 This post is the third post out of 7 post (which tells the third day out of my recent seven-days trip to Taiwan). If you just read this post, you can catch up my first post here and my second post here. On the first day, I arrived at Kaohsiung and explore the beauty of Kaohsiung. On the second day, I explore places of interest spread from Kaohsiung to Tainan, and then continued my journey to Taichung using High Speed Railways Train. On the second day, I arrived at Taichung around 8 pm. The next day (the third day), I planned to Explore Sun Moon Lake (will be abbreviated as SML), one of the most famous landscape in Taiwan. Where is Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan?Sun Moon Lake is located about 750m above sea level, and the area around the lake is home to the Thao tribe, one of the aboriginal tribes in Taiwan (source: Wikipedia). It’s also the largest body of fresh water in Taiwan.  Sun Moon Lake Location within Taiwan  Route from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake  Nearby attraction in Sun Moon Lake Area Sun moon lake is located in the middle of Taiwan, in Yuchi Township. It’s part of Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area. The nearest biggest town to Sun Moon Lake is Taichung. That’s why I anchored myself in Taichung. The ride from Taichung city to Sun Moon lake takes about 1-1,5 hours and it passes several beautiful spots such as Puli, Antique Assam Tea Farm, and Paper Dome Museum. There are so many attractions around the lake, such as Sun Moon Lake Ropeway, Xuanzang Temple, Wenwu Temple, Peacock Garden, Ita Thao, Cien Pagoda, Xiangshan Visitor Center, Chaowu Wharf, Bamboo Rock Garden, and Shueiuatou Hiking Trail.
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 Nantou Bus Ticketing Office in Gancheng Bus Station |  Nantou Bus Stop |
It was 8 pm after I had had a dinner that I decided to go to the Nantou Bus Ticket Office to secure the ticket since I read that it may be limited and quick to sell. First, I thought Zhongzheng Bus Station was more like a vast area where the buses park. So I was a bit confused when my google map said I already reached the place where I was still on the pedestrian walk. But I saw many bus-stops sign along the road and several buses that parked there. So, I thought I was in the right place and just needed to find where the Nantou Bus Office was.
After several minutes searching with no result, I went to one of the bus office and asked where the Nantou Office and directed to it. At that time it was already at 9 pm. There was only one guy sitting at the desk in front of the store and looked very busy counting money. I thought he was about closing the office and made a final count on the money. I asked to buy the ticket but he said the ticket can only be bought the same day with departure date. There was no way buying it in advance. I was told to come back the next day at 7 am.
I also asked few questions about the ticket type and the price, but he was so busy I had to repeated my questions and he answered it half-heartedly. It was one of those bad customer experience so far that I got in Taiwan. So I went back to my Airbnb with no result. But at least I knew already where exactly the place was.
After several minutes searching with no result, I went to one of the bus office and asked where the Nantou Office and directed to it. At that time it was already at 9 pm. There was only one guy sitting at the desk in front of the store and looked very busy counting money. I thought he was about closing the office and made a final count on the money. I asked to buy the ticket but he said the ticket can only be bought the same day with departure date. There was no way buying it in advance. I was told to come back the next day at 7 am.
I also asked few questions about the ticket type and the price, but he was so busy I had to repeated my questions and he answered it half-heartedly. It was one of those bad customer experience so far that I got in Taiwan. So I went back to my Airbnb with no result. But at least I knew already where exactly the place was.
That Sun Moon Lake Day Tour – Buying the ticket
That morning I got up early and went straight to Nantou Bus Tour Ticketing Office to wrap “the unfinished business”. The ticketing guy was different, but with the same busy attitude. To be honest, it was less than friendly. Also, there was only one guy for ticket booth and nobody else except bus drivers and other passenger and someone who yelled and scream when it’s time to depart.
So, I bought the NT 730 day-pass which contains NT 1095 original fare for each of the items. It was only valid on the day of travel, for one time, and one-person use. For NT 730, I got:
Since my original plan was to go to Paper Dome Museum (Taomikeng) in Puli, I use the Taichung to Puli & puli to Sun Moon Lake ticket, and for the return, I can use the Taichung to Sun Moon Lake ticket (for Sun Moon Lake to Taichung Trip). On that day, I only managed to use NT 770 (out of NT 1095 of the original price), but it was still economic on my side (I could save NT 40 by buying the package).
