March 26, 2010

Face to Face with a Bamboo Forest in Hsitou of Taiwan

 

I have always wanted to visit a bamboo forest and imagine all the sword fighters gathering there and stepping on the bamboo stalks half way up the sky. They would fly towards each other and cross swords. Fantasies after fantasies would cross my mind and I would feel comforted that our ancestors were so smooth and adept in their swordsmanship .

This trip to Taiwan enabled me to come face to face with a real bamboo forest. The weather was just perfect : slight drizzle and lowered temperatures of 18 degrees. We met so many different tourists there : Japanese and local Taiwanese and even another coachful of Sarawakians! The forest is also a university research centre and thousands of students come here every day to do research or enjoy their sabbatical leave. What a beautiful and educational centre.

Unfortunately for me on a coach trip like this I could never take any of the front seats (a few people always managed to get on the coach ten minutes earlier than anybody else and sat in the front or the two First Class Seats next to the tour guide They did not even take photos and probably even fell asleep. Half of our time was on the bus and I only wish I have the front seat to take in all the beautiful scenery and take lots of photos. But then there is no such thing as reserved seats on a trip like this. Free for all. But it does not mean much in certain contexts.

As the coach takes you along the curvy road to Hsitou you see very quaint buildings like these. Some of the houses have Japanese influence because a long time ago Japanese miners came here to exploit the mines and later log the timber. An important time is Hinoki. I will write about Puli in another post...


Beautiful flowers - but poisonous. We were warned that many plants and flowers are poisonous..so be careful...don't touch or pluck.

Curvy roads...many tourists can become very car sick.


My photo of the bamboo forest did not turn out too well......hazy and mysterious....

This takes about 2 hours of slow walking. Quite an experience. Even 90 years old people can do the slower trail without any trouble. If you are very fit you can do it in half an hour. But if your tour guide is very good you can learn a lot more.

If you do not feel too well you may sit in a waiting area (watch birds and people and get into an interesting conversation) and then continue walking on your own but it is quite scary..you need to be with your group.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

hello cikgu
Haven't been reading much lately...nice to know you went for a deserving holiday!! I am sure you enjoyed every moment of it..

Best wishes always...
K

wenn said...

interesting trip!

Bengbeng said...

thank u so much. it feels like i went on the trip too.

Ensurai said...

K..the school year just hurtles by...and soon end of first semester!

Cheers...

Ensurai said...

Dear Wenn
This was an unexpectedly interesting trip....

Ensurai said...

Hi Beng beng
How are you? Hope school work is not dampening...Read..Teacher Man by Frank McCourt...I just finished reading it...it will keep your enthusiasm up (for another 30 years...)LOL.
Hope to hear from you again...

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Frank McCourt, my bro C accidentally gave me book 2 to read. When i finished, he realised his mistake. I read book one any way, it is not so interesting after that. Tnat is why with Reality TV, I don't want to know the winner. Otherwise it just ruins the watching.

Ensurai said...

I try not to watch Reality TV which is very popular in Malaysia. People just love it here.

And I think they want to make lots of money out of new reality shows too.

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