Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan

We had to make the decision on where we wanted to head to next.  We were at the bottom of Taiwan so we could go in either direction.  Rail transport circumnavigates the island so we started to investigate what there was to see as opposed to how much time we had.

Sun Moon Lake won at the end of the day.  Missing the lakes and mountains of NZ, we thought that Sun Moon Lake would suit us quite nicely. 

Our organising skills were going to be challenged with 4 different types of transport to get from Kaohsiung to Sun Moon Lake (click on the link to our blog on Kaohsiung).

First Mode of Transport 

First, we had to walk to the MRT Subway from our hotel in Kaohsiung to get to Zuoying Station.  We needed to get off the subway and walk to the THSR – the Taiwan High-Speed Train system which travels around the island of Taiwan.

Second Mode of Transport 

We bought our tickets on arrival and we were to travel on the THSR system to get to Taichung which travels up the West Coast of the island.  This was approximately a one hour journey and cost us $790TWD/$37NZ each.

Third Mode of Transport

We alighted at the correct station and made our way to the bus terminal to catch the correct bus to take us to Sun Moon Lake.  There are two settlements in Sun Moon Lake so this wasn’t to be the end of our journey.

We were able to use our iPass travel card to pay for the bus which cost $195TWD/$9.26 each.  The trip was 1 hour 20 minutes, hilly terrain and the air was getting thinner.  

Fourth Mode of Transport

We arrived at Sun Moon Lake but our accommodation was actually across the other side of the lake to where the bus dropped us off.  So it was onto the fourth mode of transport.  A boat ride across the lake took us around half an hour and cost us $100TWD/$4.70NZ each to the village of Ita Thao.

Accommodation

Thank goodness we chose our accommodation based on it’s close proximity to the pier so that we didn’t need to add a taxi to the list of transportation for the day.

Now, this is a tourist town.  It makes its living off the local and overseas tourist trade so this is reflected in the accommodation cost.

We decided to book into Miller Home which is a family run Guesthouse which was situated very close to all the local shops and eateries (and pier).  The location was excellent.  

Our host showed us to our room (which we selected and booked online) and said ‘it’s a little small’.  Crickey – small was an understatement.  It was more like a wardrobe, without a window.  So for another $500TWD/$23NZ for two nights we upgraded to a larger room, with a window.  Our accommodation in total cost us $4,108/$195nz for two nights including breakfast.

About Sun Moon Lake

Taiwan’s largest lake, Sun Moon Lake is located at the geographic centre of Taiwan.

The east side of the lake is round like the sun.  The west side is long and narrow like a crescent moon.

In the centre of the lake is a small island named Lalu, and is reserved for aboriginal religious practices, therefore the public is not allowed to visit the island.

The local tribe is called Thao Tribe and they still live around the lake and own many of the local businesses in the village of Ita Thao.

Sun Moon Lake is famous for its Mid Autumn Festival.  Every September a 3km swimming race, called Swimming Carnival of Sun Moon Lake is held.  This brings tens of thousands of swimmers to take part in the event and festivities.  This is the only time swimmers are allowed in the lake.

Make sure you check the dates if thinking of visiting in September as you certainly wouldn’t get any accommodation during the festival.

The area is also in high demand during the summer months, so make sure you book your accommodation in plenty of time.

Sun Moon Lake Ropeway

We were within walking distance to the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway.  It was a very picturesque waterside walkway which offered fabulous views of the lake.

The Sun Moon Lake Ropeway is a scenic gondola cable car ride that connects Ita Thao with the Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village theme park.

It was built in 2001 and uses solar and hydro-electric power.  The ropeway’s cars are painted red, yellow and blue to symbolize the red sun, yellow moon and blue lake.  It is quite interesting too that the Thao Tribe believe that red represents happiness, yellow is for healthy lifestyle and blue is for ecology.  I think we had all bases covered.

Tickets are sold independently for the cable car ride and theme park.  Although the theme park is reputed to be very good we weren’t keen on paying the extra $850TWD/$40NZ each for the entrance fee.  This is on top of the ropeway ride of $300TWD/$14NZ.

The theme park is home to Taiwan’s first suspended roller coaster and tallest free-fall ride.  There is also the Taiwan Indigenous Culture Centre (with traditional dances) and the Palace Garden.

Get There Early

Now I have mentioned in earlier blogs that cable cars attract tourists like bees to honey.  To try and combat this, we walked to the ropeway a good half hour before the opening time of 10 am (for ticket sales).  The ropeway starts operating from 10.30am.  

All I can say is ‘thank God we did’!  After purchasing our tickets we made our way to the entrance point to wait.  We had about 6 people in front of us.  By the time opening time ticked by, the queue behind us stretched at least for 200 metres.  We watched as coachload after coachload dropped their passengers off for the ride up.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t our best friend for our ride up.  The views were not as spectacular as we would have liked as we floated through the fog.  We still managed to see some good vistas of the lake and surrounding area.

Taking in the Village Vibe

Ita Thao

As mentioned earlier we were staying in the village of Ita Thao. It had a very relaxed vibe and although small in size, it still made an interesting place to be staying.

We were right in the middle of the main hub so it was easy walking around taking in some of the traditional crafts, souvenirs and of course the food.

At night the village turns into gastronomic food streets.  The smells of the charcoal BBQ’s fired up to cook the traditional pork sausages was enough to get anyone’s gastric juices working overtime.  They also had all sorts of meat cooking on skewers and soups boiling away on gas rings.

Although the number of stalls is far less than at night markets, the food is so delicious.  Better still, it is quite reasonably priced unless you choose the more up-market, touristy restaurants.

Shuishe/Yuchi

Shuishe is the town in the Yuchi district that you first arrive in from Taichung by bus.

As we hopped straight onto the boat when we first arrived we thought that we would go back for another look around.

Now the one-way boat trip across to Ita Thao cost us $100TWD/$4.73NZ each.  As the fog had descended on the lake (which is quite common) all boats were suspended due to poor visibility.  We decided to try the local bus service using our iPass cards.

Thanks to the helpful lady at the Information Centre, we were pointed in the right direction of the bus stop and arrived 5 minutes before the bus arrived.

We’re glad we choose this option as we had some great views making the 20-minute journey.  The bus makes stops at some of the tourist attractions along the way so it is a great way to get around.  Fare costs $80TWD/$3.70NZ each.  Check out the timetable and list of stops on their website.

At the time of choosing our accommodation,  we considered staying in Shuishe rather than Ita Thao.  After spending some time walking around the town, we were happy with our choice to stay on the other side of the lake.

The town does not hold the same appeal as Ita Thao.  It lacks that ‘village feel’ and has bigger hotels and western outlets such as Starbucks (of which I did enjoy a latte while I was there!).

Other Attractions

We only had two nights in Sun Moon Lake and managed fit a lot into those two days.  If we had longer, there were certainly more activities we would have liked to have ticked off the list.

Unfortunately, I was starting to feel rather poorly and was starting to come down with something.  I was developing a rather nasty bronchial virus which made me sound like a train going through a tunnel. It is such a buggar getting sick while travelling.  No time is a good time to be feeling less than 100% when you want to make the most of the place you are in.

This put the brakes on us doing the Sun Moon Lake Bikeway between Shuishe and Ita Thao,  hiking trails and climbing the stairs to get to some of the decorative temples.

We also didn’t bother doing one of the many boat trips around the lake.  We didn’t think that we would be seeing anything more than we did when we made the one way trip across when we first arrived.  All the commentary is also in Chinese so we wouldn’t be learning much yet paying the same price.

Click on the link below for highlights of our stay at Sun Moon Lake.