Cycling at Sun Moon Lake

7 Jan 2016

Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) is reputed to have one of the top 10 best cycling trails in the world. Cycling on this trail was one of the planned activity for our stay during this trip. Our minsu (B&B) host from Mei Jen House told us the Merida shop (one of the recommended bicycle rental place) is located near the big car and bus park behind the minsu.

On our way to the car park, we were approached by a staff from a bicycle rental shop so we stopped to check it out. The friendly lady staff quoted us 200 NT for 2 hours rental per bicycle which was what I had read and expected to be the going rates. And we got to choose any bike in the shop that we fancied.

The last time we cycled was a few years ago while staying at Banyan Tree Phuket where the resort provided free bicycles for us to move within its vast premises. We are not experienced cyclists. We spent some time to try out a few bicycles and also to polish up our rusty skills before finalising the rental. The staff even suggested we take a doubles bike, seeing that one of us (ahem…wonder who) is not so steady but I have confidence that we could both cycle on our own.

We selected a mountain bike for men and a smaller bike with a basket in front for women.

Map given by the shop. Recommended cycling route is marked is light green colour. More experienced cyclists could cycle round the lake within a day but the mountain roads are narrow and curvy. Not a good idea for novices.

Selecting our bike in the shop, along with other customers as well. Business was good on a nice day like today.

Using a Sun Moon Lake cycling trail map, the staff briefed us on the recommended route. She told us it typically takes about 75 minutes non-stop to go to the end of the route and back.  We figured that we will take longer than that and 2 hours rental sounded just right, with some stops along the way for photography.

Once the paperwork was done, 400 NT rental fees paid, we set off on the trail which starts at the car park. 50 metres along the trail, we saw the Merida bike rental shop.  So, we did not rent from Merida after all.

The trail from Shuishe Pier to the Shuishe Dam was relatively flat and easy. Some parts of the trail was on a boardwalk over the turquoise lake. All along the trail, nice views of the lake and mountains in the background could be seen. Thankfully, the weather was perfect for this activity, cloudy, cool, low humidity with some blue sky to be seen through the clouds. No sweat even with the exertions.

Since this was a weekday, the trail was not congested with walkers and bikers. It was a pleasant and fast ride to the dam where we made a brief stop for photos.

Quite interesting to watch people enjoying themselves and taking selfies and group photos.

For safety reasons, there was a sign instructing bikers to dismount and walk across the dam. Some bikers just don’t understand this and put themselves and others at risks by cycling across the dam.

After the dam, the trail slopes a little and we soon came to 2 nice bridges. The white Tongxin Bridge‘s design is based on the 4-hand dipnet used by the Thao tribe for lake fishing. Similar to what I saw and photographed earlier this morning. TongXin means “Together heart” and this bridge is a popular location for shooting wedding photos.

TongXin Bridge along the cycling trail.

The 54m long and 3m wide steel curvy Yongjie Bridge.

There was a good rest area and flower garden just after the bridges.  This garden had some trees in Autumn colours even though it was Winter in Taiwan!.

Nice romantic spot for couples.

The XiangShan Visitor Centre(向山遊客中心) is just after this small park. The building has a nice architecture and is on higher ground, overlooking the lake. This is a nice place for a lunch break. 

We started out at 10 AM and by the time we reached the XiangShan Visitor Centre, it was about noon.

Xiangshan Visitor Center.

Nice architecture of the Xiangshan Visitor Center offers a few photo opportunities.

Lunch time at the cafeteria - We chose to sit outdoor to enjoy the views and fresh air,

Taking photo of the lake and TongXIn Bridge, next to the infinity pool at Xiangshan Visitor Center.

The cafeteria was quite popular. It was relatively empty when we first arrived but soon got crowded as the lunch time approaches. Lunch was Taiwan beef noodle soup and special brew Sun Moon Lake coffee.

Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup.

Sun Moon Lake coffee.

After lunch, our next stop was the Xiangshan Scenic Outlook. This was a detour off the main trail but it was worth the short ride to go see it.

Cantilever structure of the XIangshan Scenic Lookout Point.

The lookout point was built on a steel cantilevered structure, hinged and supported by a cable. It actually moved a little with load, and made us feel as if we were standing on a diving board over the lake. It offered 270 degree views of the lake, the Shuishe Dam and the Qinglong mountain with the Cien Pagoda and temples we visited yesterday.

