It's Time for Taiwan! Day 5

Day 5: Sun Moon Lake Sunrise, Cingjing

We woke up really early and met the boss with several other ppls staying at the minsu at 5.30am.

This was a special program by the minsu boss to show guests the beautiful sunrise and surroundings that place had.

He gave us a special tea pack to fill our water bottle with. No need to put hot water he said. Just cold water would be enough. He told us to just put it in the water bottle before setting off.

So we did, and after like 15min of walking up this little hill, we took out our water bottles and saw this colour! Tasted the tea and its really fragrant I must say.

And then the boss told us that only he is allowed into this area for watching sunrise...

Simply because, they own the tea plantation around there. So the tea is black tea harvested from his own plantation. hahaha. rich boss.

Does the cluster of hills look like a crouching tiger to u? I can't really tell but he said that the ppl there says it is..

Different views from around the area.

Was walking back while we passed by this huge moth which was nicely stucked onto the ground like a specimen.

This house is for storing tea leaves. The wood is of special material and can prevent the tea leaves from becoming damp! Mother nature!

After a long walk down we had our free breakfast prepared by the minsu. Just some simple eggs, ham and bread. And tea to go with it.

LL decided to buy their tea leaves after trying the one we had in the morning. It was quite expensive. But ok la since its of good quality I guess.

There was still some time before we set off for Cingjing, so we decided to take the ferry around Sun Moon Lake. Bought the tix from the minsu and it costs lesser than if u buy if directly from the vendor. If I never rmb wrongly it should be NT 150 per person

The ferry takes u to 2 spots. From the harbour, it goes to an island with a temple, and Ita Thao, and then back to the harbour again.

We alighted at the island. And found that theres really nth unless u wanna climb up the steps WHICH WAS VERY HIGH up to the temple. So we waited for the next ferry and went to Ita Thao.

At least Ita Thao has more things. But again, the shops were really quiet. (I wonder if cos its a weekday?) But we decided to buy some black tea egg and icecream.

Made of one of Sun Moon Lake's most popular ingredient black tea, this icecream tastes different from the normal icecreams we have. Its not that sweet, and it feels healthier. But I wouldn't buy it again next time ahahah. 

Ok then after we took the ferry back and went to get our bags from the minsu before heading off at around 12+ for the bus to the bus station before changing another bus to Cingjing.

There was still some time before the bus came, so we decided on a nearby KFC. ITS SO MUCH NICER THAN SG's. The chicken wasn't like our oily oily ones. Its really nice. And the fries were different, and NICE. Just delicious.

Ok after that we took a 1h+ busride, up the mountains (it was sooo scary cos the mountain was so high, much higher than the usual Genting I normally go to), and finally reached Cingjing. We had to walk a few mins to our minsu:

Tadah! Our Wonderland! We had to walk a long flight of stairs to our room. And I felt really breathless. LL says its cos we are on a high altitude thats why. Do u know how breathless I felt after climbing the steps which is about 2-3 stories? Almost heart stopping. No kidding.

But the room looked great. And is sooooo spacious!

And the view here was just tooo awesome.

Wanted Starry Minsu at first but couldnt book it. So settled for Misting Minsu. But this was awesome in its own way too so I'm glad we came here.

It was around 4+ when we settled in. So after resting awhile, we decided to go to Carton King for dinner as we have to take a ride down in the evening to go for hotsprings!

First time seeing a restaurant with everything made up of carton. Unbelievable.

I had this Hokkaido Shabu Shabu set. WHICH WAS AWESOME!

I really luved my food.

Clockwise from bottom left: rice, jelly, meat, sauce for the meat. The jelly was especially gd!

LL's pork chop set.

It was such a hearty meal, and at 6+ we met the driver who drove us down to Lushan, which was at the foot of the mountain, for hotsprings. Cos we were still full, he took us sightseeing along the way. Too dark to take any photos, until we reached Lushan. He took us to the old street for a walk.

This is a bridge which was scary to walk on. My first time walking on a real suspension bridge which has a stream below u. Shaky ok. real shaky.

Bought some rose vinegar and cherry blossom vinegar while we were walking there...

Ok and then the driver brought us to the hotel

There were 2 levels. One is the only the pool with hotsprings. 

The other level has interesting facilities like the massage areas etc. 

And on our way back, he brought us to Old England for some phototaking!

And u know what, I read online that this area is off limits for ppl who don't stay here. But we managed to snap photos. Know why? cos the driver has a farm and house just beside it... and thus he has the authority to go in just like that. Cool huh? Just our luck to have him as our driver! Another rich man we met while on this trip ahaha.

Ok so after this we were dead tired, and the next morning, we had to meet the driver again at 4.30am for sunrise at Hehuanshan.

*by the way, the program to Lushan and Hehuanshan was arranged with the minsu. Its all clearly stated on their website so if ur interested, just go to their website and take a look.