After a hearty breakfast - that omelette has that oily meat that seems to be in many Taiwanese dishes inside - I caught the bus at the stop at the end of the street, to Sun Moon Lake.
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| This is the street on which the B & B is located. At the end of the block is an Adventist college. Kids board there, and they go to the US for a semester or a year. I wondered what the things were along the road that are covered in black plastic. Turns out they are growing mushrooms inside. (below) |
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| a banana tree |
It was only at 15 or 20 minute very pretty ride - I'm in the country now.
The lake is pretty much for tourists now although it still is sacred to the aboriginal tribe that lives nearby. (Therefore no swimming.) Tons of boats sail a triangular route all day ferrying passengers between the three towns along the lake. You can also take a bus around. Of course I wouldn't do that - I'll grab any opportunity to be on the water.
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| I think this is a pretty cool picture. It looks like smoke or a cloud is rising from the pagoda on the top of that hill. But it's actually just a dip in a mountain. The clouds were beautiful against the blue sky, thus a bunch of pictures... |
My first stop was at a little town with a famous temple. Another hot day and I didn't have any water - there are not many vending machines in Taiwan, I have to remember that. I found a little shop though that was selling some eggs that had the same smell as the meat or seasoning I don't care for. But they also had water which I really needed after the climb up the mountain.
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| People line up here to have a picture taken standing next to that rock (that says Sun Moon Lake). |
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| a dam in the background |
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| 850 meters is not really that far, maybe 1 mile or so?? But it was sooo hot, and I didn't have water and I didn't know what was at the top... I almost got there but couldn't do the last long flight of stairs so I turned around and went back down... |
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| The last flight, I think, just couldn't do it... |
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| Sun Moon Lake Another photo spot. I thought it got the name because you could see the sun and the moon reflected on it. But actually part of the lake (it's shape) looks like the sun, and part like the moon. So they say. |
Back on the boat and off to another of the three towns.
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| I met this family on the boat - they were just passing through - and they insisted I was there guest in Taiwan and wanted to treat me to some of the local Assam tea. I opted for the Assam tea ice cream. Delicious. The girl will go to Brazil for a semester with Rotary. |
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| Ahhh. |
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| Lots of tourist shops and eateries. |
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| I tried this fruit. Don't know what it is but it was nothing special. |
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| Lunch was assam tea with milk and and aboriginal snack. A chicken wing stuffed with sticky rice (the rice cooks inside I think) and scallions. Delicious, as was the tea. |
On to Wenwu temple. Boat and then bus.
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| The lake with the location of the temple on the upper right - the red box. I don't really see the sun/moon shape. |
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| Worshippers used to arrive by boat (before there were roads) and these are the steps that they had to walk up to get to the temple. There are 365 steps and each one has a day of the year imprinted. |
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| These marble chairs were really cool and comfortable. |
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| Very strange, a café in the temple. |
There is no question that I prefer the unadorned, natural wood temples of Japan, but the detail in these Chinese style temples astounds me.
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| An old style fishing boat. |
I think I picked something up from the convenience store on the way home since I was exhausted. Around 8pm the young woman hostess (she will be marrying into the family in September) came by with some fried chicken and fish she'd picked up for me. She was really very thoughtful.
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