6 January 2016
Our last visit to Sun Moon Lake at Taiwan, back in December 2011 was relatively brief. During that trip, we had booked a taxi to take us from Taichung to Cingjing , with a stopover at Sun Moon Lake just long enough to experience what a typical tourist in a group tour would experience, which is not very much…. i.e. visit to the Wenwu Temple and a cruise on the lake from Ita Shao to Shuishe Village for lunch and Xuanguang Temple Pier for a visit.
This time round, we planned to take it slow and easy, with two nights stay at the lake. This would allow us to enjoy the lake at its best - the sunrise, sunset and also cycling around the lake.
Getting to Sun Moon Lake was easy and there are many reliable information to be found in the internet and various travel blogs. We arrived at the Taoyuan International Airport via TZ202 Scoot flight at 5 AM. Surprisingly, there was no delay in this budget airline flight to Taipei and the flight landed slightly ahead of schedule. We wanted to buy the prepaid data SIM card at the airport and the shop was only opened at 8 AM. We had ample time to have a breakfast of beef noodle soup and coffee while waiting for the shop to open, making use of the free airport wifi in the meantime.
The plans on offer from various Telco shops are pretty similar, so we just picked what was needed to meet our needs for our stay in Taiwan. We bought the 500 NT prepaid plan which included 10 days unlimited 4G data and 100 NT of voice calls. Comparing this to what we pay at home, this was a very good deal.
Soon we were on the HIgh Speed Rail (HSR) train bound for Taichung. The Taoyuan HSR station is located a distance from the airport and we need to take a shuttle bus for a 20 minutes ride to the Taoyuan HSR Station. There was no need to pre-book the train tickets, just buy the tickets for the next available train. Simple as that. Ticket costs 540 NT each and travel time to Taichung was 45 minutes.
Arriving at Taichung HSR Station, we decided to take an early lunch as the bus ride to SML would be about 1.5 hours. Following the signs for the bus station, we found the counter selling tickets for the Nan-Tou bus. Cost 190 NT one way to the final stop at the Visitor Center at Shuishe Village. Our accommodation for the next two nights is the Mei Jen House, a small minsu located in the heart of the small Shuishe Village.
It was too early for check-in and the lady at the minsu told us to leave our bags with her and provided us with a map and some information on how to enjoy SML. After the briefing and checking the weather, we decided to go visit the Cien Pagoda via the Round the Lake Bus and time permitting, visit Wenwu Temple as we were told it is a good place to see the sun set over the western part of the lake.
The Round the Lake Bus Pass costs 80 NT for unlimited rides on the hop-on and hop off bus prying the route from the Shuishe Pier to the Xuanguang Piers. Not all the buses make stops at Xuanzang Temple. We were in luck. The next bus to leave Shuishe Village at 2 PM was one of the few that would make a stop at Xuanzang Temple where we planned to alight to walk to the CIen Pagoda.
The bus does not stop at the Cien Pagoda. To get to Cien Pagoda, we should alight at the Xuanzang Temple bus stop and walked onwards a few hundred metres to start of the 900m marked trail leading to the pagoda. We spoke to the driver and he was kind enough to drop us off at the start of the trail head. There was only one other person who alighted with us and he walked really, really fast up the trail. We soon lost sight of him.
It was a gentle trail up with some steps. Not too strenuous and the weather in January was perfect for a gentle workout at a nice 16 degrees C.
Our hard work climbing the spiral staircase to the top of the pagoda was rewarded with a magnificent view of the entire Sun Moon Lake and the surrounding Central Mountains of Taiwan. We met the lone traveller at the top of the pagoda. He was a quiet fellow, focused on taking pictures and did not interact with us. Luckily for him and us, the clouds cleared mostly during the time we were there and we can see the blue sky and the blue lake. Else, it would be grey and gloomy.
Besides enjoying the views, taking photos, there is a very big and very LOUD bell to be rang for peacefulness. According to the sign, we are to strike it 3 times while saying “Amita Buddha” each time. We rang it loudly 3 times as instructed. Hopefully did not disturb the peace for our photo-taking traveller too much.
After getting down from the Cien Pagoda, we walked to the XuangZang Temple.
Outside the XuanZang Temple containing the relic of the monk XuanZang. The graphic outside the temple depicts his silhouette, on his journey to the west.
We did not go into the temple as we wanted to catch the next bus leaving Xuanguang Temple and Pier which is at 4.30 PM. After snapping a few photos, we headed down the trail from the XuangZang Temple to the Xuanguang Temple and Pier.
The trail (part of the Qinglong Mountain Trail linking Cien Pagoda to the Xuanguang Temple) was mostly downhill. It was well-marked, well paved path, cutting through vegetation and some betek nut palms. We got to the temple with plenty of time to spare before the next bus.
This was the place we visited on our last trip and is the place to eat the the famous and tasty tea boiled egg. It was so good that we have 2 eggs per person while waiting for the bus.
Tip: Check the bus schedule to determine the timings of the buses leaving Xuanguang Pier and ItaThao Village to avoid missing the last bus. Most of the buses operate between Shuishe Village to ItaThao Village. Only selected service goes to Xuanguang Temple. Also, Cien Pagoda closes at 4.30 PM. It is an easy 2.5 km walk from the Pagoda down to the Xuanguang Pier. So, it is advisable to visit Cien Pagoda and XuanZang Temple first, then walk down to the Pier to take the bus or boat back to our hotel. Also, don’t confuse Xuanguang Temple with XuangZang Temple. Sounds quite alike but they are different temples in different locations but located close together.
We took the 4.30 PM bus leaving Xuanguang Temple and heading back towards Shuishe Village. We figured that the timing was just right for us to stop at Wenwu temple (文武廟) for an hour to see the sunset before catching the another bus leaving Itashao for Shuishe Pier.
As the sun set over the western part of the mountains, we could see the clouds rolling in and covering the Cien Pagoda directly across the lake. Thankfully, there was no rain in the evening.
Photographers’ delight with the dramatic clouds over the lake at dusk. Time for some fancy shots.
Wenwu temple looked so different at dusk as compared to the morning when we last visited in 2011. This is a very magnificent temple and is a must see when visiting Sun Moon Lake. A good time to visit in the evening when it is more peaceful, quiete and desolated.
The temple looked very nice at night with the lightings.
The sky gets dark early in January and it was dark by the time we caught the 5.55 PM bus back to Shuishe Village.
We went to check out the restaurant recommended by our minsu lady but it was closed. So we walked around the small Shuishe village to check out other eating places. Compared to other parts of Taiwan, I must say the eating options in SML is few. We picked a eating house that seems well patronised and ate a simple meal of steamed rice and local dishes including fried chicken and pig stomach soup. The restaurant was pretty generous with the quantity of sliced pig stomach in the soup. Nice and with a herbal taste instead of the peppery soup we get back home.
There was not much to do at SML in the night, Thankfully no rain despite the clouds we saw. So, early to bed and early to rise the next day for a morning walk to catch the sunrise by the lake.