wife and I will be visiting Taiwan in November.
I have been examining maps. Does anyone know the most efficient way to get from Sun Moon Lake to Alishan?
I know we can go from Sun Moon to Taichung to Chiayi to Alishan but there seems to be a major road linking Sun Moon to Alishan. Would this be quicker?
Thanks.

amln

There are at least two routes, actually three. One is the easy (though longer) one via Chiayi. Another one is more inland, across the Meishan and Zhushan regions. The third one, probably the most scenic one, is on the route 21 across the mountains.

We did the first one through Chiayi (starting from Alishan), ending up skipping the Sun Moon lake because the weather was bad and heading to Lugang instead.

The mountain road (#21) is shorter, but should be quite tiring due to all the curves. If you don't bother about the scenery, just take the route via Chiayi.

Christine_Wu

This is a popular route, so the Tourism Bureau has put on a 3 day special bus pass for the area at NT 616 per person.
See http://www.agan.com.tw/smlroute/ticket4.asp?lang=en

Taichung to Sun Moon lake is now a modern highway (almost) through the sky. A twice daily (0700 & 0900) tourist bus runs from the lake on provincial road 21 to Alishan, reached after 3:40 hr ride. Best to check ahead for road conditions to Alishan as these may often vary after the typhoon season or earthquakes.

Once you get into the higher mountains, all roads will be winding: roughly the same size as Switzerland, Taiwan has so many more mountains and valleys.