Sun Moon Lake

View of the lake from atop a mountain we climbed.

Before I ever moved to Taiwan I was informed that I needed to visit Sun Moon Lake at some point during my time here. A friend who lived here many years ago told me all about it and so as soon as we got into the country our group started making plans to visit the tourist destination. Due to the forces of timing and nature combined, our trip kept getting delayed. Despite the setbacks, we were at last able to go the first week in August. This is going to be a picture heavy post so I took my time making it which is why it's excessively late.

Minding that gap

Every trip starts at the train station.

This was our first time making a connection at the High Speed Rail station in Taichung. There was a bit of confusion figuring out how to transfer from the train area to the bus area of the station, but we figured it out and managed not to waste too much time. 

High Speed Rail Station upstairs lobby

But first we need a picture

Our bus ride was about an hour and 45 minutes long which wasn't bad. As the bus sped away from the dense city of Taichung, the land became less even and lush green mountains began to fill our windows from every view.

All the foliage

Pointy mountain

Our Airbnb was right across the street from the bus stop and it was in the heart of the tourist sector. It couldn't have been more conveniently located and the accommodations were incredibly nice. (Kudos go to Megan for finding that gem for us.)

Red bananas? I have never seen these before and I regret to say that I forgot to try any before I left.

Sign says "lake dis way"

With check in taken care of we dumped our things and rented some bikes. Riding bikes around the lake is a popular tourist activity to do and we were told that it's the best way to see the lake, so we had to try it out for ourselves.

First up close view of the lake

Kim pic

Family photo time. Everyone Smile!

Bike time

"I. Am. King of the Rock!

Working on our 5th year of friendship. No big deal.

Megan got separated from the 3 of us on a narrow bridge. Come back to us, Megan!

Rock on, Megan. Rock on.

Our family photos explain who we are better than words ever will.

Fine, I'll take an actual picture.

Get my goof on.

Much of the path felt like riding through the jungle.

"We're on a bridge, Charlie!"

Gorgeous green trees and grass right off the path

Relics abandoned to rust and time.

There was this unstable buoy-like pier thing floating out in the water just off of the path. It seemed interesting and both Megan and I wanted pictures on it so we ventured out onto it first. As soon as we began walking on it we realized just how unstable it was. So instead of walking slowly and with caution it awakened the 5 year old within me and I started hopping on it like a chimpanzee. We didn't fall in the water or anything, but now I kind of wish that we did because then at least we would've been in the lake somehow, even if it was an accident.

Never grow up kids. Don't do it.

There will never be a better yoga venue than Sun Moon Lake.

Aw, we like each other.

Jump pic means "we out".

Captain Katelin

Have we talked about how Kim hates being in pictures? Well she does. Enough that she'll literally run across the street to get out of being in one.

The main building of the temple.

We rented the bikes for 3 hours and we realized that there was no way we could possibly make it all of the way around the lake in time. We only made it about 1/4 of the way around the lake and we were riding for about two and a half hours, so it's a massive lake. After the bikes we went to check out one of the local temples. As always, it was beautiful.

Within the front gate of the temple.

At this point we were ravenous. We wandered the pier until we stumbled upon an adorable little place called the "Moon Cafe".

Night fell soon after we arrived and it created a pleasant atmosphere.

The cafe was right on the pier and we had a great view of the lake during our meal.

I had fried calamari and breaded cod served over basil pesto sauce pasta.

"Choco smoothie" ugh sooo good.

We wandered around and found these key chains among many other things.....

??? ......We don't know either.....I take pictures of so many strange things, it's about time some of them make it in the blog.

Day 2:

For our second day at Sun Moon Lake we decided to take the ferry across the lake. There were 3 different docks and each one had different attractions for tourists to see. First things first; the dock:

It makes you wonder why this sign had to be placed up.

On the ferry

Aw people are cute

The first ferry stop was at this large pavilion area where a woman--who Kim and I named Asian Beyonce--was rocking out on a microphone.

Ladies

Whole Family

We followed the crowd up some steps to a small tourist shrine. It was up pretty high so we had a nice view.

A man had just accidentally bumped into me right when I took this photo, so I had to put it in the blog.

It was all a bit touristy for our tastes. The ferries come and go every 10 minutes and we were about to go back down and catch the next one when we spotted a trail behind the building. It was somewhat shrouded in thick brush and it looked fun. There was a stone plaque in the ground that said "800 m". "800 meters? That's nothing! That's barely half a mile. Let's do it, it'll take us no time." These were our thoughts as we set out on our "leisurely" 800 meter hike. I'll tell you right now, it was not leisurely.

Jungle Book style path

"Katelin sized" door hole thing

On a walkabout

I thought this tree was really cool looking.

So of course I have to try to eventually eat all things I think are cool.

Megan is my buddy. We like each other and stuff.

Oh hey, Megan. You know that cute photo you wanted? Here, let me photobomb that. Because I'm a dick.

Mid-afternoon laughs brought to you by Katelin and Megan. You wish you were here with us. But even if you were it wouldn't matter because we're too cool for you.

Even though it was only 800 meters, it turned out to be quite the trek. The trail was virtually all vertical, which meant that we were climbing stairs constantly. But most of them weren't normal stairs like you would think. They were old uneven stone stairs and most of them looked like this:

The left and right were ramps while the steps were in the center

For perspective of their size.

We would occasionally stumble upon statues and other fun landmarks along the way. This one was a moss covered monkey.

Josh: Monkeyman

I'm a year of the monkey after all.

The path just kept going and going and the brush became thicker as we went. For 800 meters, this path sure seemed long.

Off to the sides there were bamboo shoots that reached for the skies.

Our path.

It was so moist that plants were growing out of the stone steps in places.

When out of breath, stop to take a picture. If you look close you can see the sweat on my chin.

Megan, don't tell me those are more stairs.....

We....have to climb those...don't we?...

We reach the top of the last set of stairs and the end of our trail. Not knowing what to expect we push through the last of the bushes and trees to find...a road??? A road. Seriously. A freaking road. That means there are cars. Like, we could've taken a car up here or something. It was a really great hike though and I honestly wouldn't have wanted to get up there any other way, but when I saw that road I was a little resentful.

The entrance to a temple at the top of our hike.

Lookie! I found Taiwan!

Unlike down below, this temple was much more secluded. There weren't as many people who either knew about this temple or who were willing to make the journey up. We certainly didn't know what was waiting for us at the end of the hike, but this temple was well worth the pain.

Temple at the top of our hike

Rawr

Majestic Turtle

The temple grounds had many beautiful statues as well as a few gazebo like structures. There weren't many other people around so it was a calm atmosphere that was perfect for reflecting and taking in all of the scenery.

We were up really high by this point too so our view of the lake was exceptional.

Have I mentioned that I like Megan?

Having made our decent back down the mountain, which took way less time by the way, it was time to take the ferry to the next stop.

Getting slightly sunburned while we wait to board our ferry.

The last ferry stop was the big "tourist trap" of them all. By this point we were all exhausted and didn't have much left in us so we didn't linger too long, but we still ventured down this street shown below. It stretched on quite a ways and it had all of the food choices Sun Moon lake had to offer.

Refreshing passion fruit popsicle for dessert

Fried ball of veggies, noodles, and meat as the main course

Even though we all wanted to take a dip in the lake, swimming in it is strictly "forbidden". We had to settle for sitting by the edge and dipping in our toes as our last activity before setting out for home.

See you, Sun Moon Lake.