Sun Moon Lake

2010/12/04

Shuishe Village, Wenwu Temple, Peacock Garden, Itashao Aboriginal Village, Syuentzang Temple, Syuenguang Temple, Yuetan Bikeway, Shuishe Lakeside Trail, Shuishe Mountain

Sun Moon Lake is one of Taiwan's highlights, it is a place which nobody should miss (beside Taroko, Green Island, Tainan and Kenting). I agreed with Michal to visit this very nice place for two days and thus enjoy both the lake and the mountains around.

We took the first MRT from Gongguan and at 6:30 am or so we were already on the long-distance bus stop. However the ticket collector told me (half English, half Chinese :) ) the first bus which has seats is at 10 am. That was almost the time we wanted to be there and so we had to take the alternative way.

At 7:15 we took the bus to Taichung, where we wanted to change for the bus to Sun Moon Lake. The bus to Taichung was on place at 9:30, because it made a lot of stops in Taichung instead of going directly to the long-distance bus stop :( To find the bus to Sun Moon Lake was another adventure. We tried 3 bus companies before we reached the good one. A ticket collector didn't speak English at all, thus I had to use my Chinese. Fortunately, I already can explain myself, if I prepare it in my mind first :)

He told us the price and asked us to sit and wait. After 15 minutes he called us and we saw him standing in the middle of 4 lines roundabout waving to some bus forcing it to stop! The bus stopped so abruptly I was even afraid it will smash another cars - but it didn't. We boarded the bus at 10 am.

Sun Moon Lake on bike

Despite the delay in Taichung we were able to arrive to Shuishe Village 15 minutes prior to the direct Taipei - Sun Moon Lake bus! That was great! We went to the Tourist Information Center immediately and asked for a hotel, bike rental and bus schedules. The staff was very helpful and set everything for us in 5 minutes - wonderful.

We were accommodated in a hotel just 50 meters from the bus stop with our own toilette and shower. The price was very reasonable (1800 NT$ = 1000 CZK) for the room including two breakfasts. The only drawback was the shared blanket, oh gosh :(.

We left our reserve clothes in the room and went to the bike rental, where we rented a very nice GIANT bikes for not so nice price (800 NT$ = 500 CZK pax). The problem is that Taiwanese really don't know how to ride a bike. They have very low seats with short tubes so you can't put it higher even if you want. Then you have to use strength to move your bike forward instead of your own weight and your thighs will get tired very soon. Just imagine - when my pedal was on the top position, my knee was higher than my butt :(.

Despite this not exactly insignificant disadvantage we managed to go around the lake in 4.5 hours (35 km + 6 stops on various landmarks), which is (at least I think) quite a good time.

The first stop was the Wenwu Temple. It is kind of a big temple with very nice facade. You can climb up to its roof and take a look to the surrounding area, including the view over the Sun Moon Lake. We weren't so lucky, as the mist was settled on the lake and we didn't see too far. But even the view over the temple roofs is very interesting experience :)

Not far from the temple we saw a sign for Peacock Garden. We made a short stop there. The various peacocks were in an aviary in the middle and some of them in cages around. It was not any special, except the 2 snow-white peacocks. Albinos are anywhere huh :)

After 40 minutes or so we reached the Ita Shao, small aboriginal village on the opposite side of Sun Moon Lake. From its piers a regular sightseeing ships cruise the lake. We didn't use such an opportunity because of the weather, money, and also the tight schedule. We just ate several local delicious snacks and tried a rice and crop wine :) (Michal bought one bottle).

About 4 pm we reached the Syuentzang Temple. This temple was much smaller to the newer Wenwu, however (I think) more interesting! The white walls had wonderful color paintings and just among the trees it looks older and more mysterious.

The dusk almost reached us and thus we had to hurry up. We rode downhill and on its grounds visited another, Syuenguang Temple. This one was actually quite boring, have nothing much to offer. It was a nice position for taking sunset pictures, but due to the mist the sun was difficult to even spot and thus we turned back. (Note that a bunch of Taiwanese wanted to make a video with Michal in the occasion of upcoming 100th Taiwan National Day).

