Taipei to Sun Moon Lake 日月潭
Woke up around 7am to wash up, pack up and prepare for our journey to Sun Moon Lake, the largest lake in Taiwan. Will need to check out of Cityinn and leave our luggage there for the 2 nights when we'll be away. Got our breakfast and the Family Mart convenience store that was next-door to Cityinn and proceeded to the bus station that was across the road. Very convenient indeed. The bus will bring us directly to SML, alighting us at the Shuishe Visitors Centre.

Being told before-hand that it will be a 4 to 4.5-hour ride, we prepared some reading materials and got the papers and magazine together with our breakfast. (Yes, Joyce, I had the first read of the Mina magazine before you. C; )

We arrived much ahead of time at SML and was pretty surprised. Quickly packed our stuff and deflated our pillows once the driver shouted " 水社, 日月潭". In fact, the journey took only about 3.5 hours. Were glad of course. Went for a much-needed toilet break. Once done, we saw a man walk up to us and gently enquired if we were the guests from Singapore and staying at Laurel Villa.

TEL： +886-49-2855551
FAX： +886-49-2855552
Email： laurel.villa@gmail.com
ADDRESS： No.28, MingSheng St., Shueishe Village, Sun Moon Lake,
                 Yuchih Township, Nantou County 555, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

Yes, he is the friendly boss and owner of Laurel Villa, Wayne. Wayne gathered our luggage and packed us all into his white mini-van and drove off towards LV less than 5 min away. It was a Sunday and the place was packed with both local and foreign visitors. Just like Sentosa on a weekend, I guess. Met Wayne's family too when we arrived at LV.

LV is a small B&B place that only has 5 rooms that can take up to 14 guests at any one time. It is clean and neat and has a cosy, homely feel to it. It is a very popular place and has to be booked in advance. Has good recommendations on several forums and popular with Singaporeans. In fact we met 2 Singaporean families in the 2 days when we were there. 

Our rooms were not not ready yet. After settling the payment, we were given a short introduction about SML; where to eat, where to visit etc. We proceeded to walk the few streets around the place and looked at some of the stalls that was set up. Many of them will be gone the next day as they are only around during the weekends.

Visited the Shuishe Visitors Centre too where we had some fun time stamping postcards. Also find the 2 guys posing with the terracota models =) 

Felt hungry after some time and went to one of the 2 restaurants recommended by Wayne's family. Said that taste is acceptable to most Singaproeans who visit SML. Ordered a set meal of 4 dishes and one soup for NT$800. There's the famous President fish, mushrooms, local vegetables and deer meat. Free flow of rice...

After lunch, we had the energy to do some trekking. Went on the Hanbi trail that was nearby. There is a church at the start of the trail that was built for Mr and Mrs Chiang Kai Shek to worship in. To reach the church at the top, we had to climb up some steps. It was worth it; the view at the top was magnificent.

It was a Sunday; we sat down on the pews and started singing praises to God. Noticed Bernard's raised hands. Guess we were too loud that a man popped out of the guard room. Hee.. to make sure that we are not up to anything funny.

The 2 armchairs that Mr and Mrs Chiang sat on in front of the church were cordoned off. Wondering how there can such differentiation in church where we are all sons and daughters of God???

Coming down from the church, we started on the Hanbi trail proper. The trail brings us on a path around one side of SML. The view was fantastic from every corner. The first monument we saw was the CKS memorial pavilion.

The Christmas trees and flowers here are gigantic, unlike the mini pots that we usually see in Singapore.

See the unique way of farming aquatic plants by the tribal people.

Waiting for the sunset.. and using the time to explore camera settings. I was the model for Bernard. Hee. Love the first shot.

Sunset finally...

Some photos of Laurel Villa showing the dinner table, our room and the entrance.

We got the dinner and boat trip tickets at NT$245 per person. Thank God that there was some promotion by the government for the boat trip (to promote tourism) and we get some subsidy too.

Chit-chat for a while with the Wang family after dinner and decided that we'll watch the sunrise tomorrow. Will be going on the Maolan trail. Gotta wake up at around 5am tomorrow in order to catch the sunrise. It is the winter time now and day is shorter, otherwise we will have to get up even earlier.

It was still early and we went for a short walk. There is nothing much to do at SML at night. All the roadside stalls are gone and there's only peace and quietness. The lightings are nice though. They really made the effort to brighten up the lakeside area at night.

And after that, we rested early for more trekking the next day.