After enjoying this engineering marvel, we backtracked to the Xiangshan Visitor Centre and continued on the trail. The trail at this stretch was more undulating and steeper. We had to get off our bikes for some steeper uphill stretches. It was actually not bad to get down to push the bikes as our butts were beginning to feel the effects of the hard saddle.

There were lesser bikers and walkers on this stretch of the trail. We made another stop at the Toushe Dam to enjoy the nice views and peacefulness of  the surroundings.

Resting by the trail at Toushe Dam. Shueshe Village could be seen in far distance.

We soon came to the end of the recommended trail. By now, we had way exceeded our 2 hour rental period but no worries…we were enjoying ourselves, so we were prepared to pay more for the rental extension.

We saw some flowers that looked like Cherry or Plum Blossom on our way back.

The word on the road means SLOW in Chinese. It was slow going, pushing the bike up the slope.

By the time we arrived back at the rental shop in Shuishe Pier, it was just after 3 PM. The nice friendly lady staff said something like “ you guys are really super riders huh..” in Chinese; half in jest and possibly half in relief to see us back safely. We were 3 hours late.  We returned the bikes to her, collected my deposit and part ways. She said goodbye to us and did not charge us a single cent more for the time extension. So nice of her and her colleagues at the shop. 

A good way to relax after the cycling was to chill in a pier-side restaurant and enjoy some desserts and hot tea. And watched the hordes of tourists and day trippers coming and going at Shuishe Pier.

Waffles and Fruit at a restaurant next to Shuishe Pier.

View of Shuishe Pier from the restaurant.

Just then, the rain clouds rolled in and provided some intermittent rain. Thankfully, the rain soon stopped and we were able to spend some time browsing through the few souvenir shops near the pier before walking back to our minsu to freshen up before dinner.

Where we stayed at Sun Moon Lake:

Mei Jen House is a small minsu (homestay or B&B) located near Shuishe Pier and bus station providing clean rooms and nice Taiwanese breakfast. In mornings with good weather, the owner brings guests to the best spot by the lake to photograph the sunrise.

Check the latest availability and prices.

Continue Reading »

The Dogs of Taiwan

As a dog owner myself, dogs that I encountered during my trips will catch my attention. Taiwanese loves their dogs. They will bring them everywhere they go – in work, in play and even for a holiday cruise at Sun Moon Lake.

The photo above shows a cute dog belonging to a busker performing at Syuanguang Temple, Sun Moon Lake.

There were even dogs riding on prams and dressed in clothes.

Dog in pram alighting from boat cruise around Sun Moon Lake.

 

I saw one that even rode on a scooter with its owner. Scooters are a common mode of transport in Taiwan. Our taxi driver in Hua Lien told us he knew of an owner who would let his dog jump off his scooter when he stopped at a red light signal. The dog would know to get back up onto the scooter when the light turns green again. Not sure if he was pulling my leg, but I am inclined towards believing his story.

The pet dogs in Taiwan are generally well behaved, calm, submissive and respectful of humans. Even the stray dogs that we met at various locations around Taiwan.

Patient dog waiting for his meal at Shilin Night Market. Not sure if the dog belonged to this lady shopkeeper as it was wandering about before it was fed.

Another patient dog at Cingjing Plaza.

Some owners would also dressed up their small dogs in fanciful doggy clothes and shoes! Probably treating them as their “fur-kids”. Young couples prefer to raise their “fur-kids” rather than to have human babies, and contributing to a decline in human birth rates.

Dog wearing “police uniform” at Feng Chia Night Market.

Dog  at a store selling toy guns at Shilin Night Market.

You can see shops selling doggies clothes and accessories at the various night markets and Ximending.

Of course, pet shops selling puppies and kittens. These puppies were for sale at a shop near Shilin Night Market.

Not all dogs in Taiwan lead a good life. Despite Taiwanese’s love for dogs, stray dogs could still be found at most places of interest. The good thing is that they were calm and respectful, despite being strays. Maybe they were not strays but villager’s dogs without collars. None of them were aggressive and kept their distant even when we have food in our hands.

This black stray dog was wandering between buses and cars at a narrow road in Juifen. It was eyeing our sausage while we waited for our taxi to pick us up. It did not pounce on us or rob us of our food; else I would have an interesting story to tell for a long time….like the time we were robbed of our picnic food by a lone dingo at Fraser Island! And photographed by a group of excited Korean tourists who had just came down a tour bus and snapped pictures of our ordeal instead of coming to help us.

