Cycling around Sun Moon Lake

We left the mountains early so we could get to sun moon lake and have enough time so cycle the 20km around it. 

We got an early 7:30am bus and arrived in Sun Moon lake around 10am. We'd seen the place so hire bikes on our previous visit, so we looked our luggage in a locker and got a couple of bikes. 

There is a bike track that goes around the first half of the lake and it was really beautiful. There were lots of other people doing the same thing. The weather was great and we stopped lots to enjoy the scenery. 

 

Half way round the track ended but we carried on on the road. What we didn't realize is that you go up into the mountains. This wasn't expected and was very hard work!

It did provide us with more great views and the good bit about going up a hill is you have to go down the other side, which was nice. When we got to the final 5km there was another cycle path which hugged the coast and was very nice.

The total journey took about three hours and I'm so glad we cycled around hte whole lake. that evening we headed back to Taipei!

Not a bad day, we woke up in the mountains, traveled to a lake, cycled around it then traveled back to Taipei!!!

Aowanda National Park

Today we visited Aowanda National Park. 

It is basically a very large forest with some nice Hiking routes that go up into the hills. There was some fantastic scenery.

There was also a very long suspension bridge to cross a valley. It was pretty windy in the middle and its not uncommon for it to be destroyed in storms.

It was so nice to be able to walk around such a beautiful place and I.m glad we made the trip.

Its been a great few days up in the mountains. Tomorrow, we leave early so we can spend the day in Sun Moon lake before travelling back to Taipei.

 

Staying in the mountains and Cinjing Farm

We wanted to go to a place called Aowanda national park but its a bit of a mission to get there. The nearest place is about 40 minutes from the park. We didn't know this at the time but it is very high in the mountains. We arrived in the afternoon which was too late to visit the park but our hotel was on the side of the mountain and had amazing views. We also got to visit a small farm.

This was such an unexpected treat as we really didn't think we'd be staying so far up in the mountains. It was warm in the day but very cool at night. 

There were some nice paths to go hiking, which we did late in the afternoon we arrived. 

Apart from walking there wasn't much to do. There weren't many restaurants but there was a 7-eleven!! 

Anyway, we're off to Aowanda National Park tomorrow before heading back to Sun Moon Lake. 

 

Walking in Sun Moon Lake

Today we travelled to Sun Moon lake where we will spend one evening before going to Aowanda then coming back here again.

It's an incredibly beautiful lake surrounded by Mountains. The lake is about 20 km in circumference with a road around it but also lots of cycling and hiking trails. We'd booked to stay at the quieter side of the Island which was the correct decision.

When we got to the quieter side of the Island we booked into our hotel, which was right on the lake then when hiking on one of the trails for a few hours. 

It was so lovely to walk around the lake. The path hugged the lake and we saw some wild monkeys in the trees. 

In the evening we bought a few beers and some snacks then sat by the lake. It was so peaceful and quiet!!!!

 

Keelung City, Taiwan Day Trip

We had a spare day before leaving for Sun Moon lake to go to a place called Keelung City. This was a short train journey from Taipei (about 1 hour).

The train station is right by the harbor so we got off and had a nice brunch.

 

After this we went to a place called Peace Island which is accessible by a bridge. There was a nice park here but it also has some great rock formations which have bee shapes by the Typhoons that Taiwan experiences. 

We had great weather and it was a really nice day trip from Taipei. Tomorrow we are off to Sun Moon Lake!!

New Year's Fireworks from Taipei 101

Happy New Year!

Last night we watched the firework from Taipei 101! We arrived in the park we had scouted out earlier in the day at 10pm and it was already very busy but we managed to get some sitting space on the floor. There were thousands of people there. Luckily the weather was very mild.

At the stoke of midnight there was the countdown and the fireworks went off. It was the best 5 minutes of fireworks I've seen!!!

So, that was it! I'm glad I've done it but its not something I'd go out my way to see again. After this we started the journey home, along with thousands of other people!!! I was expecting it to be really awful but it was actually quite a nice experience. They had closed the 6 lane road to traffic so we were walking through the streets with lots of other happy people. The metro was still open but very busy so we walked for a few miles in the nice cool weather and got on at a later stop. Including the nice walk it only too an hour to get home.