Currently, I am writing this post from the HSR bullet train on our way returning from Sun Moon Lake and mom’s and mine vacation from our vacation, or as mom has been calling it, our “Honeymoon!” This morning we woke up refreshed from a nice night of sleep in an extraordinarily comfortable bed. I think I have forgotten to mention that our beds in the dorm are extremely hard and though we like harder beds, these are so hard, its like sleeping on wood and I have black and blue marks on my hips from it and can no longer sleep on my sides. Mom has the same issue and so these beds last night were a bit softer and so much more comfortable. We woke up early this morning around 6:30 and took showers (because we had hot water) and went down to breakfast. Well this was no ordinary breakfast and this was our first Oriental buffet. The first few tables were filled with what we thought were American style breakfast foods, bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, and the rest of the long buffet was Chinese style, which consisted of lotus root, fermented tofu, lots of greens and many other foods I’ve never heard of our ever seen before. On the other side of the buffet there were some croissants, some smuckers jam and two espresso machines. We had some croissants, jam, some lox and we thought we may have some scrambled eggs, (and actually mom did eat them and even went back for seconds), but they tasted like the fried eggs that are in egg fried rice and my stomach cannot tolerate that at 7 in the morning.
We were told yesterday that someone, a female, would be meeting us in the morning to take us on a boat tour and on the gondola ride to the Aboriginal Village. A little after 9am, we were waiting in the lobby of the hotel and a beautiful young woman came in and said hello. She spoke almost no English and so we just followed not really knowing where we were going or what we were doing. We walked out of the hotel, down the steps, and started walking down the street. We had thought we may have had a car to take us to wherever we were going, but we walked instead- which was very nice to have some fresh air. We walked a few blocks away to a pier that had many Sun Moon Lake Shuttle boats- large motorboats. We thought we were going to get on a boat with other people and go for a little tour around the lake. We walked right by the ticket counter with our guide, didn’t even look to see how much tickets were or if we needed any and continued to the docks. Our guide pointed at a bright pink boat and implied that it would be the one we were taking. Suddenly a tiny wooden boat came up to the dock and a man docked the boat and hopped off with a large red gas container.
He then walked by us, said Ni Hao (hello) and opened the boat doors to the boat we were about to board. The woman, as we later discovered, owned all of the pink boats that were zooming around the lake. We had our own private large shuttle boat tour around the lake. It was so nice being on the water and in fact I didn’t even think we needed sunscreen, but I am beat red right now and should have had some on!
We went along one side of the lake, saw the temples on the side and then we started to slow down at an area on the other side of the lake- mom and I took bets whether or not we were going to go through a little bridge and I said we weren’t and mom said we were- well we didn’t go through the bridge, but we did stop at a dock right next to the bridge just to fill up with fuel. It was a gas station on the side of the lake!
There were also some beautiful birds there as well. After about 10 minutes of filling up, we went along the other side of the lake and past the island that was once the separating village of Sun Lake and Moon Lake and is just a tiny little island now. We then came up on some docks that were very crowded with many shuttle boats and it looked like there was a temple on top. We stopped at the docks and were told to take our cameras and walk a bit with our guide. So we went up the dock and there were some Aboriginal people singing and a food stand that was selling fermented eggs. Our guide bought us a few eggs (which smelled disgusting) and then she directed us to go back to the boat. We were surprised as we thought we were going to see the temple, but in fact we had just stopped at this point to get the eggs! So no temple for us. We went back the boat and because we had no idea how to eat the eggs, we watched our guide eat them and we followed along, first by peeing the egg and then by eating it out of the bags they came in. They actually tasted okay- though we only ate one egg each (there were 2 in a bag).
We went along one side of the lake, saw the temples on the side and then we started to slow down at an area on the other side of the lake- mom and I took bets whether or not we were going to go through a little bridge and I said we weren’t and mom said we were- well we didn’t go through the bridge, but we did stop at a dock right next to the bridge just to fill up with fuel. It was a gas station on the side of the lake!
There were also some beautiful birds there as well. After about 10 minutes of filling up, we went along the other side of the lake and past the island that was once the separating village of Sun Lake and Moon Lake and is just a tiny little island now. We then came up on some docks that were very crowded with many shuttle boats and it looked like there was a temple on top. We stopped at the docks and were told to take our cameras and walk a bit with our guide. So we went up the dock and there were some Aboriginal people singing and a food stand that was selling fermented eggs. Our guide bought us a few eggs (which smelled disgusting) and then she directed us to go back to the boat. We were surprised as we thought we were going to see the temple, but in fact we had just stopped at this point to get the eggs! So no temple for us. We went back the boat and because we had no idea how to eat the eggs, we watched our guide eat them and we followed along, first by peeing the egg and then by eating it out of the bags they came in. They actually tasted okay- though we only ate one egg each (there were 2 in a bag).
The boat started moving again and soon we were back at the original docks. We were then told to get into the tiny wooden boat that our captain originally arrived in and the would take us over to the gondola by water. So we got into the tiny boat and we made the 5 minute boat ride to the gondola building.
