Taiwan Trip 2012 - Cycling Around Sun Moon Lake. Story of my life.

Interesting shrub formations on the lake:D

Since I was travelling alone I decided to do something other regular tourists never do, which was to cycle around the whole lake via bicycle so that I could slowly enjoy the scenery and take my photos at the best angle possible. Needless to say, it was easier said than done ._.

Map of Sun Moon Lake (Source: Google)

My plan was very simple. Cycle half way around the lake and then take a boat back at the Xuan Guang Pier back to to Shui She Pier where my hotel was located. I didn't really know which attractions to go and didn't do much research about this place since I thought I could just follow the map and slowly cycle. Some places were out of expectations, especially the theme park located at the Farmosa Aboriginal Village! I did not expect a theme park right in the middle of this place. That's why SOMETIMES, it's nice not to plan every trip so meticulously so that there are some surprises left. :D Bicycle parking facilities also can be found at every tourist stop so I believe cycling is quite encouraged here.

The store where I rented my bicycle

Bicycle rental at NTD350 per day

However, what the map doesn't tell you, which roads were uphill and which were downhill. Generally most roads were uphill and it was really really hard to cycle, and most of the times I was dragging the bicycle along the road, sometimes over hundreds of meters! D: It was really an energy sapping day and I think I burnt all the fat I accumulated for all the days I was at Taiwan. Although I must admit it was really really a loooooottt of fun when I cycling downwards at super high speed and doing crazy cornerings while the wind hits your face really, really hard. Good things usually come to an end very quickly and by the time I was starting to enjoy the adrenaline rush it was back to climbing slopes again.

Uphills and more slopes D:

Though a good thing about having a bicycle is when there's a fallen tree you don't get stuck in the jam and can continue your journey.

Fallen tree

Jam jam jam!

Things pretty much got worst when I missed the last boat back when I was waiting to take sunset photos at Ci Mu Pagoda. It was about 6pm by that time when I reached to pier and it was all closed! D: There were two roads that I could take at that moment, either backtrack or continue cycling. I decided to continue cycling since the roads before that were pretty much uphills and I didn't want to go through that again, not at this time!

Sunset 100 metres above the lake

Fortunately, the roads were relatively flat or downhill as I proceeded my journey. The scary part of this was there was almost no road lamps or sign boards indicating distances to the next area. The roads were also very quiet except there were a few cars passing by me once in awhile. So there I was, cycling blindly in the roads of a jungle by the lake not know where it will take me and where will arrive safely at my hotel room. 

After about 15 minutes of cycling I reached the entrance (or rather exit) point of the Yue Tan Bicycle Path (月潭自行車道). I decided to try this out since I think it would take me closer to the lake and at least I could see where I am heading. 

1/50, f2.8, ISO 6400

However I exited the bicycle path after 2 minutes into and head back to the highway as I had to enter a forest! It was even more darker inside (as shown on the picture above. I used ISO6400 for that shot to illustrate how dark was it!) and I could feel many bugs feeding happily off my blood. This was a risk I was not willing to take as spending the night getting stuck in some foreign jungle was not a very good idea @@ 

And so, I cycled and cycled on, getting more and more hungry and dehydrated as time goes by, as my water supply had completed diminished and my last meal was hours ago. I soon passed by a village called Tou She (頭社) and finally hit a T-junction which brought me to the main highway. There was a signboard indicating which was the correct way back to my sanctuary but again it did not have any distance marker so I had no idea how far more I have to endure.

It was 7pm by that time and the skies are completely dark. There was no lights on the 6 road highway and all I could see were mountains and trees. Many cars passed me by as I dragged my bike along this cruel highway which was up hill all the way to which I can see no end. My iPod touch was my only companion at that hour, playing songs to keep me moving. I almost had a mental breakdown and started to have crazy thoughts on what would it be like to sleep by the high way. I almost wanted to call home but realising it wouldn't do much help to me except causing even more worry and stress for my parents LOL. That's when I saw a motorcyclist and I flagged them down, asking them how much more longer is it to reach Sun Moon Lake. He said it's only right in front, about 2KM more and my eyes glitter with some hope.

And at about 7.30pm my saviour arrived! Presumably the last bus of the night appeared at a corner and I immediately flagged it down. As soon as the doors open I asked the bus driver whether this bus goes back to Sun Moon Lake and he said yes. Without a second thought I dragged my bicycle on to bus without even asking whether the bus can accommodate a bicycle or not. I couldn't remember how much was the bus fare as I gave all the coins I had in my wallet into the fare collecting machine.

Feeling very very relieved to be on the warm bus seat, I watched outside of the windows as the bus took me back to the Shui She pier. 2 kilometres seems like another loooong way back. As soon as I step down from the bus, I couldn't help but feel a huge sense of relief as I was finally back in familiar settings. I think I've clocked about 25 kilometres walking and cycling for the day. It was certainly an amazing workout.

It was only a few more hours later I discovered the existence of electric bicycles which can really make my life so much easier on the slopes instead of hogging it out! @_@ So for those who intend to cycle around Sun Moon Lake in one day, please get this bicycle!! Otherwise other choices would be taking the bus and spending the night at the opposite site of the lake if you really want to experience Sun Moon Lake in a more relaxing way.

Electric bicycles for rent

Overall it was really a great journey and lots of experience gained from this adventure. Thank you for all the lessons and a big thank you for my bicycle who did not gave me any problems through out this journey! Sun Moon Lake I will definitely be back!

Next: Bamboo garden & Wen Wu Temple
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