Cycle Taiwan Day 6 Taichung to Sun Moon Lake 日月潭 - Ride round the Lake

Good morning Taichung City! The sky was looking good as viewed from my room.

Good bye Chance Hotel after hosting us for 2 nights.

A short distance to the Nantou Bus Terminal for a bus journey to Sun Moon Lake.

We decided to have our breakfast nearby the bus terminal at this shop "Ah Boon" GPS : 24.140130, 120.685490. The shop was packed with locals and it must be popular to garner such a good crowd.

A few of us took the front seats at the serving counter and I had a good close up observation of Ah Boon's operation.

My braised minced pork rice with a hard tofu, egg and a bowl of soup. This is a common Taiwanese dish and I enjoyed it very much, even when I am back in Kuala Lumpur.

These ladies were busy preparing food for the customers and hardly have time to collect payment.

The bus fare to Sun Moon Lake from Taichung was NTD190.00 for a distance of about 64km.

The bus was about to leave and we had to load the bicycles ourselves at the lower compartment. What a relief when everything was done in time and intact. 

The bus stopped right in front of the Information Centre at Sun Moon Lake where Anne & Jotaro went in to gather some information. Sun Moon Lake is Taiwan largest lake located in the mountains of Nantou at the geographic centre of Taiwan island. 

Tan Hui Hotel 名勝街 where we will be staying for 2 nights near the bus terminal and Shuishe pier. We were early and could not check in yet so we just left our bags at the hotel reception and went on with our exploration of Sun Moon Lake.

The plan was to cycle round the entire lake covering the sun and the moon.

The name of the lake is inspired by the beauty of the area. The east side of the lake is round, like the sun, while the west side is long and narrow, like a crescent moon.

We went clockwise of the route and heading towards 12 o'clock position north eastward.

The first kilometre starting from the Shuishe Pier to Wenwu Temple.

Wenwu Temple is located at the perimeter of the Lake it has been rebuilt in 1969 into a bigger and attractive temple.

Chinese guardian lions in front of Wenwu Temple, one male and one female awaiting for you..

Year of Steps at Wenwu Temple
Before the round-the-lake road was built, the only way to get to Wenwu Temple was to take a boat to the pier below the temple and climb up a very steep flight of steps. They called it "stairway to Heaven."
There are now 366 steps covering the 150-meter distance, symbolizing the 366 days in a year (including an extra day in leap year). At the step that represents the first day of each month, there is now a platform where people can stop and rest. Information related to the 24 solar periods is also carved into the steps, so that visitors can learn something about China's traditional folk culture as they slowly ascend the steps.

At the main road on a quiet Thursday noon time.

 Upon arriving a small town near Yi Da Shao Wharf 伊達邵碼頭 we went in a restaurant and ordered a set lunch for 6 of us comprising of a deep fried shrimps, stir fried pork belly, steamed chicken meat, steamed fish and a clear soup.

Chun Hua Restaurant at Huanhu Road GPS : 23.847787, 120.932710

Xuanzang Temple with a story that after a thousand-plus year journey, a fragment of a famous Chinese monk’s skull ended up in this temple.

A platform at Xuan Guang viewing into Xuan Guang Wharf with a nice Chinese calligraphy of the the words "Sun Moon Lake   日月潭" on a stony feature.

Certain points of the bicycle path have been closed and we have to used the main road where we had the chance to experience the surrounding of the area such as betel nut cultivation.

After ariving at Nantou County Police Bureau
南投縣政府警察局集集分局頭社派出所 GPS : 23.833736, 120.896229 we started to encounter a severe uphill.

The uphill ride passing by Toushih Dam 頭社水庫.

The pain continued but it will be ending soon .... so be perseverance.

Once you reached this Nantou Crescent Bay 南投 月牙灣 (GPS : 23.844505, 120.901931) it's easy ride all the way. 

This Bicycle Path looks pretty old but never too late to visit it.

A tunnel linking the highway into the edge of the lake. No more severe climb and heavy traffic.

A detour to an Observation Deck  向山觀景台 at GPS : 23.854933, 120.905473

On the way out of the Observation deck we bumped into two local Brommies.

同心橋 Bridge at GPS : 23.853631, 120.901916 

A little bit further up the trail there is another interesting curving bridge GPS : 23.854645, 120.902073

Getting closer to the commercial centre of Sun Moon Lake as we could see tall buildings ahead.

