d e s m o n d c k w ◦ p h o t o g r a p h y

Friday, March 29, 2013

日月潭 Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan

After my Hehuanshan (合歡山) tour ended early in the morning, we went back to the hotel for breakfast, some rest and packed for the next destination. We left the hotel at around 10:00 a.m. and took the public bus (Nantou Bus) to Puli (埔里鎮). It costed us NT$127 per person and about an hour plus ride.

Puli (埔里鎮)

So we reached Puli (埔里鎮) at around 11:30 a.m. and had our simple lunch there. We went to 東池池丄飯包 to get their 便當 (lunch box).

東池池丄飯包

東池池丄飯包

We then visited the Puli Brewery (埔里酒廠) during our free time. You can get lots of foods and snacks as souvenir here.

Puli Brewery (埔里酒廠)

We also visited the Guangxing Paper Mill (廣興紙寮). Paper making, printing, gunpowder, and compass are the ancient Chinese technologies and called “four great inventions”. We had the chance to learn one of them which is the paper making process. Besides, you are able to experience making it your own paper too and use it to make some DIY handicraft like lamp, clock, lantern, etc. It is located at No.310, Tieshan Rd., Puli Township, Nantou County 545, Taiwan (operating hours: 08:30~17:00).

After that, we took the Nantou Bus which directly transferred us to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) and costed us NT$200 one way per pax.


So here we are... the Shueishe village of Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). It's a small town here which has quite a number of hotels around. You can easily find souvenir shops here as well. If you are looking for tour agency for boat tour around the lake, you don't have to worry much. They will come to you from almost every directions !



We stayed at Laurel Villa (桂月村) for a night. There are different rates for weekdays and holidays/weekends which are NT$2,480 and NT$3,280 respectively. It includes breakfast, dinner and boat tour also. Ask for a map from them regarding the boat tours before you start planning. The following photo is the complete home cook dinner serving for two persons.


We slept quite early that night as there was nothing much to do at night in the small town. However, I woke up very early in the morning to catch the sunrise at around 5:00 a.m.

5:38 a.m.

5:46 a.m.

6:00 a.m.

6:10 a.m.

6:15 a.m.

As you can see from my photos, 6:00 a.m. the sky was already bright. I went back hotel for breakfast and continued our boat tour ! We started our bout tour at around 9:30 a.m. The photo below is the boat that we took, the boat company that was included in our hotel room package.


The photo below shows boat from other company. There are a lot of choices and their prices are quite competitive ranging from NT$100 to NT$300. However, I still recommend that you ask the receptionist from the hotel you are staying to prevent getting any unusually expensive tour your own.


There are total of 3 piers, Shueishe Wharf (水社碼頭), Itashao Wharf (伊達邵碼頭) and Xuanguang Wharf (玄光碼頭). All the boats leave every 10 minutes from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the whole trip would take around 1.5 hours. You can definitely stay longer on any of the island if you find it interesting.

We departed to the first island which is the Shueishe Wharf (水社碼頭). You can visit the Syuanguang Temple (玄光寺) and I would highly recommend you to try the Herbal egg (茶叶蛋) before you leave to the next island. 

The second island will be Itashao Village (伊達邵碼頭). It's quite a big village here and you would probably need hours to explore it. We spent about an hour before we proceeded to Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村) by cable car. It's actually an amusement park with rides and shows, all with an aboriginal theme. Tickets are approximately NT$600 to NT$750. We didn't really spend much time there especially with their rides but just visiting their cultural villages, watching the shows and of course trying their food there.


We went back to Shueishe village at around 3:30 p.m. to check out and buy some souvenirs before we left Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). By the way, the photo below is the view from cable car !


Lastly, you may also wanna try the mushroom flavour ice cream although the taste was a bit weird for me but it's only available in Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). So give it a try when you are here !


Click here for the full 8D7N itinerary.