Taichung & Sun Moon Lake

Getting back on the bus I left Lukang and headed back to Taichung. Taichung is a large industrial city, and when you see "Made in Taiwan" on a product this is usually where it will have come from. However it still has a nice historical centre with some parks and excellent night markets where you can get good street food. Taichung is apparently where bubble tea was invented so obviously I had to get some here! Luckily you can order it without sugar, otherwise it is an incredibly sweet drink. Other things that made Taichung quite interesting are the reclaimed industrial areas, where old factories have been turned into artist co-ops or disused train lines that have been turned into parks. These were fun to discover as you wander around the city.

Next I got on the bus once again and headed to Sun Moon Lake, the largest and most popular lake in Taiwan. The lake is very beautiful with bright turquoise water, and is so-called because apparently one side looks like the sun and the other side looks like the moon, although I can't really see it. There are boardwalks and pathways the majority of the way around the lake that I took advantage of. Sun Moon Lake is where I spent my one year anniversary of being on the road! On this day I went on a long hike around the lake, ending up at Wen Wu Temple, and to celebrate I had a special Taiwanese tea cocktail on a rooftop bar to watch the sunset.

On my other days by the lake I explored some of the island via boat shuttles, and explored Ita Thao, the village that I was staying in. Ita Thao is inhabited by the Thao people, an indigenous tribe to Taiwan that are quite distinct culturally to the Han Chinese that dominate the island. Once again street food is a big part of the culture and there was plenty to choose from. My favourite was the "egg burgers", which isn't a burger at all but scrambled egg and cheese (and meat if you want) cooked in a hot mold and then some kind of pancake batter is added to encase it, it was delicious! I also loved the soy marinaded tofu, the tea eggs (eggs boiled in very strong tea), and tea flavoured ice cream. Wild boar seemed to be a local specialty here too, I didn't have it but it smelt great!Read more