We saw no aborigines on Alishan, so we traveled to Nantou's （南投）Sun Moon Lake（日月潭）with the hope of visiting both the famous lake itself and the Aboriginal Village（九族文化村）. The latter is similar to the park that Jingmin, Joseph and I had visited in Yunnan early this year, where small enclaves of native tribes actually reside and thus offer us a glimpse into their respective lifestyles. However, due to miscalculations and time constraints, we had to drop the Village from our itinerary.
Sun Moon Lake is the largest lake in Taiwan, and I had much preferred it to Alishan for its captivating beauty. Well, at least in the winter season. We toured the various scenic spots by boat, which include floating homes, lake islands and temples. There is a pagoda atop a hill, and we were told that it was built by Chiang Kai Shek at the advice of a geomancer to safeguard Taiwan. We covered the circumference of the lake before heading back for the jetty.
Our ride on a tour bus from Nantou back to Taipei had been a long nightmare of 5 hours, fraught with traffic jams and highway drama. For more entertainment, I watched 2 outrageous and stupid films on the bus, and one of them was so gory that it had completely dampened my mood that night. Nonetheless, all prospective visitors to Taiwan should never give Sun Moon Lake a miss!
Happy Birthday, Andrew!
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