Sun Moon Lake Travel Notes

August 6, 2010 — Sun Moon Lake Travel Notes, 1 of 6: Planning and Overview

Canon EOS 500D 18–55mm F3.5–5.6 + Speedlite YN-468

During summer vacation, we planned a two-day trip to Sun Moon Lake with my wife's relatives. With seven adults and seven children, it was quite a procession.

For a long time, I had wondered whether the places popular with tourists from China were mostly products of media hype. Were they really that much fun? Plenty of those visitors must have seen places such as Huangshan, Jiuzhaigou, and Zhangjiajie, so what made Sun Moon Lake so appealing?

I had also been unimpressed by the quality of domestic travel. In my mind, it meant traffic, crowds, and messy surroundings. This trip to Sun Moon Lake, however, was a refreshing surprise ^.^

Scenery photographed during the Sun Moon Lake trip — The trip gave me a fresh impression of Sun Moon Lake and domestic travel.

Why Sun Moon Lake?

In the blazing summer heat, taking seven adults and seven children to Kenting would have been asking for trouble. Heading into the mountains was the obvious choice.

Hehuanshan and Wuling Farm also came up in our discussions, and I would have loved to visit either one. Once we considered the long drive and mountain roads, though, we decided to save them for another trip.

Mountain scenery seen on the way to Sun Moon Lake — To escape the summer heat by the coast, the family headed for the mountains.

After National Freeway 6 opened, the drive from Taipei to Puli and onward to Sun Moon Lake took about three hours. Easy access was one of the main reasons we chose it ^.^

The figures I found at the time put the average summer temperature around 22–23°C. Shortly before the trip, the recent readings showed a midday high of about 29.7°C, falling to roughly 23°C by evening. That sounded... well, comfortable enough for an outing ^.^

Summer scenery photographed during the Sun Moon Lake itinerary — With the drive and weather looking manageable, the plan came together.

With the destination and weather settled, it was time to deal with the rather more delicate matter of finding rooms ~.~

Choosing a hotel

At the luxury end, Sun Moon Lake had places such as The Lalu, Fleur de Chine, and Sun Moon Lake Hotel. Their prices were suitably luxurious too: mountain-view rooms started around NT$8,000, while lake-view rooms were even further beyond reach.

We lowered our sights and searched for recommendations online. Laurel Villa had a good reputation, but with only fifteen rooms, it was already fully booked.

Then we found an information-packed website showing attractions and accommodation around the lake:

Screenshot of a website showing hotel locations around Sun Moon Lake — The website we used to compare hotel locations around the lake.

Combining that map with our sightseeing plans and a friend's recommendation, we chose Del Lago, beside Shuishe Pier.

A photograph associated with Del Lago at Sun Moon Lake — Our itinerary and a friend's recommendation eventually led us to Del Lago.

Honestly, without my friend's recommendation, I might have skipped right past the hotel based on its Chinese name alone. It really did not sound very appealing @.@'"

The area around Shuishe Pier and Del Lago — The name was underwhelming, but the location beside Shuishe Pier was not.

The name aside, its location was excellent: next to Shuishe Pier and right on the waterfront. It had been rebuilt after its predecessor, Tianlu Hotel, was badly damaged in the 921 earthquake. When we stayed there, it felt bright, clean, and new.

Lakeshore scenery near Shuishe Pier at Sun Moon Lake — Staying in Shuishe made boat rides, walks, and early lake views easy.

Why stay near Shuishe Pier?

After quite a bit of research, I decided that Shuishe was the place to stay. I had four reasons.

Convenient transportation
The lake boats stopped at Shuishe, Xuanguang Temple, and Ita Thao, while most accommodation was concentrated around Shuishe and Ita Thao.
Well-planned lakeside trails
Shuishe Pier sat between two waterfront paths. The Shuishe trail led toward Chaowu Pier, while the Hanbi trail ran toward Meihe Garden and Shuishe Dam. The Lalu took its Chinese name from its location on Hanbi Peninsula.
A good base for seeing the sunrise
In summer, the sun rose to the front-left of Shuishe Pier. If you came all the way to Sun Moon Lake, took a boat ride, and then failed to get out of bed for a morning walk by the water, you might as well make one last effort and drive three hours home to sleep @.@'"

The Hanbi trail was a fine place to watch dawn over the lake. After all, if the presidential retreat was built on Hanbi Peninsula, how bad could the setting possibly be?
Food within easy reach at night
There was a 7-ELEVEN and a Starbucks as soon as you entered Shuishe, with plenty of other shops along the street. No need to worry about going hungry late at night ^.^

That evening, I suddenly felt like taking a bath. The 7-ELEVEN had no bath salts, but the pharmacy across the road stocked all sorts: ginseng, chamomile, chili, lavender... If I had kept digging, I might even have found aiyu jelly or grass-jelly flavors. Heh..heh...