Guest post by Jonathan Baggs

Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake is one of the most popular destinations in Taiwan for visitors and locals. The lake is the largest in the country at just under 8 square kms and is surrounded by mountains. It’s a National Scenic Area and the traditional home of the Thao tribe. They believe that it was discovered by hunters who were chasing a white deer that led them to the beautiful, fish-filled lake. The western side of the lake is said to resemble the moon and the eastern side the sun, giving the lake its name. Swimming isn’t allowed in the lake, apart from an annual swimming event that draws lots of visitors.

Campground

Our bus from Alishan dropped us off at a 7-Eleven where we had lunch and waited for the local bus that circles the lake. In her research, Steph had found a campsite on the eastern (sun) side that seemed like a good spot for us to stay. After getting there, we couldn’t find a reception area or any staff, but we spoke with a nice man at a canoe rental shop who contacted the owner for us. The campsite was right on the lake with multiple levels going up the hillside. The rental shop owner explained the pricing for each level, which increased as you got closer to the lake. The prices he quoted were more than we expected, but it was a popular destination and apparently a holiday. We went with the highest and cheapest level, quoted to us at $172 for 2 nights and 2 campsites. We actually preferred the higher level, which was much less crowded, while the lower areas were full of people in camper vans and large, well-equipped tents and sun shelters. One of them even had a rack full of LPs and a record player in a cozy tent living room. The owner arrived just as we were finishing setting up our tents and, since we only took up one campsite, he only charged us for one site and gave us a discount on the first night, bringing the rate down to $55 for a two-night stay. He was a really nice guy and even offered us a tarp in case it rained. We decided to take the risk and decline the tarp and thanked him. 

Once our camp was set up, we headed along a boardwalk from our camp to the nearby town of Ita Thao and found a nice dinner place with noodle soup. We had a good night of camping apart from the local cats that were calling and fighting during the night. 

Cycling the Lake

Our plan the next day was to bicycle around the lake and stop at some points of interest. Steph and Cheryl were up early and headed to Ita Thao to look for bicycle rentals. They’d found a rental shop for the right price by the time Marieke and I arrived. Before grabbing the bikes, we enjoyed a simple breakfast from 7-Eleven on a pier. Steph and Cheryl told us about the large group of brightly dressed seniors they had seen equipped with hiking sticks and camel packs setting off on the path around the lake. We thought such an intense level of preparedness for a stroll around the lake was comically extreme, but we hadn’t realized the route around the lake was approximately 30km!

The ride around the lake started on the boardwalk we’d taken from our campsite. It was really nice, but the route could feel narrow when negotiating around pedestrians and other bikers. There were also places where we had to dismount and walk our bikes upstairs. Thankfully there were bike tracks on the stairs to make it easier. It was a great ride that alternated between boardwalks and streets but some sections weren’t well marked and we got a little off track. These obstacles, plus the many spots we stopped, meant that we would pass the large group of seniors several times only to have them catch up to us or overtake us again. Despite being the younger generation making our way around the lake, the seniors showed their support of our efforts by cheering and clapping every time (yes every time) they had to part ways so we could pass ahead of them.

Our first stop was a sculpture in the lake called the Nine Frogs. True to its name, it’s 9 frogs of decreasing size on each other’s backs that indicate the water level of the lake (the lake was at 2 frogs for anyone wondering). Next we went to the Wenwu temple, a large, beautiful temple overlooking the lake. There are two huge lion statues at the front entrance, amazing religious statues and carvings inside and a wall of arches and pillars at the back. We all agreed it was the most impressive temple we’d been to and it was my personal favorite we saw in Taiwan. 

Hiking Break

We rode a bit further along the boardwalk where there were trees growing up through decking. They were well-marked with reflectors and it was fun weaving between them as we went. We stopped again to do a hike uphill to a nice viewpoint. A few minutes in, a kind motorist stopped to say hello and told us how far our hike was. The road was steep in places and we passed a few older hikers on their way down who were walking backwards. We suspected this was to avoid putting too much pressure on their joints. There were tea fields along the road and from the top there were great views of the lake and mountains. 

Back on our bikes, we continued around the lake and stopped at a cool visitor’s center with a very futuristic design. Further on, we came to another nice viewpoint before the route took us up a long hill. It was slow going for a while and my bike chain came off at one point, but we made it through. With time running out on our bike rental, we stopped at the turnoff for Ci’en pagoda, a tower-shaped building that overlooks the lake. Steph and I decided to go check it out while Marieke and Cheryl carried on back to Ita Thao. The road to the pagoda took us uphill to a parking lot where we left our bikes and continued on foot. A sign informed us the pagoda would be closing in a few minutes, but we decided to chance it and hurried up the step path. We reached the top exactly at closing time, but no one seemed to be there apart from other visitors, so we headed inside the pagoda and up the circular staircase. The staircase seemed to be infinite, but we eventually made it to the top and were rewarded with incredible views of the lake and mountains. 

Black Tea Ice Cream

With our itinerary complete, we rode the last few minutes back to Ita Thao. Thankfully, it was mostly downhill and we flew along the road feeling very accomplished. We made it back to the shop to drop off our bikes with 5 minutes to spare and went to meet back up with Marieke and Cheryl. We rewarded ourselves with some delicious black tea ice cream, a local favorite we’d read about. 

After freshening up at our camp we headed back to Ita Thao for dinner and enjoyed some beers on the pier. The lake was beautiful at night with all the lights from the towns, resorts and the stars above. In the morning we’d be off to our next destination, the city of Taichung.