We spent two nights at this friendly home stay. The home stay is surrounded by tea plantation, and it has a great view of the distant mountains in a clear day. Sadly, we only have a small opportunity to catch a glimpse of it due to thick fog.
The room is cosy; but the room amenities is limited. We can’t find a better place to boil hot water. And the hot water bath can be a hit and miss.
Breakfast is Asian style with porridge and condiments. We enjoyed a little chat with the owner who started out as a tea maker and ventured into this homestay six years ago.
Highly recommended.
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入住日期：2024年11月旅行类型：家庭旅行
房间建议：Trip up to this home stay need to negotiate the winding road ascending mountain roads. Start...
An amazing place to stay to experience what the mountains are like in Taiwan. Million dollar views of tea fields and wafting clouds. Breakfast had many choices and was excellent. We had several rooms as we were traveling with family. Great place to get away from it all.
Absolutely incredible mountain view room (無憂時光) - like being in heaven! It's even better in person and difficult to capture just how magical it is since the mountain mist comes and goes like Chinese watercolor art... probably more dramatic than other sights you go out of your way to visit in the vicinity. The room itself is spacious and well appointed... washlet toilet too! There are 3 buildings, one for breakfast with panoramic views, one for regular rooms (十方) and the other one a level lower for unobstructed mountain view rooms (無憂) which cost a bit more but are well worth the money - can see the sunrise from the room's balcony! Alternatively, there's a viewing platform outside for everyone.
Took the iconic 2.5-hr Alishan Train from Chiayi 嘉義 to Fenqihu 奮起湖 (book tickets online 2 weeks in advance at 6 am, pickup at 711) then it's 30 min by taxi (300 NTD) from Fenqihu or there's an infrequent bus 7322D which came really late 'cause of cherry blossom traffic. Can easily spend a couple of hours there, with trails and shops - check out 山嵐小築 for mountain-view patio tea/dessert.
Staff very responsive via email, recommending a couple of drivers, one of whom we booked for 8 hours for 3000 NTD (+300/hr if over 8 hrs), including going to a local hotpot restaurant nearby they suggested with light and fresh ingredients 龍舞雲海阿里山現採高山蔬菜火鍋 (make sure you call to book in advance). Also managed to see Alishan National Forest Recreation Area 阿里山國家森林遊樂區 (200 NTD to enter)'s 姊妹潭 ponds and 神木 forest (well-known but not as spectacular as you might imagine) in addition to 石棹's 櫻之道 with bright pink sakura trees and beautiful tiered tea fields - all quite busy in the midst of cherry blossom season mid March. It's lovely but probably better to come a different time of the year to avoid the crowd if you've already experienced more densely planted clusters of cherry blossom trees in Japan and are less likely to find it that impressive.
Transport a bit tricky without a car so do make arrangements ahead of time (an hour up to Alishan Station) although infrequent 台灣好行 buses stop nearby downhill at Xiding 隙頂, also going to High Speed Rail Chaiyi Station (taxi 1500 NTD).
Trails within walking distance for sunset with tiered tea fields and sakura (隙頂二延平步道 100-min loop - helpful hand drawn map at reception... lots of steps but not too bad and totally worthwhile). Sunrise from 茶霧之道's gazebo 涼亭 20-min walk away was insane (part of the loop)!
Restaurant onsite only serves breakfast from 7-9 am so make sure you make lunch/dinner arrangements - the first night we got railway bentos from Fenqihu. The nearest convenient store is Hi-Life 萊爾富 that's 750 m away, adjacent to the above mentioned hotpot restaurant.
