Sun Moon Lake is the largest body of fresh water in Taiwan as well as one of the top tourist destinations. James and I were true tourists in style on this trip...
We awoke early Saturday morning and arrived to the train station with tickets in hand for the first train south to Taichung. The tickets were the only pre-planned part of this trip. With standing room only, we arrived to Taichung in about one hour. We went straight to the bus station to catch a bus to Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan. Immediately upon arriving to the bus stop, a man preceded to lead us to our bus stop. Then, he did a lot of talking in Chinese to us and to another family in line. Somehow, we all ended up in a van together and we were (hopefully) going to Sun Moon Lake. For 33 cents more a ticket than the bus and shaving about one hour off the commute, the risk was worth the return. We (thankfully) safely arrived at the Sun Moon Lake main visitor center before 10 am!
At the visitor's center, we asked what we should do with our 7 hours of daylight. The lady suggested we buy a package that included the following: a round trip ticket for the ferry, gondola and bus as well as a discount ticket for bike rentals and coffee. For $11 USD, we said, "We'll take it!"
We went to the Giant Bicycle rental shop next. James shed a few tears while reminiscing about his Giant bicycle that some GA Tech student owns now. We settled for a nice hybrid bike instead of the fancy road bike. On our van ride, we realized it was incredibly dangerous to bike the 33k road around the lake like we originally planned. Between the tour buses, tourists, taxi drivers, and a narrow two lane road, there was no way we were risking our lives for it. We went for the lovely, shorter, and crowded bike path instead that covered a little bit of ground. It was lovely indeed. For the first time, I saw a few (yes, only a few) leaves changing to fall colors! James especially enjoyed the bike path because he rode up the these crazy hills with steps in the middle while I chose to walk up and push my bike. He was proud to "defeat" me on the bicycle!
Yeehaw!
Views from the bicycle path
Outside the Giant Bicycle shop. This guy has a giant head!
Yup. I will never live this one down.
After grabbing a quick, small lunch at a vegetarian restaurant, we jumped on the ferry. There were three pier drop-offs included in the ferry package. We got off at the first pier to do a short hike to a temple and work up a nice sweat. Although it's mid-November, the temperatures were in the mid-eighties!
Look at all those ferries!
That's a good looking man!
Then, we took the ferry to the other pier and headed to the gondola. Unfortunately, the gondola was not that exciting. It was a short ride and the views weren't all that great. The gondola drops visitors off at the Aboriginal Formosan Village. The place includes shows, a small amusement park and a $25 USD cost of admission. At the stop we went to the bathroom and got right back on the gondola. As a side note, the bathroom was wonderful. This sounds odd, but you really start to appreciate specific things when you have been away from the good ole' USA for a while. The bathroom was clean and included the following: toilet paper in the stalls, soap, paper towels, and a hand dryer! In Taiwan, you must carry your own TP because many bathrooms do not provide it. Occasionally, soap will be provided but I am not sure that I have ever seen paper towels provided!
These "windows" were open! Your kid would fall right out of this thing!
Gondola ride
Since the sun was started to set, we needed to decide if we were staying the night or going back to Taichung. Sun Moon Lake is known for being quite expensive since it is a tourist destination. We stepped into the first non-fancy without lake views small hotel we saw in the village. The woman did not have any rooms but she called another woman who led us to her hotel above a souvenir shop down the road. In "Chinglish" she told us the room is for four people and usually it is $115 USD/night. James was always using his great salesman skills by telling her he was not sure if we wanted to stay the night, etc. He offered her $65 USD for the night and we would not eat the complementary breakfast. She said yes so easily that I think we should have offered less!
I was so glad not be making the trip back to Hsinchu at this time of day.
After a shower and watching the sort-of sunset behind the mountains, we ventured down the busy street in search of food. We discovered these awesome treats! They are a block of tofu sliced and stuffed with pickled veggies, fresh cucumber, fresh cilantro, hot sauce, and vegetarian seaweed flakes and wrapped in a warm steamed bun! All of this for less than $2 USD!!!!! We enjoyed two of these for dinner while wondering the streets and souvenir shops.
Sunset
Yum!
Our personal chef for the weekend.
A giraffe head? I haven't seen that one before.
The next morning we arose before the sun was up. We were doing the longest hike at Sun Moon Lake. "Lonely Planet" estimated a 7 to 8 hour hike. We needed to start early if we wanted to catch a shower before check-out.
I am so glad we stayed the night and did this hike! The lake was so peaceful and still in the morning before the ferry boats were running and visitors awoke. James and I did not find Sun Moon Lake as glorious as the Taiwanese locals. We are both from states full of lovely lakes so it was not quite the same experience. However, this is a must-see place in Taiwan so now we can scratch it off the to-do list that hangs on our fridge. The list only gets longer though as we learn more about Taiwan though.
