Taiwan Trip 2010 (Day 2)

Fengyuan -> Dongshi -> Taichung  

   We got up and had breakfast early in the morning because we had to catch an early bus. The rain was wonderfully heavy and our feet were soaked by the time we finished walking from the hotel to the breakfast canteen. After that, we packed up and took the bus to Dongshi Forest (東勢林場).

Ben's breakfast sandwich. Actually tasted much better than it looked.

   The bus took about half an hour from Fengyuan Main Bus Station to Dongshi Forest. Due to the heavy tropical rain (luckily there was less rain in the afternoon), we were the only tourist-passengers in the bus. The bus driver was middle-aged man that looked like in his 50's. He was nice and I had some nice chat with him about Taichung and he showed us around the raining scenery around the route.

Tea trees in rainy day. Can't imagine how pretty the site could be if it were sunny.

   Dongshi Forest is a forest-themed garden which is located in the mid-slope of a mountain. Needless to say, it is full of different kinds of trees. it was originally set up during the colonial days of Taiwan, as a site to harvest timber and it became an orchard. Later, it was redeveloped into a theme park with tea trees and flowers.

Jasmine flower

    Due to the rain and low expectations in tourists, only some of the vendors were opened. We were offered some Tieguanyin Tea in Gung Fu tea utensils, along with some delicious bake mushrooms as snacks. We were persuaded to buy some bake mushrooms and after some hike under the rainstorm, we headed to the main building of Dongzhi Forest, after mosquitoes had sucked enough blood from my legs.

Gung Fu Cha. VERY concentrated tea in small cup. Kind of like espresso version of tea.

     We took the bus to Fengyuan Main Bus Station at around 16:00, and we decided to take the train from Fengyuan to Taichung Main Station. Our hotel of choice, in Taichung, Nan Pei Hotel, was conveniently located next to the Taichung Main Station, and its location was its only merit. The room was infested with mosquitoes and the wall was moldy. I thought it would be okay for just three nights, as long as there was a place to sleep. Ben swore he would never take these kinds of hotels again, no matter how cheap it was.

Don't mess with the stream in tropical rain.

     After checking in, we decided to take a walk and headed north to Taichung Park. We stumbled and found the Taichung First High School Night Market and the Eslite Book Store (the biggest chain bookstore in Taiwan with all kinds of collection). We hung out for awhile and walked back to Nam Pei Hotel at around midnight. And that was the end of our second day of the trip. I would like to visit Dongshi Forest another time, but in the right season.