Sun Moon Lake--Owl Country

From Alishan, we took a bus to Sun Moon Lake.   The drive was through mountain roads, a lot more comfortable than the shuttle van from Chiayi to Alishan.  Most of the way we followed a winding river through the mountains,  passing road construction due to rock slides.   There were rice fields and banana plantations in the valleys, and the bus driver stopped once to show us a family of monkeys alongside the road.  It was as if they were waiting for us to pass by.

Monkeys!

Watch out for falling rocks!

Pretty scenery

A lot of construction

Sun Moon Lake is the largest body of water in Taiwan and a popular tourist attraction for Taiwanese and foreigners alike. Situated in Nantou county, the area around the lake is home to the Thao people, one of the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan.   The lake gets its name because the east side of the lake looks like the sun and the west side looks like the moon. The bus dropped us off at the tourist center and it was a short walk around the corner to our hotel.

Harbor Resort Hotel is located in the center of the tourist section of the lake and our room had views of both the lake and the tourist drag below.  On-line reviews said that the rooms had small windows but it seemed to us that all the rooms had balconies with a table and chairs for sitting and enjoying the view.  There was also music from the boardwalk below and dancing by the local people.  A very enjoyable room!  Not too big but large enough to accommodate two queen beds, an easy chair, and a flat screen tv with English speaking programs. The room did have a nice western style bathroom with both hot and cold water--some hotel reviews mention no hot water so you do need to check for it.  Room amenities include slippers, toothbrushes with toothpaste, a razor, a comb, and soap, shampoo, and lotion.  We paid about $100 (US) for the night.  It included morning breakfast.  Breakfast is also put down in some reviews, but making allowances for it being Taiwanese, it really was not bad. 

Breakfast

Settling in, we went down to the drag and walked around the shops and food vendors before deciding to have dinner in our room on the balcony.  We had local food that included beef noodle soup, some kind of small fried fish, fried shrimp, and wild boar meat.  

Sun Moon Lake

The lakefront in front of the hotel

Shops and restaurants

In the morning we took the boat shuttle across the lake.  It actually makes three stops and you can get on and off as you please.  Getting the tickets at the hotel ($3 US each!) gave us a discount and the ticket allowed us access to the boats and a shuttle bus that also traveled around the lake.   The boat ride did not have an English-speaking guide so we were unable to follow the tour.  The Taiwanese are very friendly and a lady on the boat tried to explain several of the sites to us.  Of interest were the Ci En Pagoda built by Chiang Kai-Shek as a memorial to his mother, the gondolas that take you up the mountain (not running when we were there) and Ita Thao, a small aboriginal village across the lake from the resort.  We opted to get off at the village.

At Thao village

Ci En Pagoda

There were souvenirs and food everywhere and the plaza by the bus stop offered daily shows of the locals in costume singing and dancing.   From there we took the bus back to the hotel, passing another temple and a botanical garden.  Unfortunately we did not have enough time to make stops at these two sites, but they are on the list for next time.

Selling handbags

We returned to the hotel, picked up our luggage and took a bus back to Taipei.  A note about the tour buses:  They are very comfortable and come decorated with curtains on their windows. 

On the bus returning to Taipei

Taroko National Park

There are several ways to plan a trip to Taroko.  The easiest is probably to ask at one of the bigger hotels and they will set you up with a tour.  For about $120 (US) each, the bus will pick you up at the hotel, take you to the airport for a short flight to Hualien, and put you back on a bus that will include a tour to the gorge, a marble factory tour, and the local beach.  The twelve hour tour includes lunch and a train ride back to Taipei with a transfer to your hotel.  An alternate plan is to get there on your own and hire a taxi to take you on a tour.  You may also be able to hire a taxi in Taipei that will drive you all the way to Taroko and provide a tour.

