We woke up early in the morning before 6am (we were told by the owner that sunrise was 6.30am but realised it was closer to 6am when we Googled about it ourselves) and followed the directions he gave us the night before, to reach a path just next to the homestay. Both of us did not have a good night’s sleep due to the tiredness from the first day and stuffy noses from the chilly night but still, we were thinking, “Anything for sunrise!” The little boy was as usual chirpy and excited to walk outside.

The air was fresh and cooling. We passed by some tea plantations, admired it for a while and soon got to the end of the pathway, where we were supposed to witness the sunrise.

We stood and waited and kept waiting for about 10 minutes. Unfortunately, the morning was misty/cloudy so we ended up seeing nothing.

Nevertheless, it was still a refreshing experience to wake up and stroll around the mountainous area early in the morning together as a family. We were on an elevated path and could see the settlements below. It was quite nice to be standing at the edge and just view the scenery and Dar had a good run down the path. As we strolled, there was also a mist passing through the mountains.

We then returned to the homestay, where its exterior was as nicely decorated as its interiors, thus living up to its name as a ‘garden’. While Dar and Cat were admiring the scenery and ambience ourside, I went into the main hall to brew some Alishan tea, before sitting by the table beside the fence outdoors and overlooking the mountains. What a fantastic way to relax and enjoy the peacefulness and serenity of nature!

We returned to our room to pack our luggage, before having our breakfast in the main hall and anticipating the arrival of our hired driver. Meanwhile, Dar decided to do some drawing on the notebook we had prepared for him before the trip.

Knowing that it would be close to a 4-hour car drive from the homestay to Sun Moon Lake, we braced ourselves for a long ride. It would probably be a good chance to catch up on our sleep too, since we had woken up so early that morning.

As for the prepaid 3G SIM Card that our booked driver had bought for me, it was not a microSIM card so I had to cut it to size before it could be inserted into my iPhone. Dar also complained of a  stomachache on our way downhill but soon discovered that he was probably just having some gas in his stomach when we stopped somewhere for a toilet.

We were also stopped once again by the roadblock downhill and had to delay for 30 minutes before we could go on. Along the way to Sun Moon Lake, our booked driver asked if we wanted to visit the other places of interests we passed by but we rejected all of them, since we did not want to waste any more time, given that our time at Sun Moon Lake was already limited due to the long traveling time.

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[   BREAKFAST   ]

Breakfast: Alishan Tea Garden Homestay 茶香花園民宿

After washing up from our early morning walk and packing up our luggage, we headed out to the main hall for our breakfast, where the owner took out their freshly made breakfast from the kitchen to our table. Each set consisted of toasts, bacon, spaghetti and salad with tasty corn soup. This was our first home stay breakfast so it had left a good and deep impression on us, especially when we could admire the scenery just outside the doors and windows while we ate.

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Taiwan 30Oct to 6Nov 2012: Day 2 Sun Moon Lake Itinerary

• Morning Alishan Tea Garden Homestay
• Shueishe Pier at Sun Moon Lake / Ita Thao
• Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village
• Sun Moon Lake Restaurant
• Homestay B&B – Doris Home

Read More on Taiwan Itinerary 2012: 8-day Taiwan Itinerary (Chiayi, Taipei, Hualien, Nantou)

Read our Summary Itinerary Post for Taiwan Nov 2018 Yilan | Taipei : 5-Day Taiwan Trip Itinerary: Nature and Fun