鹿谷故事館

This article was written by Singaporean lady the third day in Lugu. This article was written by Ong Yu Chang.  The translation is by Jerry. 

以是新加坡女生在鹿谷第三天的遊記。 由Jerry 翻譯。

Day 7 Part 1 Lugu, Zhushan

I decided to take a walk up the famous Dong Ding Shan to see the sunrise. As I turned into the road beside the fire station, just beyond the light from the street lamp, I heard a sound from the top of the trees, thinking it was a bat (I always think it is good luck to see a bat) I look up and stood still and to my surprise and delight, I saw the wise eyes of an..Owl! Imagine my joy!

我決定走上凍頂山去看日出。當我轉入消防隊一旁路燈後面的小路時。聽到樹梢上傳來聲響。猜測應該是蝙蝠(我總認為看到蝙蝠是帶來好運)。我久立其間往上查看，出乎我意料而感到欣喜，我看到一雙睿智的眼睛....是貓頭鷹! 心中滿溢著難以言喻的喜悅!

 

I didn't get the sunrise pictures as the fog was too thick but it was a good workout. As I walked pass the tea trees that produce the famous Dong Ding Tea, I noticed some vegetable patches which was beside the tea trees. Considering that this is premium tea planting area, using it for vegetables seemed rather strange so I went closer to take a photo. I must say guard dogs here take their job very seriously. I was given a loud and sharp warning bark and believe me, I literally ran out of the boundary at lightning speed. As I walked away, I turned back to see the serious guard dog staring at me, making sure I did not turn back

因為霧氣太重沒拍到日出，但仍不失是一個好的運動。當我穿越過種著聞名於世的凍頂烏龍茶園時，發現一處處的菜園夾雜其中。思索著這不是主要種茶的區域嗎?種青菜真是有點突兀，特別往前拍一張照片。我一定要提到這，負責茶園警戒的狗真的非常盡忠職守。它對著我使出大聲尖銳且帶警告意味的吠叫，相信我不誇張地以迅雷不及掩耳的速度逃離現場。當我遠離時，我轉身一望，那隻認真負責警戒的狗仍然注視著我，確保我不再回去。

 

After heading back to the Story House for breakfast, I decided to go to Zhushan. I told Zhang Mama about my plan and she decided to drive me to Zhushan as she was going to the temple there. Thanks to her I saved a lot of time waiting and taking the bus to Zhushan city centre. Unfortunately, the connecting bus up to the sky ladder has only 3 journeys per day. I missed the first one and the middle one is about 3hrs away. The visitor centre staff was very helpful as she suggested to take private car up and she helped me contact the driver for pick up. The journey cost me NTD 600 for one way. That is more expensive than train tickets from Taoyuan to Chiayi...But then i don't have much choice as it was up a mountainous region and the driver likely had to drive an empty car down so I guess it was justifiable.

在我回故事館吃完早餐後，我決定去竹山。我把我的行程告訴張媽媽後，她決定載我去竹山一座她常去的廟那。感謝她為我省卻不少去竹山市區的時間。但很遺憾的，往返天梯與竹山的公車每天只有三個班次。我錯過第一班，但第二班是在三小時後。遊客中心人員很熱心建議我可以搭計程車去，且協助我聯繫司機來載我。這趟路我花了六百元。這價格比桃園到嘉義的火車票價還貴許多。但我在山區沒選擇餘地，司機載我上山後，大多需空車下山，因此我想還算合理吧!

 

From the entrance to the sky ladder till the sky ladder was about 30mins of downwards steps. I started imagining the agony of the return journey and kept time all the way to ensure I don't miss the last bus back to Zhushan city centre.

從進入天梯後的三十分鐘路程都是往下的階梯。我開始想像回程的痛苦，且沿途控制時間以確保我不會錯過最後一班回竹山市中心的車。

 

 

The Sky ladder was a long suspension bridge across a gorge. Across the Sky Ladder, you see the Taiji Gorge, there is a shrine for Earth god and goddess, Green Dragon or Qing Long Waterfall and the trail ends with Yu Fu suspension bridge and a similiar route back (there is 2 parts where the route splits into 2 so that there won't be a human jam).

天梯是一座跨過峽谷的吊橋。橫越天梯，你可以看見太極峽谷，旁有土地公、土地婆，青龍瀑布，步道的盡頭是玉福吊橋且有一條類似的回程路徑(這裡的路徑分成兩個條路線，才不會造成人擠人的狀況。)

As I was overly worried about missing the last bus, I actually went too fast. The weather was too hot for me to stay long too even though I had plenty of food to last me the day (Thanks to Zhang Mama who packed me tea eggs, apple, orange and biscuits.)

由於我過度擔心會錯過最後一班巴士，實在走得過快。天氣太熱令我不想久待，雖然帶著足夠我渡過一整天的食物(謝謝張媽媽幫我帶上茶葉蛋、蘋果、橘子還有餅乾。)

I ended up finishing the entire journey to and back by about 1215 which makes it possible for me to catch the midday bus back downtown. The bus stop was quite a distance away from the entrance and I was seriously tempted to raise my thumb to hitch a ride to the bus stop or even downtown but I persevered knowing that the information I gained would be beneficial for other travellers.

