Day 275: Alishan Forest

Alishan Forest stretches across the Alishan mountain range and is known for its countless tea farms. Tea plants flourish here due to the humidity and mist provided from clouds passing through every few minutes. We rode the local bus and met Alexes from Paraguay who is studying in Taiwan for civil engineering. He shared that Taiwan and Paraguay have a close relationship and Taiwan built a university there. His program allows you to take two years of classes in Paraguay and then come to Taiwan for a year; he and 14 classmates came over and are having the best time.

Our bus started its ascent into the mountains and it was STEEP. Lots of switch backs and little crevices. Research told us to hike the Tea and Mist Trail to enjoy the valleys, farms, and bamboo pathways. We made a mistake and got off at the wrong bus stop at the Tea AND Mist Trail. What we really needed was the bus stop to hike the Mist Trail….and then also the Tea Trail 🥴 we weren’t mad because the pit stop was cute and we found asparagus juice, tomato juice, and steamed bun with pork and black bean ❤️

The other thing about this area is that walking on roads with no sidewalks is normal and Google Maps knows it’s normal. We are on small windy roads with almost zero shoulder and freaking out. We eventually meet a local who is walking on the roads as well so it makes us feel better.

Finally arrive to the actual hiking trails and it was ethereal. We would walk through thick mist, only seeing the tea rows ahead and sporadically the fog would clear to deep valleys. The tall bamboo forest was a highlight for us and slapping them to make sounds (they’re hallow).

Hiked for 2-3 hours and then trekked to Shizhuo for dinner. We ate shrimp friend rice for $3 and twice cooked pork for $5 😱😱😱 Grabbed some Alishan Black Tea and rode the bus back home.

Food:
Steamed pork and black bean bun
Shrimp fried rice
Twice cooked pork

Spots:
Alishan National Forest
Shizhuo ShanLue lisää