DAY 1
It has been 2 years since we visited Taiwan, so we took this opportunity in March to visit the places that we had missed on our last visit.
Upon touchdown, we proceed to the Lucky Draw counter at the Arrival Hall. Foreign independent travelers who hold foreign (non-ROC) passports must register at least 1 day before.
All three of us tried our luck, but it was over before we knew what happened, and none of us won any prize.
While waiting for the rental car counter to open at 9 am, we had a light breakfast at the Food Court in the airport.
For this trip, we booked Ching Bing car rental. They opened at 9 am sharp, retrieved our booking record, and brought the car over to the airport Arrival area.
We did a walk-around with the staff and recorded all defects of the car with our mobile phone and video camera. This is a necessary step to protect ourselves from being charged for damages not committed by us. We also had to place a NTD 10,000 security deposit with the rental company to cover the insurance excess in the event of serious damage or any traffic offences during the rental period. The deposit was returned to us after 3 months.
We made our way towards Nantou after signing for the car. Along the way, we stopped at this restaurant for their famous Urn-baked chicken.
The chicken came shortly after ordering. It was tasty.
Besides the chicken, we also ordered bittergourd.
And Shrimp fried eggs.
After lunch, we drove for another hour and arrived at Xitou Nature Education Area.
The ticket price.
Looking at the site map, we felt that the area was too big for us to cover and decided to give it a miss.
Instead, we headed over to the nearby Xitou Monster Village
Xitou Monster Village is a Japanese-style village, known for its quirky monster-themed decorations, red lanterns, and playful atmosphere
Fashion
Souvenirs
And restaurants are available here.
The main entrance to the Monster Village.
A Giant Lantern at the entrance.
We continued our journey and arrived at our Homestay – Plum Winery Guesthouse (奕青民宿). Parking is available at the front and side of the building.
The check-in office is about 200m down the road.
Our unit was on the 2nd Floor; luckily for us, there was a lift in the building.
The usual amenities were available in the room.
We booked the 3-bed unit.
The 3rd bed.
Big and clean Bathroom.
DAY 2
This is their Office, dining, and Wine cellar area.
A healthy breakfast was served every morning.
The place serves as a Winery, Restaurant, and Homestay.
From our Homestay, we drove 1 hour north and arrived at the main destination of the day – The Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. (九族文化村). The parking fee is 150NTD per car.
This is the ticket price for the Village.
As we had already pre-booked our tickets via Klook, we skipped the queue and proceeded to this counter to print out our entry tickets, which included a QR code on my phone. Our tickets include entry fees, cable car rides, and a cruise on the Sun Moon Lake.
These were the schedules for the shows on the day.
This is the Park map. As you can see, the place is quite big, and you can spend the whole day here.
There are two Rope ways, an amusement park with rides, a European garden, an Aboriginal Village Park featuring the nine tribes, and a museum. We arrived at the southern gate, where the European Garden is located.
The European Garden.
We were also in time for their Sakura Bloom Festival.
Sakura were blooming throughout the park.
The Amusement Park was next.
Aladdin Square.
Pirate Ship.
Train ride.
Hot Air Balloon ride.
And we decided to try out the Space Mountain Roller Coaster ride.
As we continued, we found many Aboriginal huts that promote handicraft lessons.
We also tried out the Archery court.
There is also an area that showcases the interior of the Aboriginal houses.
In general, they were made of bamboo.
The Sakura park. Many people were having a picnic here.
Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village displays of various tribes.
It’s time for the performance.
Performance by the various tribes.
This rock indicates the distribution of the tribes.
The museum.
We had a better understanding of all the different tribes after visiting this place.
We then proceeded to the Sun Moon Lake Cable Car Station.
We decided to board the pink car, which has a transparent glass bottom. It is available in one in four cars.
We were treated to the view of the village from high above.
We can also see most of Sun Moon Lake from up here.
From here, it’s a short 15-minute walk to the jetty for the Cruise ride.
After the cruise, we returned to the Village.
From the Sun Moon Lake station, we walked over to the Village Cable car station and took the car to the entrance.
On this ride, we were treated to the view of the Village.
We visited the souvenir shop before we left the village.
We then went to Ita Thao Shopping District for dinner. It was like a night market here, where there are many roadside stalls and restaurants.
First, we tried out the Nine Frogs cake on a stick. It was ok.
Then we tried out the Seafood stew, but it was not as good as I expected.
We then had milk tea to wash down our dinner.
After that, we drove back to our Apartment and called it a night.
