Travel Taiwan ~ Sun Moon Lake

I’ll start 2012 travel diaries, talking about my travel in the last year… I simply love to travel, be it a family holiday or on my own. I don’t particularly enjoy business travel, but travelling for pleasure… *sigh* is always such a pleasure!!

I didn't really have the time to edit these pictures... so I hope you'll enjoy what you see!!

In Nov last year, life took me to Taiwan… a place that was surely beyond my expectations!! Well the first day in Taipei, we decided to venture out into the wild….. ~ Sun Moon Lake!! If you are in search for serenity, this is the place to be!! Sun Moon Lake is the largest and most beautiful (rather stunning), alpine lake in Taiwan. My words wont do justice to the beauty of this lake with mist laden water and the constant changes of thick, dispersing clouds and fog surely create the ambience for a fairytale. The beauty is only enchanted by season and time of day. The air is fresh and the landscape is beyond elegance. Definitely a painting… You will remain stunned!!

To get to Sun Moon Lake, take the THSR (Taiwan High Speed Railway) from Taipei main station to Taichung. This is about a 50 minute journey. Well here is what I did wrong. We went to spend a day at the Sun Moon Lake.. Surely you must visit for two days… I’ll tell you why.. soon.. At the Taichung station, make sure you buy a travel pass as desired to the Sun Moon Lake (this can include, a free bus ride, a boat ride, entrance to parks, etc)… Taichung station to Sun Moon Lake is another hours journey. Well don’t forget to get off the bus (half way) at Taomikeng, walk about three minutes to the Paper church where you can surely enjoy some tea.

Now if you thought the Sun Moon Lake was simply about scenic beauty and stunning alpines… you were sooooo wrong!! At Sun Moon Lake, there is a theme park, a few temples, a pagoda, churches, shopping areas, nature walks, hiking trains, bike ways, peacock park, butterfly gardens, dense forests inhabited by enchanting birds and animals, and cable cars… and a lot more!!

We got off the bus, and went to Shuishe Pier to take our boat to Ita Tho Pier. Here you can visit the Ita Tho Shopping street, the butterfly park and the lakeside trail. Walking up the lake side trail, we headed off to the Sun Moon Lake Cable Cars… This is surely an experience like no other. The lake is simply breathtaking.

Now.. here is why I think you should stay at the Sun Moon Lake… At the end of the Cable Cars is the Aboriginal Cultural Village. This is a theme park, museum and cultural village all in one. To cover the cultural village by foot from one end to the other, you require a minimum of 5 hours… that’s not even enjoying any of the rides. So we had to give this a miss!!

We headed back on the cable cars, back to Ita Tho. Here we took a bus ride to the Peacock park and then the Wenwu Temple.  And more about the Sun Moon Lake in my next post….stay tuned!! *smiles*