So, I bought the NT 730 day-pass which contains NT 1095 original fare for each of the items. It was only valid on the day of travel, for one time, and one-person use. For NT 730, I got:
- Sun Moon Lake Shuttle Boat (Original Fare: NT 300)
- Sun Moon Lake Ropeway Round-Trip Voucher (Original Fare: NT 300)
- Round-the-lake Shuttle Bus (Original Fare: NT 80)
- Shuishe - Xiangshan Bus one-way Voucher (Original Fare: NT 25)
- Taichung – Sun Moon Lake one-way bus ticket (Original Fare: NT 195)
- Taichung to Puli + Puli to Sun Moon Lake one-way bus ticket (Original Fare: NT 195)
Since my original plan was to go to Paper Dome Museum (Taomikeng) in Puli, I use the Taichung to Puli & puli to Sun Moon Lake ticket, and for the return, I can use the Taichung to Sun Moon Lake ticket (for Sun Moon Lake to Taichung Trip). On that day, I only managed to use NT 770 (out of NT 1095 of the original price), but it was still economic on my side (I could save NT 40 by buying the package).
Sun Moon Lake Nantou Bus Pass Package NT 730
That Sun Moon Lake Day Tour – Departing experience
My plan on that day was to go to Paper Dome in Puli, and then from Puli go to Sun Moon Lake, and circle the lake and go to its attractions spot as many as time allow. After buying the ticket, I was told to come back again at 8:15 (or 8:10, i forgot) since it was the earliest departure to Puli. I wandered along the road for a breakfast and then came back to the station 10 minutes before departure time.
At that time, there were so many people and few buses started appearing, and there were also several bus signs indicating bus number and its destinations. People already queued up near the bus sign. But there was no clear information whether a certain bus was going to make stop in Puli on their way to Sun Moon Lake. So, I asked the busy and screaming guy and he pointed me to a bus stand, while I notice the bus number and the one in the schedule was mismatched. The guy could not speak fluently English, but he assured me that one went to Paper Dome in his own way. Many other foreign tourists were also confused and did not get any satisfying answer (another bad customer experience by Nantou Bus). There were just so many things I would like to ask but they either very busy or could not understand my saying. Perfect!
Being a stubborn girl that I was, I asked other tourist just in case they went to the same place as I did. Finally, there was a girl yelling “Taomikeng”, she spoke Chinese and got the answer from the yelling guy, and she was directed to the same bus stop as I was. I felt a bit of relief by then. At least there was someone on the bus that was going to stop midway (same as I did).
Tips:
At that time, there were so many people and few buses started appearing, and there were also several bus signs indicating bus number and its destinations. People already queued up near the bus sign. But there was no clear information whether a certain bus was going to make stop in Puli on their way to Sun Moon Lake. So, I asked the busy and screaming guy and he pointed me to a bus stand, while I notice the bus number and the one in the schedule was mismatched. The guy could not speak fluently English, but he assured me that one went to Paper Dome in his own way. Many other foreign tourists were also confused and did not get any satisfying answer (another bad customer experience by Nantou Bus). There were just so many things I would like to ask but they either very busy or could not understand my saying. Perfect!
Being a stubborn girl that I was, I asked other tourist just in case they went to the same place as I did. Finally, there was a girl yelling “Taomikeng”, she spoke Chinese and got the answer from the yelling guy, and she was directed to the same bus stop as I was. I felt a bit of relief by then. At least there was someone on the bus that was going to stop midway (same as I did).
Tips:
- If you decide to go with Nantou Bus, at least use a day before (preferably during daylight) to ask anything you want to the ticketing guy to its detail. I think with most of the passengers departs in the morning, the ticketing guy will have more time to answer inquiries. Don’t be intimidated by his attitude or less-than-accommodating attitude. You travel very far away, spend your time and money to enjoy Sun Moon Lake. Thus, you are deserved all the information you required to make sure you won’t get lost and enjoy Sun Moon Lake.
- If you still get less than satisfying answer, don’t be ashamed to ask another foreign passenger.
- But, it’s the best if you can get answer beforehand by doing research on the internet. I emailed Nantou Bus once asking about one the packages (which I didn’t end up buying) and the response was quite prompt.
