The Taiwan post - a preview

So, I was going to write a nice, long, detailed blog post about traveling through Taiwan. Kind of like a condensed Lonely Planet guide to the country. I spent almost a year and a half living there and feel that it is definitely under-rated as a travel destination. But, time constraints this week have put the kibosh on that plan. So instead, I'm giving you the reader a preview to next week's blog post. I'm going to do a quick profile of one of the more beautiful spots in the country, Sun Moon Lake.



Sun Moon Lake is a beautiful alpine lake located in the central section of the island. It is surrounded by lush, forest covered mountains on all sides. There is a small touristy village on one side of the lake, that contains the area's hotels and hostels, plus the area's famous pottery workshops.

I found that Sun Moon Lake is a great place to kick back and relax. It's a good retreat away from the hustle and bustle and non-stop activity of the Taiwanese cities. Sun Moon Lake is apparently only really packed with tourists during Taiwanese long weekends, so we had the good fortune of being there during the middle of the week.



A must do, is to take the afternoon-long boat cruise around the lake. The boat takes you around the lake, stopping at the numerous temples and pagodas that dot the hills surrounding its shores. Thankfully, our boat captain made sure that the ship's coolers were well stocked with Taiwan Pijo (the national beer), which made the afternoon even more enjoyable.



It is against the law to swim in Sun Moon Lake, except for the annual "Across the Lake" swim. No one I talked to could give me a reason why this was the case, except for the standard, "because the government says so." It's kind of a strange rule because the annual swim is much more dangerous than swimming on a regular day, as the year I was there four people died during the event. A little bit of stealthiness and this rule is easy to get around.

That's a quick preview of my next post, which will give the travel highlights for the beautiful island of Taiwan.