Sun Moon Lake - Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village
Good morning, Sun Moon Lake!
The bed and pillows were so comfortable at Doris Home. Even the princess slept soundly throughout the night. It was a mental challenge to either snuggle in bed or wake up for breakfast. However, breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day and we managed to gather at the dining area for our breakfast.
Breakfast at Doris Home was a simple fare. It was French toast with some sides. As I have an unusual allergy to eggs, Greg has kindly offered me plain toast. Coffee and Tea is on a self-service basis.
 |
| Waiting at the lounge while breakfast is being prepared |
 |
My breakfast
Plain toast |
 |
| French Toast |
 |
| Even the child's meal was generous! |
 |
| A family who eats together stays together |
Our plan for today was to take the ferry around Sun Moon Lake, then ride the
Sun Moon Lake ropeway up to the
Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village and make our way back via public bus.
We didn't hire the chartered car for today as we only intend to visit one place and public transport seems relatively easy and straight forward.
As part of Doris Home's new premises opening special package, Greg provided us with one-way ferry tickets. We also bought discounted Village admission tickets from him, thus saving us the hassle of queuing up at the ticket counters. Do note that the Village admission fee includes unlimited rides on the Sun Moon Lake ropeway. Then we are set to go!
There are numerous ferry rides operators at Sun Moon Lake. Most ferries will dock at three wharfs - ShuiShe Wharf, Xuanguang Wharf and Ita Thao Wharf, either in this order or the reverse order. You can stop at each wharf at your own pace and hop back onto the ferry to the next wharf. But do remember to find the right ferry operator!
 |
| Walking towards ShuiShe Wharf |
 |
| Sun Moon Lake |
We took the ferry from ShuiShe Wharf and alighted at Xuanguang Wharf. There is a temple at the top of the hill but our intention was only for the famous tea leaf eggs. We bought the eggs and took the next available ferry to Ita Thao Wharf (where the ropeway is located).
 |
| On the ferry from Shuishe to XuanGuang |
 |
| The red stamp on your hand is your ferry "ticket" |
 |
| XuanGuang Wharf |
 |
| We are only here for this! |
 |
| Hungry girl |
 |
| Tea Leaf Eggs picnic |
After a satisfying tea leaf eggs picnic, we walked towards the Sun Moon Lake ropeway. You can definitely see it from the wharf. Along the walk to the ropeway, you will pass by shops that sells local snacks and gift shops. It's an easy 15-20 minutes walk from the wharf to the ropeway.
 |
| Boardwalk to the ropeway |
 |
| Our ride is here! |
 |
| Here we go! |
 |
| No fear! |
 |
| Think she enjoyed the ride more than me |
 |
| Almost there ~~~~~~~~~~~ |
It's about 10 minutes ride from the ropeway station to the Village but it definitely felt longer for someone (Me!) who is afraid of heights.
Upon reaching the summit, we alighted and made our way into Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. The Village is divided into 2 clear zones - cultural (visit the aboriginal tribes) and amusement (rides). To my dismay, we took another cable car ride to the lower land where the amusement section is located. Arrrrrrgggghhhhh ~~~~~~~~~
 |
| Ice cream break! |
 |
| Hmmmmmm so good! |
 |
| We are finally here! |
 |
| Park map |
 |
| What???!!! Another cable car ride! |
 |
| It's amazing I can still smile |
 |
The 3 warriors of our family taking the
UFO ride to experience G-Force |
 |
| Good to go! |
We stopped for a quick lunch and went around exploring the Village at our pace. That's definitely one of the advantage of a Free & Easy holiday - no keeping to any schedule except your own.
 |
Cultural Square where performance took place but there was none
on the day we visited. Or maybe we missed the timing |
 |
| European Palace Garden |
 |
| Carousel ride at The Aladdin Pavilion |
We then slowly made our way up to the ropeway station. Do take note of the last cable car timing. If you missed the last ride, you can take the shuttle bus back to Sun Moon Lake.
 |
You can buy fish feeds from dispenser machine.
Told the parents of a little girl off as they were feeding potato chips to the koi fishes! |
 |
| The fishes are famished! |
 |
| Don't the owls look vibrant? |
As we were walking back to the station, we can see dark clouds looming over us. There was an announcement in the park warning visitors of a thunderstorm that was approaching and the ropeway service may be suspended due to safety reasons. We made a mad dash to the station, hoping to take the cable car before the storm arrive. Luckily we were just in time.
 |
At the ropeway station after descent from ropeway
Dark clouds |
As we did not want to walk back to the Ita Thao wharf to take the ferry back to ShuiShe Wharf, we took a public bus from the ropeway station. The bus timing was punctual and we were so blessed that it started to pour heavily the moment we got on the bus! Phew ~~~ It took us 15 minutes to reach ShuiShe Visitor Center. It was still raining so we decided to buy dinner back to our accommodation. We bought some packed bento, instant cup/bowl noodles and drinks from 7-11 and went back to Doris Home for the night. Nothing beat having hot soupy food on a rainy day.
 |
| Stall selling local street food at Visitor Center |
We will be heading to Taipei via Taichung tomorrow. Time to pack our luggage!
<----
Family Taiwan Trip - Day 3 Family Taiwan Trip - Day 5 ---->
No comments:
Post a Comment