- Research beforehand about: Which ticket should suit your itinerary, make sure it includes return ticket (if you want to go back to Taichung on the same day), the timetable of the Taichung -SML- Taichung, The Bus Stop, what attraction do you want to see around the lake, and where do you want to have lunch in the area.
That Sun Moon Lake Day Tour – Paper Dome in Puli (Taomikeng)
About after almost an hour ride, I arrived at Paper Dome in Puli. The bus stopped right on the right side of the main highway and I walked about 10 minutes to get to the Paper Dome.
Like I always mentioned before, I love unique architecture. That was why I visited the paper dome. The history of the Paper dome was unbelievable. During Japanese earthquake in 1995 in Kobe, Architect Shigeru Ban along with millions other volunteer around the country help renovate buildings that were heavy damaged by the Quake. Shigeru Ban used cardboard tubes which weight less than 60 kilograms but able to support weight up to 1500 kilograms each to rebuild Takatori Catholic Church. However, as the number of residence continued to grow, the church decided to replace the structure with concrete one and decided that the memorable paper church to be preserved in Nantou (Puli) which was severely hit by powerful earthquakes in 1999 (source: round taiwan round)
Paper dome is giant hollow paper tube supported by total 58 tubes, 5 meters in height. The diameter is 33 centimeters and the thickness of the paper is about 1,5 centimeters. The tubes are coated with external water-resistant paper covering made in Puli.
The paper dome park complex did not only display the Paper Dome. it also had extensive garden and parks as well as restaurant. So, it was more like a education and recreation park. I only stayed there about 45 minutes because I had to catch a bus from Puli to Sun Moon Lake.
Like I always mentioned before, I love unique architecture. That was why I visited the paper dome. The history of the Paper dome was unbelievable. During Japanese earthquake in 1995 in Kobe, Architect Shigeru Ban along with millions other volunteer around the country help renovate buildings that were heavy damaged by the Quake. Shigeru Ban used cardboard tubes which weight less than 60 kilograms but able to support weight up to 1500 kilograms each to rebuild Takatori Catholic Church. However, as the number of residence continued to grow, the church decided to replace the structure with concrete one and decided that the memorable paper church to be preserved in Nantou (Puli) which was severely hit by powerful earthquakes in 1999 (source: round taiwan round)
Paper dome is giant hollow paper tube supported by total 58 tubes, 5 meters in height. The diameter is 33 centimeters and the thickness of the paper is about 1,5 centimeters. The tubes are coated with external water-resistant paper covering made in Puli.
The paper dome park complex did not only display the Paper Dome. it also had extensive garden and parks as well as restaurant. So, it was more like a education and recreation park. I only stayed there about 45 minutes because I had to catch a bus from Puli to Sun Moon Lake.
That Paper dome
 The paper tube used in Paper Dome |  Restaurant in Paper dome complex |
Lotus pond in Paper Dome recreation park
That Sun Moon Lake Day Tour
After about 45 minutes enjoying Paper Dome, I went back to the same bus stop to catch a bus to Sun Moon Lake (SML). I understood that not all of Nantou Bus make a stop in Puli. Some of them go directly to Sun Moon Lake. But according to the bus schedule that was given to me, at about 10 am there should be Nantou bus stopped at Paper Dome. I caught several buses and waved my hand for them to stop even after 30 minutes without result (Another disappointing experience from Nantou Bus). Finally, sometime before 11 am a bus dropped a passenger in Paper Dome and I hopped in. About 1,5 hours had been wasted by then. I arrived at around 12 pm in Sun Moon Lake.
I arrived at Shuishe Visitor Center. When I got down from the bus, so many people offered a boat ride around the Lake. There was also an old lady working for Nantou Bus offered to give free boat ticket around the lake, which actually part of the pass. So, she tore/mark the boat coupon on my SML pass and she gave me the ferry ticket. This ticket is given separately and only for the boat as an exchange for the coupon.
I was then so hungry and decided to explore the visitor center for a nice hot meal and stopped at MOS Burger. In Japan’s MOS burger I tried the veggie one, the usual bun with veggie and mushroom filling. Here in Taiwan, I love that they have the rice bun. It’s basically rounded sticky rice (glutinous rice like those used in sushi) as a bun, with sautéed vegetable as fillings. I felt like I ate rice with Capjay (Chinese sautéed vegetable) in a burger way!!! I love every bite of it and I repeated it for the rest of my journey in Taiwan, haha…
I arrived at Shuishe Visitor Center. When I got down from the bus, so many people offered a boat ride around the Lake. There was also an old lady working for Nantou Bus offered to give free boat ticket around the lake, which actually part of the pass. So, she tore/mark the boat coupon on my SML pass and she gave me the ferry ticket. This ticket is given separately and only for the boat as an exchange for the coupon.
