Taiwan Trip 2015 (台灣30天環島記) - Day 6: East Rift Valley Scenic Area 花東縱谷風景區 (Liyu Lake 鯉魚潭, Yunshan Shui 雲山水, Tropic of Cancer 北迴歸線, Ruisui Farm 瑞穗農場, Hualien Sugar Factory 花蓮糖廠), Hualien (Gongzheng Street 公正路)

I had been to Taroko Gorge twice while I was in Hualien, so this time I decided to go somewhere else instead at my stay. Through my hostel I signed up with a tour company which brought me to the East Rift Valley ( 花東縱谷). From Hualien to Taitung there is a stretch of road with mountains at either side of the road, hence the term rift valley.

Tour company near the train station back entrance

The 1 day tour cost NTD 400. which was really cheap because I get to sit a Toyota Wish and have a personal driver as well. This tour only consisted of me and 3 more PRC tourists hence we got to use the car haha. If you were to join the Taroko tour then you'd definitely be sitting a huge bus.This was really a good change for me. I could finally have some rest, let me leg heal for a bit and conserve some energy taking public buses (which was the initial plan). I guess one of the reasons that this tour is so unpopular is that it mostly consisted of just plain sightseeing and some people may find it a tad boring.

The first stop of the day was Li Yu Lake (鯉魚潭), which is the second largest fresh water lake in Taiwan. No prizes for guessing which is the largest lake. I must say the weather was amazing that day with clear blue skies, which makes this place even more so beautiful.

Since there were four of us we decided to rent a speedboat which took us round the lake for 10-15 minutes. It's NTD 600 for the boat so I paid NTD 150, not the cheapest around. Having said that, every other boat operator there has the same price so tourists would not have to worry about being conned or bother to negotiate too much. 

Next stop of the day is a small retreat away known as Yun Shan Shui (雲山水). or literally translated into "clouds mountain water", which aptly describes the place. The scenery here is really beautiful. The water in the lake is in rich cerulean blue due to a high calcium content from the lime rocks in the vicinity. You could clearly see the reflection of the land and sky on the lake which reflects its clarity. People usually come here for the homestays and enjoy a day or two in the outskirts.

夢幻湖

One of the homestays

The entire area is just a relatively small circle and could be done under 1 hour. There's also a cafe there for visitors to just chill out and have some coffee or tea. Though if you really want to enjoy the environment you could spend the night here. Not sure how much will it cost though.

Mirror image

Swan leading the ducks

On a side note. during the winter season you could see fields of daisies and rape seed flowers being grown all over the farm land. This is to fertilise the soils come spring. So as you pass by the farms on a train or bus you could see a beautiful yellow ocean of rape seed flowers especially when they are in full blossom.

Daisies

The driver then brought us to lunch at a restaurant which was seemingly catered for tourists. I ordered a lunch set worth NTD 220 and was surprised to a huge portion of food which consists of appetiser (mash potato), main course (chicken with rice and other side dishes), dessert (some fruit) as well as a drink. Nearby this area is where I took the photos of the flowers above.

We also stopped by briefly at this special landmark known as the Tropic of Cancer (北迴歸線). It is said that during a certain day and time of the year at this spot, the sun will be directly vertically on top of you hence there would not be any shadows. Quite cool. But I'm sure there is much more astronomical significance than that.

Cows lazing in the distance

Third stop of the day brought us to Rui Sui Farm ( 瑞穗農場) which was none other than a farm rearing cows and make dairy produce. 

After taking some photos of kids feeding cows I then headed to their in-house cafe to try the cheesecake, milk pudding as well as the fresh milk, all wholly produced by the farm. The price is on the okay side for quite a small quantity (NTD 105). Not the best but certainly not too bad to try since I'm already here.

The last stop of the East Rift Valley tour brings me to Hualien Sugar Factory located in Guangfu (光復). This is quite a historical site rich with Japanese culture for Hualien as it used to be one of the biggest sugar production factory in East Taiwan but has since closed down in 2002. Now it is developed to be more of a touristy place where you can spend a night here as well. Heck, there are many homestays all around Taiwan island if it's a tourist area.

Hualien Sugar Factory

Now it's main attraction is the ice-cream shop where they sell a huge variety of flavours. My driver was really kind enough to give me his ticket which allowed me to redeem one free ice-cream cone! I picked their top 1 ice cream but I had no idea what flavours were they but it's quite delicious. This was actually my second ice-cream cone for the day as I had also bought one at Yun Shan Shui. Talking about eating 2 ice-creams during winter.

Ancient locomotive train

And that was it. I requested the driver to drop me back near the train station because I was not interested to visit the Zi Qiang night market as I had already covered both of them last time. Also, Nan Bin night market is now closed down and located to another nearby area and renamed to Rainbow Night Market (彩虹夜市). So after sitting in a comfy car whole day long, I limped my way back to the hostel to rest awhile and did my overdue laundry. Too bad it wasn't free and I had to pay NTD 70 to use the washing machine and the dryer.

Around 7 plus I finally felt hungry and thus decided to head out to find food. After some reading on  the Lonely Planet's guide book I decided to head towards Gongzheng Street which was about 2 KM away. I rented a bicycle from the hostel and made my way there. Unfortunately the bicycle seat was too small so my butt really hurt throughout the 20 minute journey.

At this juncture I was a bit bored of Taiwanese street food so I just settled for mixed rice for dinner (NTD 50).  Then I went to try the famous Xiao Long Bao here. It is essentially Xiao Long Bao (小籠包) but the outer layer consisted of a thick flour layer like the usual 'baos' instead of just a thin flour wrap. There were two shops selling this delicacy side by side and there were a lot of people patronising each of them. 

I think I prefer the original Xiao Long Bao lol. Even the insides are exactly the same but Xiao Long Bao is all about the outer skin layer, well to me at least. The thinner the skin means that your skills as a chef is much higher. I think this article explains how a proper and high standard Xiao Long Bao should be. If you want to make such a thick skinned Xiao Long Bao i'd rather eat a char siew bao instead.

On my way back, I dropped by Watson's to grab a bottle of moisturiser. Constant exposure to strong winds had caused my skin to really dry off and my eye lids to painfully peel off. Oh well, at least the moisturiser works. 

- Day 6 end-

Next: Day 7: Hualien (Qi Xing Tan 七星潭), Taitung 台東 (Dulan Tangerine House 都蘭橘子舍, Water Flowing Upwards 水往上流, Dulan Sugar Factor + Aborigines Live Band Performance 都蘭糖廠)
Previous: Day 5: Fulong Beach 福隆海水浴場， Old Caoling Bikeway 舊草嶺自行車道, Hualien 花蓮 (Blackbear Hostel, Tzu Chi University 慈濟大學)