Click here to read from the first post of this travel log!π
Day 3: In the vicinity of Sun Moon Lake
6 October 2023, Friday
For hotel guests staying >2 nights (over the weekdays), they provided a 3rd option for selection - Fried rice with chicken (and so we ordered 2 sets of this new variation & 1 vegetarian set to fill our greens for the day).
With Typhoon Koinu out of Taiwan, everything was back in operations & we could finally take the ferry out to the opposite pier, Shuishe Pier.
How cute are these frogs!! π·
The pier & accompanying views.
Alighted at Shuishe Pier and went back to the terminal stop to catch a bus to our 1st stop of the day - Hohocha!
Hohocha εεθΆ
Map: No. 443-36θ, Yuchi St, Yuchi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan 555
We actually bought these tickets in advance online (via KKday) and they came with the admission + drinking tea experience + drink/ice-cream vouchers.
So on the 2nd level, we had to walk through the gift shop to the end of it to get to the 3rd floor for this tea drinking experience. Each ticket holder is entitled to 1 Tea Egg, 1 cup of tea and a tea biscuit. π
The tea eggs were so good... we had to get one more each for later in the day. We were stuffed at this point - I mean, think about it, having such a hearty breakfast then having all these snacks within the hour or so. ROFL.
Take a walk around the area and you'll spot tea plantations everywhere.
Its such a tea town, that you'll see tea-related information/shops everywhere.
Moving off from Hohocha's bus-stop, we took a bus to ζ‘η±³ε.
After a short walk, we found one of our planned itinerary places.
Nina Chocolate Dream Castle ε¨ε·§ε
εε€’ζ³εε ‘
Map: No. 32θ, Taomi Rd, Puli Township, Nantou County, Taiwan 545
Was quite excited for this one, the exterior is really pretty. Definitely a pretty good picture place. π·
They even have a costume rental section (unsure if its a paid service) but cool.
There were some interactive machines at the exhibition floor which required you to scan your admission tickets for free chocolate - but it was likely that the machines were a little faulty - in the sense that the machines can't read the barcode (it keeps saying that it had been used). Bi's ticket managed to work at one of the machines after a couple of tries but mine didn't. Eventually, the staff just gave the chocolates to us in place of the machine. π
We didn't get to do much there since we couldn't catch the guided tour (due to the timing availability) and we didn't want to buy chocolates - but we did get a cooler bag each for free. π
Paper Dome η΄ζε
Map: 545, Taiwan, Nantou County, Puli Township, ζ‘η±³ε··52-12θ
Just a couple of minutes away lies another small attraction known as Paper Dome.
According to the official website (link), this church is "held up by 58 paper columns and even the bench chairs in the church are made using paper".
Not too sure if it was the impact of covid on tourism, but the place looked like it lacked maintenance - especially the pond area.
After much walking, we finally had some space in our tummies for lunch.
δΈιι¦ηδ»ι-ειεΊ
Map: No. 23-11θ, Taomi Rd, Puli Township, Nantou County, Taiwan 545
After lunch, we decided to make our way back to Shuishe Pier since the buses here end their operations pretty early. While waiting for the bus in the drizzle, we were checking out the bus timetable and realised, we were in fact, waiting for the last bus that stops at ζ‘η±³ε to get back to Sun Moon Lake (it was only 3 p.m).
When we reached Shuishe, we somehow just decided that we would just take the earlier ferry back to Itathao - I guess we didn't want to be in the last bus/ferry situation again, so might as well just go back earlier.
While we alighted from the ferry, the captain was handing out ice-cream discount coupons - so why not grab yet another ice-cream for the day. One thing I love about this place is, their tea products are really good.
We also got the fried chicken that we spotted the day before (but had no tummy space to fill) and had it together with our mochi from day 1.
Since we ended the day so early, I completed the other Bandai Pokemon figurine while we watched Taiwanese tv.
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