Our guide led us up and right through the entrance to the gondola, said something to the attendants, had our hands stamped and then she said goodbye to us (which was a surprise as we thought she was coming with us) and she sent us on our way in the gondola. The gondola ride was about 7 minutes long, very high up and very steep.
When we arrived at the “top” or at the Aboriginal Village we got out and asked for a map to see where to go. This area was set up of villages like the real ones that the aboriginal people live in not far from this area.
There was also a large amusement park that we did not go even close to- we stayed in the historical section, saw a little performance by some of the tribe and then decided we were getting tired and wanted to head back to the hotel before our driver was supposed to pick us up at 1pm. However, before we ventured back to the hotel, we came across this very interesting sculpture, that was about 6-7 feet tall:
When we arrived at the “top” or at the Aboriginal Village we got out and asked for a map to see where to go. This area was set up of villages like the real ones that the aboriginal people live in not far from this area.
There was also a large amusement park that we did not go even close to- we stayed in the historical section, saw a little performance by some of the tribe and then decided we were getting tired and wanted to head back to the hotel before our driver was supposed to pick us up at 1pm. However, before we ventured back to the hotel, we came across this very interesting sculpture, that was about 6-7 feet tall:
So we ventured back up the hill to the gondola, got back on and came back over the hill to the lake side. We then got off and our guide had shown us previously where we had to walk to get back to the hotel and it was about a 10 minute walk back. By the time we returned, we were so sweaty that we decided to take quick showers before our driver arrived. And before we knew it, our driver was at the hotel and ready to take us to afternoon tea. We checked out of the hotel and got into his van. We did not know where we were going for tea but knew it would be nice. About 10 minutes later, we arrived at one of the nicest hotels we have ever seen. It was a stunning hotel that was built in the shape of a large cruise ship.
We were immediately greeted by the valet/concierge and a lovely woman by the name of Vita took us into the hotel and told us what were going to be doing. She took us to a table on the second floor where we left our things outside with a balcony table and then she took us on a tour of the hotel.
We were immediately greeted by the valet/concierge and a lovely woman by the name of Vita took us into the hotel and told us what were going to be doing. She took us to a table on the second floor where we left our things outside with a balcony table and then she took us on a tour of the hotel.
We saw a room on the 12th floor that was a huge suite with a dining room, living room, kitchen, king size bed and a gold toilet… literally a gold toilet! It costs about 90,000NT a night… which is about $3000 a night!! Holy sh*t. We did see a “regular” room that costs about 25,000NT a night with two double beds and a very cool Toto toilet. The toilets are completely automatic and the lids open when you get close to the toilet and close when you leave. They are also heated, so when you sit down your butt is warm! There are also a few buttons to press that play music for you when you go to the bathroom. Can you tell that the toilets are cool?!
Then we went to the sky deck on the top of the hotel and it’s all glass so when you stand on it, it feels like you’re floating on air… or in my and I think mom’s case too, makes me feel a bit sick.
We then went back to the balcony where our stuff was and a waitress came and asked us what type of tea we would like and if we were hungry. We had not had lunch yet and we were feeling hungry so we got the Afternoon Tea special and ordered delicious local tea from the lake area. The food was pretty good and served nicely. The “main” course was actually French toast with a wonderful yogurt and fruit. It was delicious! They also gave us a peach vinegar to take home with us.
Our driver picked us up at 4pm from the nice hotel and then drove us the 75 minutes or so to the HSR in Taichung. Though he spoke no English, he was very nice and a good driver and got us there safely. We already had our tickets for the train, so we went to the correct northbound track and waited for the train to arrive. A little bit later, exactly on time, the train arrived and we boarded.
The train was so quick that I didn’t have time to finish writing this post and so now I’m finishing it! Dad met us outside the train station and helped mom with her too many heavy bags and we came back to the dorm room. We had about 15 minutes to change and rest before we were meeting dad’s host from the hospital for dinner. We walked to dinner and had a lovely time with him. I think it was very hard for him and dad to say goodbye- he very much appreciated all of dad’s help and expertise and has already asked him to return next year to spend some more time at the hospital where he works. Our time in Taipei is winding down, though we still have 3 more days. He actually arranged for mom and I to go on a 4 hour tour Southwest of the city tomorrow afternoon to see some special pottery and porcelain that I have a feeling we are going to love.
The train was so quick that I didn’t have time to finish writing this post and so now I’m finishing it! Dad met us outside the train station and helped mom with her too many heavy bags and we came back to the dorm room. We had about 15 minutes to change and rest before we were meeting dad’s host from the hospital for dinner. We walked to dinner and had a lovely time with him. I think it was very hard for him and dad to say goodbye- he very much appreciated all of dad’s help and expertise and has already asked him to return next year to spend some more time at the hospital where he works. Our time in Taipei is winding down, though we still have 3 more days. He actually arranged for mom and I to go on a 4 hour tour Southwest of the city tomorrow afternoon to see some special pottery and porcelain that I have a feeling we are going to love.
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