Our plan:  catch the 7 am train out of Taipei for Hualien, where we had already made arrangements to be picked up by a local guide (taxi) and play it by ear as to how long we needed for the tour.  We did not book a train back, deciding to chance it and if need be to stay overnight and return to Taipei in the morning.  Texting our guide, Tonny, that we were on schedule, he advised us to get off the train one stop before the main station and he would pick us some there to save some time.  We stepped off the train to a sign with AndreAna's name on it and our adventure began.  Tonny spoke very good English and was able to go at our own pace.  He pointed out trails, AndreAna decided to explore or not, Servando and I took pictures, and he waited patiently for us.  At a couple of places, he dropped us off and told us to walk to the other end of the site where he was waiting for us.   At about three o'clock, we called it a day and Tonny drove us back to the train station.  He worked out our tickets with the station master, made sure everything was ok and left.  It was ideal for the three of us.  Probably if it had just been the two blue-hairs (as my daughter calls us) we would have taken the bus tour.  Price (US $) for our trip:  $30 each for train, $30 each for tour and lunch on our own at the local vendors. 

At entrance

Taroko National Park is internationally known as one of the world's scenic wonders.  It features white marble walls and a river running through the gorge.  Photos cannot really do it justice, but to share:

Swallow cave is pocketed with small caves, a favorite nesting area for local swallows.

In the cave, we walked, he drove.

Swallow "holes" in the marble

The road through the park is constantly under repair.  Rock slides are visible and construction crews direct traffic through these narrow passes.

The Tunnel of Nine Turns winds through several tunnels.   It is a pretty drive.   There are also several "half-tunnels" with windows overlooking the canyon, and an old suspension bridge that is no longer in use.

Old suspension bridge

How many layers of road can you see?

Watch out for falling rocks!

Walking trails are visible from the highway and there are several campgrounds available for overnight campers.

Walking trail 4 km long

Walking suspension bridge

There is also a five-star hotel in the park and several other hotels as well as cabins that can be rented for overnight guest.

http://taroko.silksplace.com.tw/en/aboutus.html

Eternal Springs Shrine offers a beautiful site to picnic under...but not knowing, we had lunch at the resort area vendors.

Eternal Springs Shrine

Rice with beef, pork cutlet, chicken drumstick, beef soup and purple rice in bamboo

Beitou Hot Springs

Beitou,  the northernmost of the twelve districts of Taipei City,  is the most mountainous and highest of Taipei's districts.  Limited time hindered us from actually viewing any of the rivers that run through the valley.  Geothermal warming from their springs causes steam to rise.  The hotel we stayed at had a park in from of it but we were not sure if the stream that crossed it was natural or man made.  The taxi drive there took us through a tunnel to access the valley lined with hotels offering hot spring baths.

Chyuan du Spring Resort

front entrance

As always, space is at a premium.  The very small hotel lobby gave us some misgivings about the size of the rooms.  It was described as having a European atmosphere. and experience in Europe has taught us that rooms can be quite small.  We were pleasingly surprised!  The room was spacious enough and had its own private hot spring tub in the bathroom.  Other rooms advertised larger tubs in the room for communal enjoyment of the springs.  There are several choices available, depending on number of guests and personal preferences.  Breakfast was included in the price (about $80 US).  If you want to just experience the spa, rooms can be rented for less than one day,  Room amenities were similar to those at the other hotels we stayed at:  toothbrush, soap, razor, comb, and slippers.  Most rooms have a bit of an entry where you can remove your shoes and put on complimentary slippers.

room tub

bedroom for three

Because the lobby was so small, the hallways on the second and third floor compensated with small sitting rooms

sitting rooms in hallways

and art located throughout. 

local sulfur

art in hallway

 Breakfast was served on the third floor.  Apparently the hotel is built into the side of the mountain because this floor also opens up to the outside, opposite the main lobby entrance, but two floors up.

breakfast buffet

breakfast sample

There was a wider assortment of foods available, including ham and eggs, rolls, toast, french fries, hash browns,  steamed dumplings, and a variety of steamed vegetables and salads.  Drinks included orange juice, cold milk, and tea with milk.  

A delicate subject

Toilets are a subject that needs to be addressed when traveling.  Westerners especially tend to think that the world revolves around them and their standards will be met in other countries.  Well, in Taiwan, there are toilets, and there are toilets.  One fancy hotel in Danshui had the European bidet version with so many buttons you weren't sure what you were getting, there are the western toilets, and then there are the Taiwanese versions.

Taiwan standard viewed from above

Public restrooms may offer both the western toilet and the Taiwanese version.   Most have a picture on the door to show you what you are getting.  Also, if you have to step up in the stall, chances are you are going local.  

