Hiking in nearby Tanzih

On New Year’s day Nok and I headed over to a town called Tanzih to check out some hiking trails we’d heard were decent. Tanzih is actually where I go to work everyday. It’s a pretty quiet town and since the mountains are literally just behind my school, I’ve been anxious to get a chance to do some hiking.

Well, it turns out it wasn’t really hiking. Taiwan does have some big, beautiful mountains. There are five peaks that top 3,000 meters (or about 9,000 feet), with the tallest reaching 4,000 (more than 12,000 feet). But here in Fongyuan and Tanzih, the hills don’t get much higher than 500 meters or so (1,500 feet).

Still, it’s pretty nice to have so close to where I live and work. We went to a section of trails called “Hsintien,” which is just 9km (5 miles) from our apartment. The trail head was pretty packed. There is a good sized parking lot and even a restaurant with karaoke blaring out at all hours of the day and night. Even at 10am when we arrived, people were going nuts on the karaoke.

But after climbing for a while and seeking out the more remote sections, we found ourselves alone in lush green forests with various fruit orchards scattered across the many hills. It was refreshing to say the least, and Nok and I enjoyed a picnic lunch on top of one of the larger hills, surrounded by trees and birds and a clear blue sky. The city of Tanzih could be seen in the distance, past the next set of hills. It was a great way to start the New Year.

Nok climbs some stairs on the way up the first hill. Wooden stairs were built on many of the trails.

The view from one of the hilltops. Orange orchards are scattered across the hills.

My trademark lunatic grin. For some reason I greatly enjoy acting like a madman whenever a camera is pointed at me.

Another shot of the hills. Unfortunately, the air was a bit hazy. Otherwise, you’d be able to see the city of Tanzih over the hills.

Nok poses next to an orange tree. Trees like this were all over the hillsides. We sampled a few of the goods, but don’t tell the farmers!

These giant grasshoppers were all through the trails. I put my foot in the picture to give an idea just how big it was, and because I know how much people love my feet. In Thailand people eat grasshoppers like this!

This tree was like something out a Dr. Suess book. The flowers were like little balls of incredibly soft hair.

Nok stands in the middle of an orange orchard. The orange trees went all the way up the hill. You can see from her thick coat and gloves that things got a bit cool in the shade. During the last week here, temperatures have dropped as low as 45 degrees. That’s pretty cold after three years of 95+ in Bangkok!