After a short ride down we reached a great bikeway on the west side of the lake. The dusk already caught us, but the trail was very nice and comfortable. We really enjoyed this part of the round trip. After another 20 minutes we joined the road 21 and headed to Shuishe Village.

The bike rental already had called me where we were, because they were closing in 30 minutes. We arrived about 15 minutes before the closing. The staff was very friendly and made for us certificates that we really circled the Sun Moon Lake on bike (here, 35 km is considered like a big deal :) ).

In the evening we went to the lakeside promenade and ate in a local restaurant a traditional meat. The food was just normal, but the restaurant was nice, just on the promenade.

Shuishe Mountain

The next day, just after the prepaid breakfast, we took an early bus to the Ita Shao Village to climb up to the Shuishe Mountain, the highest surrounding mountain (2059 meters). As the lake is only in 650 meters the altitude difference of 1400 meters has to be done there and back within one day!

Just at the very beginning we weren't able to find the North Gate. We tried to ask a local, so I asked them "dui bu qi, ni keyi bang women ma? women yao qu shang shuishe shan". Then their (approximately) 4 years old daughter started to yell "shuishe shan" all over and over again. She was so amazed by my horrible Chinese her parents can't even concentrate for the map :)

After 10 minutes they told us they don't know (which we already knew when we saw their confused faces, but whatever) and we returned back to the International Youth Center to ask for directions in hope there has to be somebody who can speak English!

Well, my previous assumption was obviously wrong. The staff there stared at me with open mouth, so I used Chinese again. This time he obviously understood and knew, but he was not able to explain himself. He started to make some animal voices and drew a picture. Well, picture, he drew 2 lines to the shape of character L and then start to make circles in the air above the paper with another type of another animal voices and then withdrew.

After that I thought it is a mistake and we are in the asylum :) we went outside and searched for another couple of minutes and then we finally found a "gate". The status of decay was significant, but it still had the shape of the gate. The big sign said "the trip takes at least 8 hours, consider it before you will go". Of course we make it faster, we thought and went up.

The path was overgrown and sometimes we had to crawl to cross the natural traps put into our way. It was getting worse and worse and I was thinking if it is going to be worse any further, we will have to use a sword to make our way soon.

After an hour or so we reached the end of the stairs and joined the mud path through the bamboo grove. Finally the ascent was a little more comfortable. So much stairs commemorated me the Yellow Mountain from China and I just thought that there was the altitude difference just 1100 meters (just stairs).

We passed several sewers and before long reached a viewing platform, where an older couple made their rest. They were very curious how we know this place and where we are from, so we spoke a while together, half English, half Chinese, depending on who was able to say what :)

The path started to be a little rough later. Big roots, boulders and several areas supported by ropes gave the trip another dimension :) the weather changed too. On lake grounds it was a very nice, sunny day, but when we were close to the top, the sky was more and more cloudy and the temperature decreased significantly.

We reached the top at 2 pm and took a small rest plus ate the remaining supplies of food. We had met there several tourists, which gave us hot tea, that was very pleasant. We haven't too much time, so we decided to turn back in 15 minutes. Have to say the peak was a big disappointment, it is overgrown by trees, thus no view at all and the weather was bad also :(

The way down was fast, we reached the mountain roots in 2.5 hours, so we managed to catch the bus at 16:45 back to Shuishe Village. In the end we really made the hike faster than the board said, but just for one hour.

From the Shuishe Village we took the bus back to Taichung and then to Taipei - the same way we went to Sun Moon Lake, because we already missed the last direct bus back to Taipei. The bus from Taichung got stacked as it was Sunday evening and we spent 2 hours in a traffic jam. Despite that, we reached the Taipei Main Station soon enough to eat some delicious food in Taipei Breeze in the 2nd floor of the Taipei Main Station :)

2010/12/04 - Sun Moon Lake [26 pictures]

Sun Moon Lake website

Shuishe Shan Hiking Trail

Sun Moon Lake Phorum [0 posts]

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