Public men's bathrooms have a view of the urinals from the outside.  There are also stalls similar to womens with labelling on the doors.

Okay, now for toilet paper.  Some bathrooms have it and some don't.  This could mean that they have run out or it could mean you should have provided your own.

Tissue, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer are a MUST!

Little packages of kleenex tissue and wet wipes are a must at all times.  I saw one bathroom that actually had the tissue at the entrance.  You walk in, get your tissue and proceed to a stall.  But again, I stress you should always be prepared.

Step three, after you take care of business...Some bathrooms you can dispose of soiled tissue in the toilet, but some you cannot.  These will ask you to dispose of the tissue in the waste basket.  But not to worry, most have an attendant that comes in after you and cleans out the trash.

I am not a bathroom inspector and there were a lot of opportunities to view the facilities, but all in all, the places I visited both in the city and in the tourist areas mentioned in other blogs, I found that the bathrooms were very clean and kept up a lot more frequently than I have noticed in the states.   Being prepared (tissue, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer) , there should be no inconvenience in using the facilities anywhere in Taiwan. 


On a lighter note, you can also use smaller versions of the local plumbing for your eating pleasure.

There is at least one restaurant that uses this as its theme.  It's called the Modern Toilet Restaurant.
http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/en/about.asp  

Alishan Mountains

We took the high speed train out of Taipei to Chiayi and covered 161 miles in one and a half hours. Traveling through the mountains, there were quite a few tunnels along the way.  The landscape included views of cities, shrines and cemeteries dug into the sides of the mountains, rice fields, and glimpses of the ocean in the distances.  Before we boarded the train, we bought Burger King breakfast croissant sandwiches in the train station and had breakfast as we moved along. 

cemetery

 In Chiayi we had a shuttle van waiting to take us to the hotel in Alishan Village.  Unfortunately we had to share the shuttle with 4 others for a total of 8, including the driver.  We were pretty cramped for the 3 hour trip up the mountain.    The van's clutch appeared to be burning along the drive and the driver made a stop in one of the small towns along the way to deliver pizzas.   A better option would have been to take a bus from Chiayi to Alishan.  The buses are very spacious and comfortable.  There are two seats on one side of the aisle and one seat on the other.  The drive itself was beautiful, weaving in and out along the mountain. 

Ears popping, curves so sharp you needed mirrors to look for oncoming traffic, we eventually found ourselves higher than the clouds.  Locals call it the "sea of clouds".

We stayed at the Ding Shan Hotel in Alishan Village.  Reviews of hotels made us a little apprehensive about our choices both in Alishan and in Sun Moon Lake.   The local gods showered us with good choices on both accounts.  Mixing pros and cons on the DingShan:  no elevator but only three stories, low beds but very comfortable and with heated pads, very clean, thin walls, hot water but no shower curtain in shower, English TV,  and a Taiwanese breakfast in the morning.  We requested a double room for the three of us and got two double beds and two extra Japanese mats in the closet.  On-line reviews about skipping breakfast made me curious enough to get up early and see for myself.

Village proper and parking lot

Deng Shan Hotel

Breakfast included hard boiled egg, peanuts (look like beans) steamed cabbage,  pork floss(dried meat), a bun, and rice bowl.

The breakfast items were either really bland or had an interesting taste.  They require some getting used to but were really not that bad.  Consensus was that bacon and eggs would have been appreciated, but when in Rome....    After breakfast, we took two short train rides; one up the mountain and one down.  There were a lot of Mainland China tourists in the area and we seemed to be an attraction within the attraction.  They all asked to have their picture taken with us.  Memorable experience!

We were a photo op for about 10 Mainland China tourists.  They took turns sitting between us on the train ride and having their pictures taken.

There is a lot of walking required for this excursion.  There were at least four levels to the "recreation area" where we stayed.  The hotel we stayed at was on the lower level.  You could walk uphill along the road or take a stairway up to the second level.  The shopping area was located on the next two levels and the train station and museum were on the fourth level.  Redwood carvings were everywhere.   A popular activity is getting up at 4 in the morning and taking the train and then hiking to see the sunrise over the mountains.  I am sorry to say we did not make this excursion. 

The museum behind us

These two pictures are of the remnants of a huge tree...

...with a storeroom in the trunk