 

 This mother dog (above), without her pups, was loitering at the carpark in QiXingTan where we were buying our “Big Sausage Wrapped Small Sausage”. QiXingTan (Seven Star Lake) is actually a beach near Hualien. QiXingTan is a place with strong winds, waves and beautiful view of the East Coast of Taiwan and Pacific Ocean.

Another dog at QiXingTan, Seven Star Lake near Hualien.

We saw a few limping dogs along the highway while travelling in Taroko National Park. Mr Li, our taxi driver, bringing us from Cingjing to Hualien through Taroko Gorge, told us these dogs belong to villagers in the region. They were injured by traps used to trap wild boars.

Dog in Taroko National Park.

Compared to the dogs at other places of interest, these Taroko dogs were quite aggressive. One even charged at our taxi when we drove past.

Let Sleeping Dog lie –  Taken at Baisiandong, Cave of the Eight Immortals. Caves also served as temples.This dog (above) could have given up a life of aggression and seeks peace and solace at the cave temple in Basiandong near Hua Lien. Sounded like a typical story line in a old Chinese sword fighting movie.

French Bulldog belonging to Nita at Misty Villa Minsu.

And finally, the bulldog at Misty Villa, Cingjing. This friendly dog was there to greet us when we checked into the minsu. Unfortunately, we did not get to see it again, till the last morning when we were about to leave.

Continue Reading »

Taiwan Day 2 (Part 1) – Sun Moon Lake, Wenwu temple

14 Dec 2011

I had booked a private taxi to take us from Tai-Chung to Cingjing with stopovers at Sun Moon Lake and Puli for sigthseeing. After a decent breakfast at the Le Parker Hotel, we loaded our luggage onto Mr Lim’s Toyota Wish taxi for the one hour journey to Sun Moon Lake. Sun Moon Lake is Taiwan’s largest fresh water lake and is known for its natural scenic beauty as well as aboriginal Thao tribe that live around the lake.

Along the way, Mr Lim pointed out a section of a hill on the left of the highway that looked like it was butter sliced with a hot knife. He explained that this was due to landslide and upheaval of the mountain from the 921 earthquake that happened 12 years ago. He also pointed out the many “ping lang” (betel nut palm) plantations along the way and how the government is discouraging planting of these trees nowadays as these trees have shallow roots and hence such plantations on a hill slope has a high risk of erosion and landslides.

Our first stop was the Wenwu temple, located at the northern part of Sun Moon Lake.  The area in front of the temple offers a panoramic view of Sun Moon Lake. Although it was about 10 AM, the morning mist could still be seen in the distant mountains. Beautiful.

Before going into the temple, we stopped to look at the “Stairway to Heaven” located at the side of the car park opposite the 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 this steep flight of steps.  There are 366 steps symbolizing the 366 days in a year (including an extra day in leap year).

There are also wind chimes along the steps, which are used by devotees to ask for blessings. These wind chimes are bought inside the Wenwu temple, wishes and names written on them and then hung here by devotees.

After viewing the stairway to Heaven, we crossed the road and entered the Wenwu temple.

We were welcomed by two large red lions, flanking the stairs that leads to the first hall.

This temple honours First Ancestor Kaiji and the God of Literature, Guan Gong, the God of War, and the warrior-god Yue Fei and Confucius. Going past the first hall, there are large carvings of stone dragons by the steps leading to the second hall.

More wishing bells and chimes are hung inside the Wenwu temple.

The second hall honours the legendary historical figure Guan Yu. His famous weapon is the Blue Dragon Falchion that is supposed to weigh 175 kg.

How to fight with such a heavy weapon?

The next level of the temple honours Confucius.

After paying respect to Confucius and making a small donation to the temple, we passed through this archway go into a courtyard with a water feature (below).

The temple is located on a slope of the hill surrounding SML. Going further upwards, we admired the decorations within the temple and stone carvings on the walls.

At the top, we could get a nice overview of the temple, with the lake in the background.

After visiting the temple, our next destination was Ita Thao, which used to be main aboriginal settlement by the Sun Moon Lake.

Next post:  Taiwan Day 2 (Part 2) – Sun Moon Lake cruise, Ita Thao, Syuanguang temple and Shueishe

Continue Reading »