Day 4 began with the usual breakfast as usual. On this day, our main attraction and location will be Sun Moon Lake in Tai Zhong. Its quite a distance away and our first headache of the day is to find our way down to Tai Zhong. After a little planning, we decided to go via the high speed rail to save time and thus, its off to the Taipei Railway station which was just across the street from our hotel.
Taipei Railway Station
As you can probably see from the shots here, the station is huge! In fact, there's an entire second floor filled with food stalls thats supposedly pretty good. The winner of the Taiwan beef noodle food award also resides in this station. Also, as mentioned before, there are 3 different stations housed in this building, basically, the mrt, the high speed rail and the north bound trains.
(Tip: If you go to the Taiwan website for trains, it seems extremely complicated but its really fairly simple. If you do have questions, just ask the station attendants and they will direct you towards the fastest way to your destination.)
(Tip: If you go to the Taiwan website for trains, it seems extremely complicated but its really fairly simple. If you do have questions, just ask the station attendants and they will direct you towards the fastest way to your destination.)
High Speed Rail Tickets (About sgd $25 for one way trip)
High Speed Rail : Essentially, we learned that there were cheaper ways to go to Tai Zhong but this is still the fastest way and honestly, i couldn't care less about price. Its time i'm trying to save and so we paid the rail for this trip. Its about SGD 50 bucks per person for a round trip to and from Tai Zhong so be prepared to part with your cash if you opt to go my way.
The journey itself was fast and painless, in fact, it didn't feel very fast at all. Just your usual train ride except with a slight tingling at the soles of your feet when you're sitting down. Taipei to Taizhong took us only 50 minutes on the train which has essentially saved us about 1 plus hours to enjoy more of the scenary. The trouble is the next 2 hours we were supposed to spend on the bus to Sun Moon Lake. Now thats tiring!
The journey itself was fast and painless, in fact, it didn't feel very fast at all. Just your usual train ride except with a slight tingling at the soles of your feet when you're sitting down. Taipei to Taizhong took us only 50 minutes on the train which has essentially saved us about 1 plus hours to enjoy more of the scenary. The trouble is the next 2 hours we were supposed to spend on the bus to Sun Moon Lake. Now thats tiring!
Tai Zhong Station
The one thing you notice about the station is how modern it is. In fact, it looks and feels like an airport.
Taking a cab or a bus : We had initially planned to take a bus to save money since the bus ride would cost only about sgd 10 dollars or so but once we arrived, we missed the bus and had to face a waiting time of about another 45 minutes for the next bus. This is when 2 taxi drivers approached us to get a ride to sun moon lake.
One driver spoke to us and sealed the deal with a ride down to Sun Moon Lake costing about Sgd 50 for 2 people. The second driver told us to follow him down which we did because we thought they were from the same company. We were sorely mistaken as no sooner did we follow him, a third driver bust out of the door scolding vulgarities at the second driver who asked us to follow him.
The truth was, this second driver was poaching customers from the first driver, which happened to be us. So as the commotion was happening, the first driver returned and led us to his vehicle. Along the way, we learned that it was not uncommon for such things to occur due to the high competition and lack of business during the period we were there.
However, this lack of business helped us secure a better deal in the end. Usually, it costs sgd 50 for a one way trip. Additional vacation spots at Sun Moon Lake will cost additional for the cab driver to take us but in the end, we got the whole deal for sgd 100 which included trip to and from Sun Moon Lake plus a detailed tour of the Lake and all its tourist spots with commentary from the driver as well.
Taking a cab or a bus : We had initially planned to take a bus to save money since the bus ride would cost only about sgd 10 dollars or so but once we arrived, we missed the bus and had to face a waiting time of about another 45 minutes for the next bus. This is when 2 taxi drivers approached us to get a ride to sun moon lake.
One driver spoke to us and sealed the deal with a ride down to Sun Moon Lake costing about Sgd 50 for 2 people. The second driver told us to follow him down which we did because we thought they were from the same company. We were sorely mistaken as no sooner did we follow him, a third driver bust out of the door scolding vulgarities at the second driver who asked us to follow him.
The truth was, this second driver was poaching customers from the first driver, which happened to be us. So as the commotion was happening, the first driver returned and led us to his vehicle. Along the way, we learned that it was not uncommon for such things to occur due to the high competition and lack of business during the period we were there.
However, this lack of business helped us secure a better deal in the end. Usually, it costs sgd 50 for a one way trip. Additional vacation spots at Sun Moon Lake will cost additional for the cab driver to take us but in the end, we got the whole deal for sgd 100 which included trip to and from Sun Moon Lake plus a detailed tour of the Lake and all its tourist spots with commentary from the driver as well.
Greenish waters for an inland lake
The view is pretty fantastic
Tickets for the boat ride to Yi Da Shao and Lalu Island
Boat Wharf
Lalu Island
The sacred island
Grandma's Tea Leaves Egg
Smooth and Eggy after Deshelling
Lalu Island: An NTD 300 boat ride will provide you with a commentary ridden ride to 2 islands with the ending at Yi Da Shao. Lalu island is considered a sacred island and thus it is off limits. The boat will leave you on a floating platform surrounding the island for you take photographs and have a short walk around. The view is fantastic as the small island is in the middle of the lake and its quite a sight with all the mountains and greenish blue waters surrounding you. Everything is great with one exception, would have been awesome if the weather was cool.
