OFF the beaten track at Sun Moon Lake @ Taiwan 20-25 Feb 2013

It's time for us to bid farewell to Alishan on the day 3. Make a guess where is our next destination? Yup, it's none other than the most visited tourist spot in Taiwan, the Sun Moon Lake. Again, my heart skipped a beat with amazement, the mountains, the majestic blue lake, and the sunrise. All of these were carved deeply in my memories. To be honest, this was not my first trip to SML, in fact my second.

Initially, when Elaine suggested that we should spend a night in SML, my response was, huh...what do you want to see in SML??... other than the lake, and a huge crowd of Chinese citizens from the mainland, noisy and irritating enough to spoil your holiday. But this trip proved me wrong, I will explain why in the later part. Please read on...

We had to transfer to Sun Moon Lake from Alishan Station by a Yuan Lin bus, connecting Alishan and Sun Moon Lake. At 10.40a.m., an Alishan shuttle bus picked us up from Long Tou station, and we reached Alishan station an hour later.

The timing to board the Yuan Lin bus was at 1 p.m. Asked around a staff who worked at the nearby 7-eleven for the ticket counter and we realized that we needed to pay the bus fare directly to the driver once we were aboard.

With an extra hour to kill, we went to grab a bite, eventhough we were not hungry yet. I had a simple bowl of bee tai mak soup, a noodle dish made of rice flour. Slowly we walked back to the bus station. Ok..since I will be using Sun Moon Lake plenty of times, I would use the initial instead, SML.

So, here was how the Yuan Lin bus would look like..painted in white, more like a van. When we got on board, the driver explained to us that the whole journey would take about 4.30 hours. We set off at 1 p.m., and would arrived at SML at 4.30 p.m. There would be 2 brief stops, namely Tataka and XinYiMei Village, each stopped for 20-30 minutes break. Below is the info for those who wish to board the Yuan Lin Bus. Please take note that there would be only 2 timings from Alishan to SML and vice versa, with the earliest from Alishan to SML is 1 p.m., and the last one would be at 2 p.m.

Yuanlin Bus #6739 Bus Fare: TWD 350 per person (from Alishan to SML)
From Sun Moon Lake to Alishan: 07:00 & 09:00 hr
From Alishan to Sun Moon Lake: 13:00 & 14:00 hr

Reached Tataka Visitor Center. If you are an adventurous person and would love to challenge the adrenalin surge in you, this place is for you! Basically you can get all the information regarding the Yushan National Park and Tataka Recreation Area...and it is a spot where you can trek and venture the scenic mountaineous surounding...get up-close to the wonder of nature.

The temperature was breezy and sunny, at 12 degree celcius. It was such a lovely day!

Husband and Wife trees, as told by our driver, not too far from Tataka.

XinYiMei Village...where you can get all stuffs and souvenirs made from mei, or literally plums. From the preserved plums, to beverage, health drinks, vinegar, liquor, sweets, and even insect repellent made from plum. I bought one for my kids...LOL

All the figurines were so adorable, hence I snapped all of those frantically...:)

Mei in Taiwan is a popular local product, and it's sold all over in Taiwan.

I thought I saw a Gundam in Taiwan. The real one should be in Odaiba, Tokyo. =)

Here we were at the Sun Moon Lake, Shueishe Visitor Center, where the bus had dropped us, punctually at 4.30 p.m.

Walked down the road on the right of the visitor center to the end and then turned to right again, walk for a short distance then you will see the Laurel Villa, a homestay where we were put up for a night stay. The distance from the Shueishe bus terminal to Laurel Villa is only 5 minutes walk...and it is conveniently located near many rows of shops selling souvenirs, local delights, restaurants, convenience store like 7-eleven, a post office, and Shueishe Pier where you can take the touristy boat ride around SML. Laurel Villa is family operated B&B (Bed & Breakfast) inn. One good thing about Taiwan local homestay is that you tend to get more info about local culture, lifestyle, and get to share more on the places around from the owners who have been staying there for generations.

Immediately felt the warm welcome from Wayne (the owner) and his wife. Firstly when we stepped into the inn, just before Elaine managed to bring out her booking slip, a man suddenly approaced from behind and held onto her backpack. We were all shocked, but at that moment the man introduced himself as Wayne, the owner, was just trying to help Elaine with her super heavy looking backpack. Hahaaaa.....see how nice the locals can be...agree??

