Taiwan Trip Day 7 (31 October 2014) Sun Moon Lake

Friday, March 6, 2015

Wake up at 6 am to get ready to go to Sun Moon Lake

I wanted to reach really early... but...

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How to get there
Take bus 35/45 and get off at Gancheng, 干城
The journey was about 30 minutes

Cost
NT3 per person

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Shuttle bus to Sun Moon Lake and Xitou are available here
There are special packages here...

We arrived Gancheng Station at 7:15 am

We bought NT990 Sun Moon Lake passes

There were 7 vouchers available in the pass
The bus tickets are valid for 15 days from date of purchase

What it includes?

1. Bus ticket from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake (NT229)
2. Bus ticket from Puli to Sun Moon Lake (NT65)
3. Bus ticket from Taichung to Puli (NT164)
(If you do not intend to go to Puli just combine the bus tickets to get back to Taichung)
4. Boat voucher - unlimited rides (NT300)
5. Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village Voucher - includes the use of ropeway (NT780)
6. Round the lake bus one day pass voucher (NT80)
7. Shuishe to Xiangshan bus one way voucher (NT26)

A map of Sun Moon Lake and operating hours of the ropeway, bus, boat and bike rental spots are also included in the pass

There are also 15% rental discount for bike rentals and shopping discount vouchers

It is really cheaper to get the passes than to buy the individual tickets :)
Hopefully this will help all those who are planning their trip to Taiwan...

We did not use all the vouchers because of time constraints...
We gave voucher 6 & 7 to one of the staff near the visitor center

We still have some time before the bus arrive so we went to look for breakfast...

7-eleven again...
I just love the sandwiches...
The drinks we chose this time is not so good...
Especially the collagen drink... It is very powdery...
I did not finish it...
NT98

The bus arrived at 7:50 am and we quickly get on...
We ate our breakfast and sleep after that to recharge our energy... lol

We reached Sun Moon Lake at around 10:50 am
There is a room to store your luggage (for free) at Shuishe Visitor Centre if you are not heading to your minsu first but make sure you go back before 5 pm (or 6 pm) to collect it

We decided to go to our minsu directly...
We went to Shuishe Pier and exchange the boat voucher
Our minsu is very near to Ita Shao Pier

The ferry is comfortable and spacious...
There are plenty of space for our luggage

Beautiful view

**Beware of taxi drivers there... There was one we met that told us that Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village is very far and wanted to charge us NT300 but we did not intend to take taxi so we were safe**

There were introductions on various places around the lake on the ferry

 Found our minsu for the night and dropped our luggage there...

On the way to the ropeway...

A candid shot

We reached!

The queue was not long so we got on the cable car quite soon...

I was a little scared but still ok...
This is a little better than the ferris wheel...
No idea why...
The view was really nice :)

The view from the ropeway

and another one...

We finally reached at around 12 pm

Nice scenery :)

It's not open...

Hmm... their home?
I cannot remember...

and another one...

We went in...
It looks like the bedroom...

Continue walking...

Admiring the views...
(not posing... lol)

 I like this place :)

The trees... lol

Saw a cutie bear :)

Oh we started from the end, I think...
We walked all the way to the main entrance...

Hmm...
We finished touring the place?

European Palace Garden
This place is decorated so nicely...
We spent about 10 minutes taking pictures here...

It was extremely hot!

Pretty flowers :)

I tried very hard to keep my eyes open..
I really did!

Posing :)

My eyes were so small!
Blame the sun >.<

We went in for the 4D movie show...
Not a long queue but we waited for quite long...

It was okay...
There was a environmental message at the end...

Went for pirate ship because there was no queue... lol
We went twice!

We went for the space mountain once...
The queue was not too bad...
It was pretty fast...

Overall, we went on 3 rides...
That was the end!

We decide to go back to where we entered the park...
We were tired and it was too hot...
So....
A free shuttle bus will be great :)

Part of the shuttle bus... lol

I was really hungry... so...

Not a lot of choices there...

Pork chop NT100 and fries NT50
The pork chop is nice :)
Fries were normal la... very small portion...

After eating, we went for Naruwan show at 3:30pm

A very different experience :)

This is the second time I am here...
The last time was so many years ago...
I think it was a school trip >,<
OMG I feel super old now :(

After the show, we went back by the ropeway and walk back to our minsu...

The park is quite big
It is a great place to learn about the Taiwanese aborigines and the different tribes...
We spend about 2 hours there and we were quite bored already...

It will be dark pretty soon!

Reached our minsu
日月潭金泉平價民宿 (website here)
NT1300 (weekend rate)

Standard Double Room

 The bathroom
No water heater! It was cold at night >,<

Our room...
It is not too small... but not comfy!
Out of all the minsu we had stayed at this was our least favourite!

We went to the only bike rental shop around Ita Shao...
It was NT500 per day... super expensive!
We left of course...
We saw the bike rental shop around Shueishe earlier... It was only NT100 per day...
The price is super steep!

Time for early dinner!
6 pm

Chicken stuffed with rice and some veggies NT60
This is a must try...

It is a little spicy but very yummy!

Next...

We stopped by and decided to order...

Braised pork bun NT50
I did not really like the fillings on top but the pork was super delicious!
The pork was actually quite large and juicy!

Our last stop...

Wild boar sausages!

We choose the original flavour!
NT35
It is not too bad
but hubby did not like it!

We went to 7-eleven to buy ice cream (NT35)...
Hubby wanted it...

We went  back to rest and shower...
It was so difficult to shower because it was too cold!

At around 9 pm, we went to 7-eleven to buy food!

We spent NT276 for supper!
I love 7-eleven so much... in Taiwan and Bangkok (Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3)

Feel so full so it is time to sleep... like a pig!


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Related Posts!
Taiwan Trip 2014 preparations!
Taiwan Trip Day 1 (25 October 2014) Taipei
Taiwan Trip  Day 2 (26 October 2014) Yangmingshan, Beitou and Tamsui
Taiwan Trip  Day 3 (27 October 2014) Tianmu, National Palace Museum, Raohe Night Market and Miramar
Taiwan Trip  Day 4 (28 October 2014) Yehliu Geopark, Jiufen, Shifen and Keelung Miaokou Night Market
Taiwan Trip  Day 5 (29 October 2014) Taipei Zoo, Taichung, and Fengjia Night Market
Taiwan Trip  Day 6 (30 October 2014) National Museum of Natural Science, Minsu Park and Fengjia Night Market
Taiwan Trip Day 8 (1 November 2014) Hualian
Taiwan Trip Day 9 (2 November 2014) Taroko Gorge
Taiwan Trip Day 10 (3 November 2014) Ruisui
Taiwan Trip Day 11 (4 November 2014) Qing Seminary, Liyu Lake and Hualian Sugar Factory
Taiwan Trip Day 12 (5 November 2014) Taipei City Mall and Ximending
Taiwan Trip Day 13 (6 November 2014) Last minute shopping around Taipei!