Another set meal for dinner at Riyuetan Restaurant 日月潭餐廳 at the main road GPS : 23.865872, 120.912052

It's bed time and looking forward for tomorrow's itinerary to visit the Aboriginal Culture Village.

Day 6 - The day arrived at Sun Moon Lake and rode round the lake for 32km.

Cycle Taiwan day 5 - A Day exploring the City of Taichung

After a short distance of 600m from Chance Hotel along Jiangou Road we stopped by Minsheng Chiayi rice cakes 民生嘉義米糕 for breakfast. The bowl of rice is of glutinous type with minced meat on top which includes a meat ball, an egg and a cup of soup. It was rather unique and yummy. A good find indeed in the morning.

A rare cuisine that is not normally seen on any typical street of Taiwan, truly lucky to have such an experience.

Minsheng Chiayi rice cakes 民生嘉義米糕 is located at Jiangou Road GPS : 24.135178, 120.680624. Before we left the shop we went over to a bakery shop (Nixau) next door to "tapao" some pastry.

It was a 8km ride from Chance Hotel to the Rainbow Village (Caihoujuan Village) and a sunny morning for Day 5 in Taichung. Rainbow Village which is located at Lingdong South Road, Nantun District
GPS : 24.133916, 120.610244

These are some of the remaining villages with simple houses given by the government for the Kuomintang soldiers and their families after they retreated from Mainland China and also known as the "veteran villages". For the last 20 over years the government has been tearing down these villages for new development and one by one they are disappearing.

Rainbow Village is a small community consisting of only a few houses and we were having fun posing for our cameras.

It was crowded as usual on weekends and public holidays. Long live Rainbow Village.

 One of the last village residents is Mr.Huang also known as Rainbow Grandpa. One day he started to paint the empty and dying village. He painted animals, dolls, airplanes, manga characters, etc … All with vibrant colors, filling the walls and the alleys. It became an attraction in Taichung and protest after protest to preserve to village were made Mr. Huang's project was at last recognised by the government. It is now one of the the main attractions of Taichung and no more tearing down these old painted houses. Bravo Mr. Huang!

DaOneGong Shaved Ice Dessert 大碗公冰, 甜品 at Minsheng Road before we pay a visit to Wufeng Lin Family Mansion. The desserts were good and delicious.

In front of Wufeng Lin Family House after purchasing the entrance tickets. Wufeng Lin Family Mansion and Garden at located at Minsheng Road, Wufeng District
GPS : 24.062725, 120.700631. Photo Credit : Jotaro

Wufeng Lin Family Mansion and Garden (霧峰林家宅園; pinyin: Wùfēng Lín Jiāzhái Yuán) is the general name for the former residence and grounds of the Wufeng Lin family at its ancestral home in Wufeng District, Taichung, Taiwan. Owing to the great size of the Lin family clan, the site can be divided into two branches, the Upper (頂厝) and Lower (下厝) Houses. Because of this, the mansion's scope of distribution is considerably vast. The section constructed by Lin Wenqin of the Upper House (萊園; Laiyuan), it is commonly known to local residents as The Lin Family Gardens (林家花園).

One of the several passage ways linking the houses in the compound.

The courtyard at the theatrical stage.

The theatrical stage across from the Great Flower Hall

We could smell something interesting in front of us and upon seeing a crowd in front of a street stall, we stopped by to check it out.

The friendly sister entertaining friends from Malaysia and introducing her fried meat dough. Yes! One each please!

The business was brisk and good, of course the dough was gorgeous. 鄒記餡餅 Zou Kee Fried Meat Dough is found at Laiyuan Road at the side of a 7-11 Outlet (GPS : 24.064482, 120.698727).

Sitting next by the stall the three ladies enjoying their Taichung street food. Yummy...leh...

After much of cycling and getting lost in the city we stopped by at Taichung Park (GPS : 24.142956, 120.683706) before proceeding to Zhonghua Night market which was visible from the place we were resting.

We pushed through the night market observing the stalls, the crowd, sensing to the noise and smell of the surrounding.

We couldn't find an appropriate place to eat with our bicycles in the night market and went further down the street into a shopping complex. We decided to dine there for the evening.

And ordered a few dishes from two shops and sat at the common courtyard at the center. Some of the dishes were surprising good. That was a hectic day exploring Taichung.

Before we going back to the hotel we went to Nantou Bus Terminal to check on the bus schedule to Sun Moon Lake. We will be back here at 8am tomorrow and good night.