I was then so hungry and decided to explore the visitor center for a nice hot meal and stopped at MOS Burger. In Japan’s MOS burger I tried the veggie one, the usual bun with veggie and mushroom filling. Here in Taiwan, I love that they have the rice bun. It’s basically rounded sticky rice (glutinous rice like those used in sushi) as a bun, with sautéed vegetable as fillings. I felt like I ate rice with Capjay (Chinese sautéed vegetable) in a burger way!!! I love every bite of it and I repeated it for the rest of my journey in Taiwan, haha…
Glutinous Rice Burger with Sauteed Vegetable filling
After I had my lunch, it was already 1 pm. I then headed to the ferry dock near the Suishe visitor center. You have to ask direction to the customer service in the visitor center. There were only three ferry stops around the lake. They were Suishe Pier, Xuanguang Temple Pier, and Ita Thao Pier. I forget that to reach Cien Pagoda I needed to stop at Xuanguang Pier. I stopped and got down at Ita Thao Pier instead.
The boat ride was fine and not too bumpy. The lake was beautiful, and I enjoyed the ride although I missed the thrilling and excitement. I know better than to compare one lake to another. But, I think it’s safe to say that I have had a better lake experience than this one. The beautiful houses view on hills in Lake Lucern in Switzerland, the autumn foliage view in Lake Wanaka, The out-of-the world beauty of Lake Titicaca in Peru, The dramatic Fuji Mountain view on Lake Kawaguchiko.
I explored Ita Thao area including having a big lunch on a restaurant over there. After that, I continued the journey by taking a boat ride back to Suishe Visitor Center and took a bus ride back to Taichung.
All in all, although I had a better use of my coupons, I didn’t get the full adventure, exploration and experience of SML that day. I was upset that I missed Cien Pagoda and another trekking trail on SML. My advice, should you have only one day to explore Sun Moon Lake, hop on a coach tour, rent a car, or have a private tour. It will be more efficient to seize all the best spots SML has to offer. By using passes in busses or boat, you will be either rushed to match a certain bus time, or time spent on waiting for the bus or boat to pass.
The boat ride was fine and not too bumpy. The lake was beautiful, and I enjoyed the ride although I missed the thrilling and excitement. I know better than to compare one lake to another. But, I think it’s safe to say that I have had a better lake experience than this one. The beautiful houses view on hills in Lake Lucern in Switzerland, the autumn foliage view in Lake Wanaka, The out-of-the world beauty of Lake Titicaca in Peru, The dramatic Fuji Mountain view on Lake Kawaguchiko.
I explored Ita Thao area including having a big lunch on a restaurant over there. After that, I continued the journey by taking a boat ride back to Suishe Visitor Center and took a bus ride back to Taichung.
All in all, although I had a better use of my coupons, I didn’t get the full adventure, exploration and experience of SML that day. I was upset that I missed Cien Pagoda and another trekking trail on SML. My advice, should you have only one day to explore Sun Moon Lake, hop on a coach tour, rent a car, or have a private tour. It will be more efficient to seize all the best spots SML has to offer. By using passes in busses or boat, you will be either rushed to match a certain bus time, or time spent on waiting for the bus or boat to pass.
View of Xuanguang Pier
 Ita Thao Dock |  Random View in Ita Thao Pier |
Taichung Park
I arrived at Taichung at 5 pm and decided to kill time by exploring Taichung Park. This park has a lot potential that apparently went undeveloped and need serious maintenance.
 That red bridge in Taichung Park  Another bridge in Taichung Park |  Fishes on the Pond inside Taichung Park |
There are always good time and gloomy time on your travel and in your life. That one day in Sun Moon Lake is one of those days where my plan is not as i expected, and i learned a lot from it, I was not having a thorough assessment on Cien Pagoda and missed it big time. If i am to redo SML, i would definitely taking a tour and save my time waiting for the buses/boat to arrive. But, i really did enjoy visiting Paper Dome, I think that was the best part of the experience, after the Glutinous Rice Burger ;)
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