4ever Discovering
In the Heart of Taiwan: Sun Moon Lake
Are we in Canada or Taiwan??
Emily and I have been told Sun Moon Lake is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Taiwan. It is located in the centre of the island, and is surrounded by many aboriginal tribes (which means delicious food!). Our boss’ wife claimed this was her favourite spot in the country, so naturally we had to see for ourselves. It is the largest body of water in Taiwan (about 8 km squared), which in comparison to Canada, doesn’t seem that big. Even so, it was still a beautiful landscape with the water and mountains surrounding it; it felt like we were in western Canada! A little piece of home, from over 12,000 km away!
For a weekend getaway, Emily and I booked an Airbnb and bus tickets to the centre of the island. The bus ride was only about 4 hours from Taipei, which gave us ample amount of time to take an early morning nap after a night out for Paddy’s Day (oops). There aren’t really any hostels in the area, so we booked the cheapest Airbnb we could find that was conveniently located. Even after 8 months of living in Taiwan, sometimes dealing with the public buses causes more of a headache than anything. We like to be able to walk places to make our lives a little more easier, so if we can find a place to stay in the town centre, we are all in! Thankfully one of our local friends came with us on the trip, so she dealt with all of the transit and getting around. Again, it’s really nice to be able to not plan anything and just come along for the ride! We are getting so spoiled here with all of our new friends!
On our bus ride to Sun Moon Lake, we stopped at Puli (about 30 minutes away) to make a quick detour to a scenic area. Along the ride, we saw many trees that resembled palm trees, but much thinner. Apparently, this is the area where the infamous betel nut grows in Taiwan. If you’re not familiar with this nut, it is a very popular addiction here. It is most commonly chewed by men (a lot of taxi drivers), and is the equivalent of drinking 6 cups of coffee. Not only does it raise your heart rate, but also stains your mouth red. I know my mom would hate it! Everywhere we looked in the Nantou area, there were betel nut trees surrounding us. This is definitely the place to go if you’re interested in getting a little kick start to your day, but it is not for us! Call me crazy, but I would rather spare my body the risk of oral cancer. Just saying, momma didn’t raise no fool!
When we arrived at our destination, we walked through a park and small village to reach a glass-bottom bridge. This suspension bridge is known as Ping Lai, and is 88 metres long and 50 metres high. If you are like Emily and a little scared of heights, it is definitely a challenge. It only takes about 5 minutes to walk across, but we had to stop midway for the epic photo opp. It was a beautiful view with nothing but nature surrounding us. It would have been amazing to come in autumn when all of the trees started changing colour! But spring was just as scenic! It was a beautiful little pitstop on our way to see even more incredible landscapes. You probably think I’m exaggerating when I talk about how beautiful Taiwan is, but it is honestly one of the most picturesque countries I’ve ever traveled to. And the best part is, it is super underrated so there aren’t a lot of tourists here. It is still one of the hidden gems of the world.
After finding the bus back to Sun Moon Lake, we checked into our Airbnb and took a little rest before dinner. We found a small restaurant and ordered a few dishes to share for the three of us. A popular dish in this area is the ‘president’s fish’. Apparently, it is the president’s favourite fish so everyone else wants to try it too (except us). One good thing about always being near the water is knowing the seafood is always fresh! Usually they serve whatever food they catch in the morning. We ordered salted baby shrimps, kung pao chicken, cabbage, and sweet and sour pork. We weren’t feeling adventurous enough to try the fish, but I bet the shrimp were caught that day too! One dish of seafood is enough for me.
Because it was already dark after we finished eating, we just walked around the town for a half hour and called it a night. We were able to walk along the boardwalk; however, there weren’t many lights along the way. It was definitely only meant for a daytime excursion. The next day, we woke up early and started our day off renting bikes. We were ambitious and told ourselves we could bike around the entire lake! The whole trek was 29 km, which isn’t horrible. The only downside was it was very hilly and there was no direct path. The biking path was only made for about 12 km of the lake, so that meant we had to bike with the traffic for the other part. Because it was so windy, we didn’t really feel as safe as we should, so we jumped on the bus for the rest of it. But hey, a 12 km bike isn’t too shabby!
We took the public bus to the Thao tribe village. It was only about a 10 minute ride from the Wenwu Temple (also beautiful), and had a lot of delicious treats to try! There was a whole street just filled with food vendors; I was in heaven. Emily and I tried everything from an intense pork belly sandwich, to a veggie-stuffed bun, to delicious ice cream (of course). What better way to spend your day in the sun than munch on some ice cream? Trust me, if you travel with us, we always make time to stop for our favourite treat. It would be a disgrace not to!
There are many different activities you can keep yourself occupied with around Sun Moon Lake. If you’re not interested in renting a bike, you can take the cable car to see a bird’s eye view of the area. You can also rent kayaks; unfortunately, this is more of a summer activity and we were not able to do it. I guess the water was still a tad bit chilly. I can definitely see why this is considered one of the most beautiful areas in Taiwan. With its calm lake, surrounding mountains, and stunning views, this is a must see in this country! I don’t think you need more than a weekend here. I read that it gets pretty busy during the holidays, so taking the time to come during off season was ideal (even though there were still a bunch of Chinese tourists). It’s funny we know that because those are the tourists who always want to stop to take pictures with us.
Sun Moon Lake is the place to come if you’re looking for a little reminder of home. I’ve never been out west, but from all of the pictures I’ve seen, this area most resembles it. With lakes and mountains around you, how can you not find any peace? Emily and I found ourselves stopping along the water a lot just to take in the scenery (not to catch our breath from the intense bike ride, we swear lol). It was a picturesque weekend, spent relaxing and enjoying mother nature. What more could we ask for in Taiwan?