Fenchihu, Alishan, May 2004
journal post
Instead of going to the immensly popular Alishan town, we stayed half way up the mountain near a town called Fenchihu. We stayed at the Jane-Su Homestay, which is run by a great guy named Charlies. From Chiayi, we took a minivan up the mountain to Fenchihu, and Charlies picked us up at the train station and took us to his wonderful 3 room homestay.
Charlies owns a tea plantation and bamboo forest, and here is some of his land:
There was lots going on there because it was the time of the year for harvesting the bamboo. Charlies hired extra workers from nearby aboriginal villages to help out.
And inside, they boil the bamboo and prepare it for shipment down the mountain to Chiayi.
Charlies took us on several scenic hikes in the area. One took us through a very misty bamboo forest.
And past other homestays in the area. Mark is posing next to some 'square' bamboo, the stalk is actually square shaped.
The next morning, we woke up at 5am and took a short and easy hike to see the sunrise.
We hiked past tea plantations.
It's been so long since I had an unpolluted mountain view.
We also did another hike to the summit of Dadu Mountain. The hike was quite enjoyable, as we took our time. The summit was foggy, so we didn't actually see anything, but that's ok because the way up and down was great.
I really find it amusing to see the great lengths that Taiwanese go through for a cup of tea. At the summit, every family there had their own tea set out, with a gas stove, teapots, and real tea cups.
This was one of my favorite weekend getaways so far, and I think it was all thanks to Charlies. If anyone is heading to Alishan or Fenchihu, give him a call (he speaks English) 0937394375 or go to his website: www.smallswiss.com.tw