A still, peaceful morning view.
The hike was, well, straight up. We powered through it. We enjoyed some good views of the lakes and mountains. We made it to the 2,059 meter peak in 2 hours and 30 minutes. After a banana breakfast break, we scurried back down the mountain. Lots of other hikers were out by this time and for once in Taiwan, we were the early birds! We even woke up a lot of monkeys early in the hike. We carried some big sticks for a few minutes after that (especially since we were carrying some bananas).
Bamboo forest
Banana break!
Parts of the trail were some tough climbs. I had to use my hands for this one.
We made it!
The bird's eye view of the lake
Here's a quick video of the view you can watch if you miss hearing our voices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA1LYFqeJ4M&feature=youtu.be
We finished the trail in 4 hours and 33 minutes! Plenty of time to grab a shower. Of course lunch included another tofu sandwich! The rest of the trip was uneventful. After using our round trip bus ticket and seeing the back side of the lake, we took the slow bus back to Taichung and stood on a train ride home. James was highly disappointed that he did not use his coffee discount coupon that had to be used at a specific cafe. That was probably the whole reason he wanted the package deal!
Trail map
The final time
This was truly one of those weekends you must take the time to appreciate. Nothing was planned, yet everything went more perfectly than if we would have planned every detail.
A few other notes from the other side of the world...
The Hello Kitty 5k in Taipei http://www.sportsnote.com.tw/running/view_article.aspx?id=cb1cff20-195d-4308-9c89-ab3324f93aa1 filled up pretty fast. James and I are pretty disappointed we missed out on this one...
You can literally smell stinky tofu from a mile away here - and it reeks!! However, everyone says they like it and we should try it. For some reason when James noticed stinky tofu for sale at the grocery store with a hot chili pepper symbol on it, he decided to bring it home. Big mistake!!!! The stuff smelled like a petting zoo. Once again, for some reason James ate a decent portion of the tofu. I tried one little cube and almost vomited. The rest of the day James complained about feeling sick. He also thought he kept smelling sticky tofu everywhere. I think the stuff was leaking out his pours and stuck in his nostrils. Bleh. No more stinky for us!
Since we hang our laundry on the roof of the apartment to dry and we live in the "windy city," we always joke that one day our running shorts are going to hit us in face while we are walking or driving home. Well, last night I went to the roof to gather our laundry. I realized that a pair of my running shorts were missing. It was dark so this morning I went upstairs and, for better or worse, I spotted them on the rooftop of the adjacent building. The happens to be the "everything dollar" store that we purchase items from occasionally. They really do have everything crammed into a really small space! After translating my story in Chinese to my phone, I went next door and showed the cashier. Through charades, I think she said the shop owner was sleeping. She took my phone number and I drew a picture of my shorts. When I returned this evening, I stopped in and the cashier had my shorts as well as a really disgusting comforter. I managed to say "I don't want it." in Chinese and happily left with my shorts! Somehow I would have felt awkward if this happened to me in the US. However, I am so used to these daily awkward events that they barely phase me any more.
We went back to the "Scenic 17km Coastal Bike Path" in Hsinchu for a morning run. We biked the path soon after arriving in Taiwan on a rainy, cloudy day. It really is a lovely trail in some parts so I wanted to share a couple of better pictures than the prior ones.
The coast
The bike path and one of the several rainbow bridges in Hsinchu City.
In one of my classes, the students are learning articles of clothing. I love to do drawing projects because the class calms down and I get a break from running a three-ring circus. I feel really loved when my students draw a picture of me. This little girl's name is Angel and she really is an angel. I want to take pictures of her adorable outfits on some days! I suppose I am not only a "teacha" but also a queen in this picture. Glad she knows who rules the classroom.
I have a new TA at school. Her name is Teacher Yo-Yo. That's all I need to say about that.
One last thing, I have mentioned before we are now in a church small group with another couple. We are reading a book by Francis Chen. Since I listen to podcasts on my walk to and from work, I downloaded a couple of his podcasts of personal interest. I listened to "Revelations in a Nutshell Parts 1 and 2." I was quite moved by the podcast and slightly ashamed that I have always ignored studying Revelations. Most would agree it is confusing, odd, and disturbing so I avoided any self-study. However, after listening to the messages and doing a study with James, I really feel the need to spread the word and suggest the podcast to others who may also be lacking knowledge like myself. It's an awesome yet disturbing story, (sweet in my mouth and sour in my stomach) that all Christians really should know so that we may prepared if the Tribulation happens in our lifetime.
That's about it for now! Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!! We will be enjoying a potluck dinner at our church the weekend following Thanksgiving. We will be working on Thanksgiving Day and I will give extra points to any of my students who can tell me what day it is!
