We woke up early this morning, the driver was supposed to pick us up at 9am. Breakfast was a hasty event at the MacDonald.

The driver (was another guy, not the one I talked and negotiated with) picked us up on time and we were on our way to the first location, Sun Moon Lake (SML).

The ride was around an hour, but what happened once we alighted was so fast I barely had time to take any picture. The auntie selling the boat tickets “hijacked” us from the moment I stepped off the cab,  pushed the boat tickets into our hands and rushed us into the boat which was about to leave the jetty.

As far as I know, there are three ports in SML. The one which we board the boat is 水社, and I have no idea what attraction is there. The boat took us to 玄光寺, and the guide on board briefly explained to us what we can see in SML and the place we were going. Along the way, we past a very small island 拉魯島 which is a no-go for tourists since the 921 earthquake. What we saw was some protesters on the island burning something.

We reached the jetty pretty quick and continued the journey on foot. First was the 玄光寺 which is just beside the jetty.

There is another 玄奘寺 which looked near enough on the map. Since the boatman told us that the boat will come every 20min, we decide to make full use of the trip and go to this 玄奘寺.

As you can see, the path there is no walk in the park. The weather is very cooling but we were sweating by the time we reached 玄奘寺. Apparently, 唐憎 walked this same path, so i kept this in mind as we both refused to give up.

The walk was worth it though. 玄奘寺 is much more scenic than 玄光寺 and since its much higher, the view from it is also further.

The walk down was less tiring but when we reached the jetty, the boat for 12 noon had already left. So we ended up taking some pictures to kill time.

We reached the next jetty but as the driver was hurrying us, we only had time to buy one sausage to eat on the way.

The next place that the driver brought us to was 文武廟.

And then lunch. The driver brought us to this small eatery on his own accord, i didn’t know if we could trust him on this.

But once we see the dishes being served, we knew he brought us to a nice place.

Fried pork with plenty of onions.

Mushrooms.

Lake prawns with lemon.

After lunch, it was done for SML. Next venue is

埔里 wine factory. Although this venue was quite recommended to drop by while on the way to 清境, I find the whole place too commercialized.

Majority of the factory was destroyed during the earthquake, but then tourists were not allowed to see much of the factory anyway. Most people just come into this mini exhibition hall to buy stuffs made of or related to the most famous local product 花凋酒.

Even ice cream is made with 花凋酒 in it.

The driver then drove us to our resort style 民宿 at 清境.

清境 is located in a mountainous area, resorts of all styles filled the sides of the road. And it is especially freezing up there!

As one of the main attractions there is sheep herding and shearing, so our resort has plenty of these.

We actually chose one for our souvenir. Can either pick the medium size or the smaller one with transformation ability, haha.