glover

Now I want bubble over pic with “Omg, we’re going to die.” “Not today, we have prepaid lodging.” Lol

yestravel

If I was clever enough that would have been funny!

yg -- welcome aboard. I think Taiwan is so different from other Asian countries we have visited.

progol

<<I kept saying we’re going to die, he agreed but said, “Not today as we had pre paid our lodging.” >>
Now THAT should become a travel mantra! What a great line to go with a great story!

I LOVE all your photos of Taiwan! It really is so different from the other Asian countries I've visited, too (though the large figures at the Coffee Festival remind me of some of the colorful figures in the temples in Tamil Nadu, India). That large teapot is great!

I have to tell you I'm so angry at you (wink, wink) because M. is very eager to go to Taiwan and now I want to visit all the places you've been to! I don't know when this will happen but I do hope to get there eventually.

yestravel

progol -- thanks! Its always fun to go back and look at photos from a trip even ones just a short time ago. "M. is very eager to go to Taiwan and now I want to visit all the places you've been to! I don't know when this will happen but I do hope to get there eventually."
I find I just never know where I might end up. I have so many places I want to see, but who knows if I will or what I will see over the next years. It's all an exciting adventure, isn't it?

progol

It's definitely exciting and an adventure! Hopefully, it'll reveal itself sooner than later!

yestravel

progol -- hope so too!

Photos came first for some reason -- text below all the photos.

Owls everywhere in It Thao

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

View from Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

Wen Wu Temple

That's our friend we met at Ci'en pagoda

View from Wen Wu Temple

Ferry across the lake


Is that not the skinniest hotel you have ever seen?

Ferry returning to Ita Thai
Sun Moon Lake is an extremely popular tourist destination. It sits at the foothills of the Central Mountain Range. It is surrounded by forest with hiking & bicycle trails and of course the prerequisite temples. It has two main towns, Ita Thao where we are staying and Shuishe. It's a lovely lake for sure and justifiably popular. Some people say they are disappointed but I thought it made a fine 2 night stay. We arrived on a Sunday and it was heaving with tourists and tons of buses, and traffic jams going around the lake. By evening the crowds had diminished and fortunately in the village we are staying no tourist buses that I have seen.The street market is much nicer than the two night markets we visited, more space, fewer people and more food to my tastes though its not a real night market I guess since many stands close up at 7 pm.
Ita Thao is originally an aboriginal village so some of the food reflects that and there are subtle hints of the Thao culture here and there. It sits closer to the lake and is nestled in the foothills.
Walking around town you can't help but notice owls are everywhere. Here's the reason why, a legend "The legend goes, a young woman from the Thao tribe got pregnant without marriage. The people were furious and could not forgive her.With a broken heart, the young woman ran away. After searching for days, the Thao people finally found her lifeless body under a tree – where an owl sat.
Days after she had passed, the owl would fly over the house where the woman had once lived. The Thao people believed that the owl was the reincarnation of the woman.
The owl figure now serves as an important reminder to the Thao people of the tragic event."

We figured crowds would be less on a Monday, but not wanting to be wrong we got out early for us and took off to see the popular Wenwu Temple. OMG! I am not a huge fan of Chinese architecture, but the faux Chinese design is just awful. To call it grandiose is an understatement. It has three tiered shrines to worship various gods. Some nice views but not as great as I expected. But there is much to look at so you don’t need the views. And we were correct about going early. As we were leaving the tour buses began to arrive.From there we drove to another temple, parked but neither of us had the inclination to climb the stairs to see it. I must say after close to three weeks in Taiwan the temples all seem pretty similar, not unlike seeing churches in other countries.We continued circling the lake until we came to the parking lot for the Ci’en Pagoda with a fantastic view. Chiang Kai Chek picked the best spot to build a tower in memory of his mother. You climb up about 600 meters to reach the site. Then you can climb the pagoda up the nine stories. We didn't go up all 9 stories.I don't know if I have mentioned the Taiwanese people- they are wonderful. If you are someone who enjoys interacting with locals, Taiwan is the country for you. They speak varying degrees of English. We have found the most spoken English here at SML. They use google translate like pros and younger people are pretty good with English. We met a couple and the woman was so delighted to talk with us. She was really into taking our pictures and insisted on many shots with predetermined poses--very funny!

Last activity of the day was to take the ferry across the island to the other town, Shuishe. It was sheer luck we ended up staying in Ita Thao and I’m glad we are. Both towns are touristy, but I like the vibe in Ita Thoa and no tour buses. All in all a very nice day on a scenic lake.