After checked-in, a helper helped us to our room, on the 2nd floor. we had to remove our shoes and put nicely on a shoes cabinet provided before entering our room. The helper was kind enough to carry my luggage all the way up to the 2nd level, and nicely placed our luggage on cloth mats to protect the surface of the table top and the nicely polished wooden floor. She requested us to be gentle to the floor, no pulling of luggage on the floor, so as to prevent scratching the floor. At first, we were not quite understand why the owner needs to kick such a big fuss on the flooring, might as well they changed their flooring into normal tiles.

But the moment we stepped into the room, we could feel the cleanliness and comfy of the wooden flooring. Although there were room slippers provided, but we didn't need that at all. I was just telling my own experience, staying in Laurel Villa. Comments?? Yup...of course, clean, comfortable, homely, friendly owners, and satisfying services. The only downside was our room faced the main street where the Shueishe Pier and a game arcade were nearby. So it was a bit noisy before 11 p.m. But if you are a night owl, it should not be a problem at all.

After we left our belongings in the room, we went to the counter to get some info around SML, things we could do, and Wayne's wife recommended us the Sun Moon Lake restaurant which she said was favoured by many Singaporeans. To avoid crowds during dinner, we planned to have dinner earlier, since we had light lunch in Alishan, our tummies were rumbling. Before leaving for the restaurant, Wayne invited us to join their daily morning walk up the scenic mountain and catch the sunrise view. We got to gather with the rest at the hall at 5.30 a.m. for those who were interested.

Elaine had done her research beforehand, she knew about this morning walk guided by Wayne, and many had actually gave a good review about this FOC tour. It was in fact a must-do thing if you are staying in Laurel Villa, simply because only Wayne and his family can bring their guests to the secluded area of SML, where you can probably watch the best sunrise, and the overall SML view with picturesque mountaineous backdrop. This is because Wayne's parents are still living around the mountain top, so he has the access into the area, cordoned from the public attention.

Ok....dinner at 5 p.m. We had a set meal of 6 dishes, served with short grained rice, contained in a wooden bucket. Local rice was delicious, soft but not soggy, and very fragrant.

The dishes included stir fried mushroom with shredded pork...

...stir fried chinese lettuce..

..a bowl of warm refreshing clam soup cooked with raddish...

..deep fried small shrimp served with sprinkled salt, where you can chomp down the whole crispy shrimp with the shell still intact..

..steamed farm chicken...

...and steamed fresh-water fish, watch out for the many delicate fine bones!

Straight after our dinner, we took a stroll around the town. The pier in the evening where most boats were decked.

Took a picture with one of many look-alike stone with carved SML in Chinese characters. SML was more quiet and serene when dusk fell. We enjoyed our slow walk along the lake....but remember to put on a sweater or thicker jacket. Temperature here varies from day to night. It would be around 25 to 30 degree celcius in the mid-noon, and dips to around 18 degree celcius and windy at night.

SML is renowned for its black tea production. Tea beverage and local snacks made from black tea can be found along the street.

We tried some hand-made egg rolls made from Assam black tea. Nice fragrant, crispy and thickly rolled into like a big cigar..hahaaaa

There were many random souvenir shops selling all kawaii stuffs, from handphone accessories, small ornaments, snacks, plush toys and more. We hopped from one to another, looking out for interesting buys.

Hand-made owl plush toys...many owls were sold as souvenirs, from key chains to displayed ornaments. And we found out that owl is an auspicious animal in Taiwan.

Bought some fruits from a road-side stall....before walking back to our room for a good rest.

The next morning, we woke up 4 plus in the morning to get ready for the morning walk. There were only 7 guests including 3 of us who joined, only Malaysians and Singaporeans. Reason is because Wayne prefers to bring guests from Malaysia and Singapore for this secluded tour. So if you are from these countries, you are very fortunate to have the opportunity to see the different side of SML.

Wayne gave us each a packet of their special home-packed black tea soaked in a 500 ml bottle of mineral water.

You can purchase their tea from the counter, black tea, special formulated milk tea and oolong tea. The best black tea is said to be served in room temperature water. Different temperature and type of water used to make the tea, was said to affect the taste of the tea.

Just before the crack of dawn, when the street was in deep silence, with faint howlings of street dogs, we set off at 5.30 a.m. The sky slowy turned brighter at 6 a.m. Along the way up to the mountain, we saw many gigantic spider webs. The webs proved that this place is left untouched and unpolluted from the outside world, not known by many. Only a few local aunties and uncles were seen doing their morning exercise along the trail. They were friendly, and greeted us good morning...with broad smile on the face.