Grandma's Tea Leaves Egg
Smooth and Eggy after Deshelling
Along the boat ride, you'll be let off on one of the small islands to look around and have a nice local snack. The tea leaves egg (Char Ye Dan) is essentially boiled eggs in tea leaves concoction which includes tea leaves and some herbs. Simple as it is, it has a much better fragrance then the ones i've had in Singapore. Its real cheap at 10 NTD too, definitely worth a try.
The boat
Shopping District
Yi Da Shao
The Wharf
The Town
Yi Da Shao
The Wharf
The Town
Yi Da Shao is a charming little town made up of the aborigines who've been in the mountains since time immemorial. They all run a small little business selling local made items for tourists such as ourselves. Unfortunately, nothing caught our eye and so we didn't buy anything here apart from some food below.
Taiwan Sausages
Dripping with Oil
This wasn't too bad actually. Taste wise, the first hurdle to cross will be the oil you can literally see here. The meat also has a pungent smell emenating from it being unprocessed i guess but otherwise, it retains the sweetness all Taiwan sausages have albeit with a tougher texture. However, i'll not have this again due to the high oil content, it's neuseating to say the least.
Chen Ji Muah Chee
Being a local flavor and having everything hand made, its obviously not as good as the pre packed and supermarket variety. Thats not to say there are no gems in it however, the sesame muah chee is bursting with thick sesame flavor. We bought a few for the journey ahead ourselves.
Xuan Zhuang Temple
I liked this temple because it has a distinctly japanese vibe surrounding it. Just looking around will bring a sense of peace and serenity that nothing you've seen before can provide. The air itself is cooler here as compared to anywhere else i've been in Sun Moon Lake. Its a beautiful place.
Stairs to infinity
The Beginning to Ci En Pagoda
The Scenic Route
Ci En Pagoda is definitely worth a visit because the views are excellent and the ringing of the bell at the top of the pagoda has a very calming effect. With each strike, you will blow all your troubles away. It can be an arduous task if you've not been exercising however so be aware. The true test is the journey up to the pagoda, the pagoda itself really isn't very challenging.
Bubbling Water
We were told that the water bubbles because of the natural flow of water from the top of the mountain down to the lake. Rather interesting since no one knows why it bubbles upwards the way it does. Or rather, the cab driver didn't know why so we, in turn, didn't know why. :P
Peacock Garden
Enjoy the shots, these magnificent creatures are beautiful and were in a good mood when we arrived. They were busy showing off their wares when we arrived which gave plenty of opportunity to take photos.
Wen Wu Temple
The temple is huge with wonderful architecture and emphasis on its Chinese heritage. Along the way, you'll see many little golden lanterns which signify the wishes of thousands of people who've come to this temple to pray. Equally amazing is the donation box which was filled to the brim such that there's no way you can squeeze in any more money for donation. Incredible.
Spotted this huge Dah Mo statue on the mountain on the way back
The slick high speed train
High Speed Rail gourmet
I've been dying to try out the food in the train since my mom raved about it to me years ago and finally, i got to try it. The verdict? Disappointment.
This is pretty much like any run of the mill lunch box to be bought anywhere else. The chicken is tender and fragrant but oily. The mushrooms and vegetables were alright and the rice was reminiscent of japanese sushi rice but thats about it.
This is pretty much like any run of the mill lunch box to be bought anywhere else. The chicken is tender and fragrant but oily. The mushrooms and vegetables were alright and the rice was reminiscent of japanese sushi rice but thats about it.
The winning entry for Beef Noodles in Taiwan
Award Winning Noodles
Dumplings
Upon arriving in Taipei Railway station, we immediately set off looking for the award winning beef noodle store said to be found in the station and was thrilled to be able to quickly recognize it thanks to the huge poster of the chef pulling noodles with the title of "Best Beef Noodles 2008".
Without further ado, we ordered the beef noodles and wanton dumplings for our dinner. The noodles arrived looking less then stellar and with one sip of the stock, we were already duly disappointed. It was bland to a fault and contained nothing to rave about. After our previous night's wonderful noodles, this was lackluster to say the least. The noodles themselves tasted like normal noodles but it was amazing that they had it prepared and done in such a short time. The beef was also tougher to chew on and thus, was simply not to our liking.
The dumplings were decent but had a pretty strong pork smell to it and apart from the tangy wanton skin, was a normal dish.
Overall, today seemed a bad day for good food. We didn't find a single good food item this day but walked away with beautiful memories of Sun Moon Lake. A good if somewhat stomach fulfilling day.
Without further ado, we ordered the beef noodles and wanton dumplings for our dinner. The noodles arrived looking less then stellar and with one sip of the stock, we were already duly disappointed. It was bland to a fault and contained nothing to rave about. After our previous night's wonderful noodles, this was lackluster to say the least. The noodles themselves tasted like normal noodles but it was amazing that they had it prepared and done in such a short time. The beef was also tougher to chew on and thus, was simply not to our liking.
The dumplings were decent but had a pretty strong pork smell to it and apart from the tangy wanton skin, was a normal dish.
Overall, today seemed a bad day for good food. We didn't find a single good food item this day but walked away with beautiful memories of Sun Moon Lake. A good if somewhat stomach fulfilling day.
