Sun Moon Lake (Part SUN)

Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan. View from the sightseeing ferry.

With the number of trips I have taken since I last posted, I doubt I'll ever catch up. But let's start with Taiwan!

Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) is a 3 hour drive away from Taipei. The drive is easy and smooth as long as you avoid rush hour. There are plenty of well maintained service areas along the way.

We named it the Hollywood service area. It even had music streaming from speakers.

The last stretch to Sun Moon Lake is full of curves, but it's not particularly difficult to drive, even in the dark. There is only one major road along the lake, so you can't get lost.

Excuse the lo-fi photo. View of Sun Moon Lake from top of the mountain at the first ferry stop.

There seem to be several sightseeing ferries servicing Sun Moon Lake. They're an inexpensive way of traveling around the lake. Ticket prices range up to NTD$300 (approximately $10USD) per adult, but some of their sales associates are willing to offer a deep discount (we got on for NTD$600 for 4). If you understand Mandarin, the ferries can be a lot of fun. The guides either have an excellent sense of humour, or their scriptwriter is used to writing comedies.

Some restoration work at the temple at the first stop.

The temple is (maybe) a 20 minute hike from the dock. I don't know the name of the temple, but it offers a good escape from the crowds and a good view of the lake.

Tea egg store in front of temple.

There's a store in front of the temple that sells delicious 茶葉蛋 (tea eggs). However, the more famous tea egg stall is the one by the water. Didn't bother trying both, because this one in front of the temple was mighty good already.

The floating plantation extends quite far into the lake.

背包雞 (lit. backpack chicken), a Shao specialty. (cough* is it blurry? pretend you can't see that *cough)

At the second stop, you get off the ferry to enter the area of the Shao tribe. There are lots of Shao delicacies to be had. I recommend the boar sausages and 背包雞 (see above)! Also, Assam tea is native to the area, and should not be missed.

Sun Moon Lake will be continued...

By fishii with No comments