The trail up to the top and return to our homestay took us 3 hours....with some time spent on picture snapping and interesting sharing from Wayne. This guy can really talk a LOT! Wayne in light blue jacket, guiding the way..

..and it's time for us to drink the black tea which had been soaked for an hour. What a refreshing thirst quencher.

From far we saw a black tea manufacturing factory, located on top of the hill, where we were heading to.

The founder who had put in lifetime effort to study and research the production and growing of the best black tea in SML, was a Japanese. There is a tomb with his name carved onto, where locals are said to pay their respect to his contribution to boost the tea economy in this area.

When we reached the tea factory, Wayne quickly searched for a key from his pocket, to open the gate, which then later led us to this beautiful view.

The nicely captured postcard view.... mountain peaks which peeking out from the layer of sea-clouds. We saw the colours changed across the horizon....from orangy, golden, purplish to beautiful deep blue. That feeling of a solitude moment, allowed me to be deeply in thought, immersed in the beautiful wonder of nature....I definitely love places with mesmerizing painted landscapes...which always left me in AWE!

Let me share with you the memorable pictures snapped.....I know you are going to be dumbstruck like I did...:D

 

The tea plantation, amidst the cloud and golden rays of stunning sunrise.

The old tea factory , remained from the Japanese occupation time of 50 years, which is renovated, well-maintained and still functioning up to this day. The top structure of the building is made from the highest quality wood, which last up to centuries. Now I understand why Wayne is so particular about his wooden flooring in his inn. He shared with us that, if the wood is well taken care off, the vibrancy of the wood will remain even up to centuries.

After the sunrise rose high up from behind the mountain tops, Wayne left us to explore further up. He led us out from the factory compound, and locked the gate behind us. He said it was an agreement between the factory and him that he needs to bring his guests out from the area, when the workers arrived for work.

The view on top was not as beautiful as the spot where we watched sunrise with Wayne just now. True enough, according to Wayne, the previous scenic spot was the best ever location to see the most heartbeat-skipping view. The more we ventured up, the mountain trail became steeper.

With much perseverence, and endless panting for breath, we finally reached the top. There were cherry blossom trees with bees buzzing around.

After catching back our breath, we slowly walked down hill again. Reached Laurel Villa at around 9 a.m. We were all very famished and tired out. Immediately requested for our breakfast. Quickly dug into our breakfast once they were served. Simple and yet nutritious...salad, freshly squeezed/blended fruit juice, toasts, sunny side up, hams, potato, and oranges. The best part is that you can ask for extra servings and top up whatever you wish for.

I had fresh tomato juice with my hearty breakfast. Wayne praised us for our stamina, we looked more than ever energized after the morning walk and of course a sumptious breakfast! LOL...He rattled on for another hour plus about his own personal life and goal, the reasons why he gave up his engineer job (he used to be an electrical engineer) to fulfill his dream job....and bla bla bla...but it was quite interesting la.

We packed our luggage and checked out at 10.15 a.m. Left our belongings at the counter and off we went for sightseeing around the lake. The SML is actually quite big, you need a day to complete the trail by walking. There are plenty of bicycle rental shops around SML. But too bad I do not how to cycle.

Another spot with this iconic SML carved stone at the pier.

It was a hot humid sunny day. The sun casted its warming rays against the emerald green crystal clear lake water...with gentle breeze blowing into our direction while we took a relax stroll along the lake trail.

The Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Pavilion, which was built at the most scenic lookout favoured by the late president, overlooking the mountains and majestic lake view.

We stopped by a roadside stall which the owner said she only sets up her business on weekends when there are more crowds in SML. We bought rice sausage, made of glutinous rice...

..served with some preserved veggie and chilli sauce...

Deep fried fish which is also a popular local snack.

Deep fried mushroom...not oily at all...

Recommended by one of the Taiwan foodie programmes....even a local who stopped by telling us that the pumpkin smoothie is a must-try drink, other than the yam puree drink.

After some local bites, we walked towards the Shueishe Bus Station at 12.40 p.m., the place where we dropped off the day before. Bought standing tickets which were cheaper at TWD170 per person from the bus ticket counter as a staff told us that there were plenty of vacant seats available. For reserved bus tickets, it will cost TWD 190 per person. This SML shuttle bus departed at 12.50 p.m. from SML to HSR Taichung Station, which took around 1 hour. From there we transferred to Taipei by high speed railway.

Taipei......the next coming post. Till then, happy reading.....