14.11.19 - 16.11.19 Fenqihu

As mentioned before, our next destination was the famous and touristy area of Alishan. Besides the famous tea, this area located at an average altitude of about 1500m offers a great green panorama, bamboo forests, and wonderful hiking trails. Part of this amazing experience is taking the old Alishan Forest Railway to get there. It's an old train that makes its way from Chiayi into the mountains, passing through 55 tunnels and over 77 bridges. This railway is so popular that we couldn't even get a ticket three days in advance in Chiayi. At least not for the outbound journey, but luckily for the return journey. During the Typhoon in 2009, a large part of the railway was destroyed and has not been rebuilt since. Since then, the train only runs halfway to Fenqihu. Since it seemed easier, cheaper, and just as beautiful to us, we decided not to go to Alishan itself, but to stay in Fenqihu and take the train back from there.

So we first took the bus to Fenqihu, which fortunately wasn't as adventurous as described in some travel reports. We arrived shortly after 5pm at an altitude of about 1400m and were surprised by the low temperatures and had to unpack our warm clothes first. Then we took a short walk through the village, which was already dark by then and somehow deserted. It became clear that this place is mainly designed for day tourism. We then found a restaurant that was still open for dinner and then retreated to our room, which by the way, had a window for the first time in ages and not just a window, but even a small balcony. In addition to the pleasantly fresh air, the temperature was so fine without air conditioning that we could snuggle up in our separate blankets.

The next day, we woke up early from the daylight and set off for our planned hike around nine o'clock. The plan was to hike the Historical Trail from Fenqihu to Ruili, a village 7km away. This distance sounded easy to us, even though we knew we had to walk the same path back, as there was no bus from Ruili to Fenqihu. We had also read that it takes about 2-3 hours one way. However, we were not really prepared for what awaited us. But first things first. So we started walking leisurely and were prepared for a steep uphill climb, which lasted about the first 2km and we had to overcome an altitude difference of 200m. It was already quite exhausting for Lea, but still doable. Especially since the surroundings were really beautiful and impressive. We walked through bamboo forests and sections of rainforest.

We also passed a spot where freshly cut bamboo was being transported away.

The next 2km were very pleasant in terms of steepness before it started to go steeply downhill for 3km, descending about 500m to Ruili.

We, who already had in mind that we had to go all the way back up, persevered. Our knees became more and more shaky over time, but in the end, we passed beautiful tea fields and finally reached the starting and ending point of the trail.

As it turned out, the actual village of Ruili was still 1.5km away. Since we had already taken 3.5 hours for this part of the hike and could only imagine how long it would take us to return, we decided not to walk to the village. To the dismay of our stomachs, because we hadn't eaten anything until then. So we shared the cereal bar we brought, briefly debated whether we should try to hitchhike back, and then started the arduous ascent. What followed was probably one of the most challenging things we have ever done. We are used to walking long distances in more or less flat terrain, but uphill and then so steep and for so long... we cursed ourselves a lot. Even though Mathias is still fitter than both of us, it was also a struggle for him and Lea was really close to tears several times. When we finally completed this ascent... I have no idea how long it took us, it had already started to get dark and we were fully immersed in the fog, which gave the forest a really great atmosphere.

Unfortunately, we were already completely out of energy and couldn't really enjoy it anymore. Lea's knees suffered a lot from the long descent, so every step was another struggle, especially the last 2km, which naturally went downhill again and over roots and uneven rocks. But we couldn't believe it, we made it. The muscle soreness would accompany us for a few more days. After a well-deserved dinner and a hot shower, we fell exhausted into bed.

The next day, the famous train ride was scheduled, but not until the afternoon. So we strolled, or rather walked through the village with cramped muscles and experienced it in all its glory, packed full of people. But here and there we found a quiet corner. For lunch, we treated ourselves to a famous lunchbox, which used to be sold on the train. Today, this is another tourist attraction, but also very delicious.

And then the time had come, we chugged back to the valley by train for 2.5 hours. The view was really beautiful and it was also very funny to see how this train was celebrated. There was a crowd of people at every station to see the train. Since the number of seats is limited, it seems that tour operators have a deal that their customers can ride in the aisle for one station. It wasn't really necessary for us, but okay. For us, it was a nice conclusion to a strenuous but beautiful outing to the mountains.