That evening we had an Omakase dinner, our second of this trip. I enjoyed it far more than the one we had in Tainan as the owner described the dishes and chatted with us throughout the meal. Nice evening.
Tomorrow we begin our journey to the last city we will visit in Taiwan.

tripplanner001

Still following along and enjoying. Thank you yestravel.

yestravel

Glad you are still following along -- lots of hiking and adventure activities in Taiwan that I think you might enjoy. We stuck more to the cities this trip. And the ability to have real conversations with the people would be nice.

progol

I’m still here, too! Fascinating and fun!

YankyGal

I thought the view from the temple was incredible! But I get that you were expecting more. Fascinating (and sad) about the owl.

yestravel

So many nice view at SML, so this was certainly nice, but yes, expected spectacular!

shelemm

Wen Wu looks spectacular. Especially the stone carvings. And what a location!

yestravel

The stone carvings were my favorite. One could spend hours there as there was a lot to take in. I'm glad we arrived before the tour buses as it was nice to wander on our own.

yestravel

Oct 31 - Today we drove two hours to our final stop in Taiwan, Taichung. Along the way we made just 1 stop at the Wuchang Temple. Wuchang Temple is the surreal remnants of an old temple wrecked by a 1999 earthquake, with a new temple built in front of it.
“In. 1999, a devastating earthquake struck the center of the island, and Jiji was the nearest town to the epicenter of the quake. Wuchang Temple sadly toppled over during the disaster.
Many legends surround this temple this is my fav:“ The Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven then appeared in someone's dream and made a request to be rescued. The worshippers eventually found his statue buried under the debris. They relocated him at the altar, while his beard started to grow.”
It was quite the site and the new temple in front of it is quite the extravaganza.
Once again getting gas and returning the rental car was easy peasy.
Checked into our hotel which we should be able to spot from anywhere in the city
Onto exploring our final stop.

tripplanner001

What an interesting temple. I like the colors.

YankyGal

That is so cool-looking. I first thought the pictures were a little crooked. 😂

yestravel

October 31 - continued Taichung is a big city, the biggest in Central Taiwan and the third biggest in the country. We returned to warmer weather but nothing like Tainan or Kaohsiung & no pollution. Our hotel was very easy to locate given its height and it had a great view of the train station across the way.

We took off for the Culture Heritage Park of Taichung. It was housed in a former saki distillery. The buildings were cool, but we couldn’t make heads or tails of the exhibits and most of the small shops were closed. There was an umbrella shop where the women actually pressured me to buy one. We wandered in a few buildings and then left.

We came out onto a small street with lots of tiny shops andstalls. I finally had my Taiwanese hair wash…it was marvelous! A good 20 minute head, neck and shoulder massage for just a few dollars. Lots of food stands and we picked up some fruit for our breakfast and continued wandering around.
The hotel sent us around the corner for dinner and we had a wonderful meal at Miyahara. It’s housed in an old bldg with a gift shop on the lower level. Then more nighttime wandering…as with all the Taiwan cities, lots of lights.

Hotel room view of train station

Culture Heritage Park of Taichung

Culture Heritage Park of Taichung

Culture Heritage Park of Taichung

Culture Heritage Park of Taichung

Culture Heritage Park of Taichung

Culture Heritage Park of Taichung

Culture Heritage Park of Taichung

Culture Heritage Park of Taichung - former saki distillery
City lights

That's our hotel -- always easy to spot




Ahhh...a massage and hair wash

dinner at Miyahara: dry-fried string beans, “three cups” squid, pineapple shrimp and a tiny ghostly after dinner treat. Everything was excellent.

Nightime - train station

Night time

Night time

Night time

KarenWoo

Trying to get caught up reading these amazing trip reports. It's been a busy week preparing for the holidays.

The Wen Wu Temple is amazing! A feast for the eyes! The gardens, the rooftops, the shrines. . . .it's ostentatious but unforgettable!

yestravel

Yea, they look drunk or the photographer is drunk...you choose!

karen -- a feast for the eyes...rather over the top

tp -- lots of colors

KarenWoo

The temple that was destroyed by the earthquake is pretty amazing, too. Are you able to enter into any parts of the original temple? Or was it all destroyed and too dangerous to enter?

Love the photo of you getting your hair washed and a massage!

Did you feel 3 weeks is a good amount of time to get a feel for Taiwan?