我在十二點十五分完成整個行程，可以趕上第二班前往竹山市區的巴士。這巴士站離入口處有點距離，我真得認真考慮過豎起拇指讓路過的車載我一程到巴士站或是市區，但我深信要走下去讓其他旅客也知道這種狀況。

 

The feeling of standing at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere with no cars and no human in sight with the occasional goose and roosters calls nearby is quite an experience. Makes one subconsciously unsettled and it is no wonder that I checked out that bus stop sign no less than 10 times in that 20 or 30mins and makes it feel that time passes extra slowly. Fortunately I had unsettled and sweet apples to take my mind off things.

站在一個渺無人煙、無車來往、只伴隨著附近零星的鵝及公雞啼聲的公車站牌前，真是個前無的經驗。基於下意識的質疑，我在二、三十分鐘內查看了公車站牌不下十次，這時間更顯漫長。幸運的是我有香甜的蘋果相伴，可以一掃我的憂慮。

 

 

 

 

Day 7 Part 2 Zhushan, Lugu

Back to Zhushan city centre and since I have time to spare and the bus station is on the way, I took a short walk around the local markets and temple. Feeling curious about the soft pinkish looking Kueh at the shop, I asked and found out that it is only available because tonight the locals pray to 天宫 thus the muah chee was for that purpose.

回到竹山市區後，我有空閒的時間沿路走到巴士站，我短暫的造訪當地的市集還有寺廟。

很好奇在商店裡賣的粉紅色、軟軟的糕，我問了店家，這種糕只有在特別時候，今晚是當地為了向媽祖祈求平安。

 

After reaching Lugu, I decided to go to 1936小食堂, the restaurant that we went on the first night in Lugu but did not manage to try as they had ran out of food.

回到鹿谷，我決定去1936小食堂，鹿谷的一間餐館，第一晚要去吃時剛好所有餐都賣完了!

 

The young lady running this has much passion and is highly focused on the direction of her restaurant. She is another example of the younger generation who are much more exposed to the external world but still wishes to return to her roots in Lugu and start her business, albeit an uphill task as the vast majority of her local community can still be rather conservative and reluctant to accept new tastes. She insists on using locally sourced vegetables and does not use any artificial and instant seasonings.

這個年輕的女生對於經營她的餐廳有著極大的熱情且非常專注在它未來發展的方向。她是曾在外地生活過的年輕的一代，但仍然希望回到自己鹿谷的家鄉。開始做起小生意，儘管不太容易，因為大多數當地的居民相對於保守，也不輕易接受新的口味。她堅持使用當地的蔬菜且不使用任何人工添加物的佐料。

 

I hear her story and admire her guts and determination as she holds the fort on her own and only has her sister to help out occasionally. Fortunately the local community is still kind and understanding to her limitations and unlike doing business in Singapore, she does not have to worry about high rental as the property is owned so the likelihood she will be able to sustain the business in the long term is still rather high as long as she maintains her passion and direction. I wish her all the best and hope that I can still meet her again when I visit again.

聽了她的故事，很欣賞她的勇氣與決心，她獨自負責餐廳的營運，偶爾妹妹會來協助。還好當地人很好且理解她的處境，不像在新加坡做生意般，她無須太擔憂高額的租金因為是自家的店面，她可以走的更長遠，只要她保持熱情及正確的方向。我衷心希望下次我在來時還可以再次光顧。

Famous Ma Tzu temple in Zhushan. It is a heritage site.

 

著名的媽祖廟。它是一個歷史古蹟。

The pinkish stuff are muah chee for tonight's prayers. There is green bean filling inside and

 

tastes yummy! I bought some for Jerry and his mum, hope they like it.

 

這些粉紅色的東西是麻糬給今晚拜拜的人。它的內餡是綠豆且很美味。我買給Jerry跟他母親，

 

希望他們會喜歡。

Purple Chinese Yam. Not very tasty but supposed to be healthy I think.

 

紫色的蕃薯。不是很好吃但應該很健康。

Detailed location and contact. Please call before going to check if they are open and still have food.

 

詳細的位置與連絡資訊。務必光臨前去電確認他們是否有營業且還有食材。

Menu changes regularly to keep regular customers interested.

 

經常變化的菜單讓顧客維持新鮮感。

Locally sourced produce for cooking and for sale. No msg, no instant seasonings used here.

 

All natural and organic.

 

在地生產的食材用來烹煮與銷售。這裡不添加味精，沒化學佐料。所有都是自然且有機的。

The side dishes changes regularly to be in line with the season of the vegetables. Winter is

 

good for kimchi as napa cabbage is sweet.

 

在旁的小菜時常依據時令不同的蔬菜而製作。冬季的拮瓜做泡菜很甜美。