Terrific Taiwan

Last holidays, Poo Poo Rocket said:" 你好台湾 Nihao Taiwan!" This fascinating island is located north of the Philippines and east of the Chinese coast. 

Source: go2taiwan.net

We first landed at Taipei International Airport and drove straight to Taichung, the starting point of our fun-filled journey across this stunning island. But not before we made a quick trip to the bustling night market in 台中 Taichung, where we savoured stinky tofu, a famous (and notorious!) local delicacy. The tofu was scrumptious and not too smelly after all! 

How to eat smelly tofu - pinch your nose and chew!

From Taichung, we began our adventure through the Central Cross Island Highway that cuts through the imposing mountains of Taiwan. Amazingly, the highway was built largely by hand by soldiers who had come from China, fleeing the communist government. During our trip, we stayed in different bed-and-breakfast inns called 民俗 minsu. Being much smaller than hotels, they were more charming. Every minsu is different as each owner adds his or her special touch to these cosy abodes. One minsu in Cingjing had the most adorable animal hosts who made us feel very welcome indeed! 

This Cingjing minsu had the cutest hosts!

Our first scenic stop was 彩虹村 Rainbow Village , a small cluster of houses adorned with crazy and bright drawings by a sprightly 92 year-old former soldier, Mr Huang. Apparently, he painted the houses in the hope of persuading the government not to tear them down. Upon entering Rainbow Village, you are greeted by a myriad of colours! No corner is untouched by art. The stunning village has attracted droves of admirers and sight-seers for years! We even had the pleasure of meeting the talented artist himself!

Meeting Mr Huang, the talented artist!!!

Don't miss this chance to visit a living, breathing art gallery! We rate Rainbow Village 5 Poo-Poo Rockets. 

From Rainbow Village to 妖怪村 Monsters Village...Monsters...? This next attraction may sound scary, but it's actually fun and delightful. Monsters Village is like an amusement park with a monster and demon theme. There are cute and funny statues everywhere you go, even a post box that looks like it was scared out of its wits. My dad also found a bottle of beer named after Kumar, the resident monster!

Just some of the monsters at Monsters Village!

There are also various shops selling Taiwanese snacks, including one that serves traditional sticky rice in a bamboo tube. No cutlery was provided, so guess how we ate our rice! A section of the tube is to be removed and used as the spoon! 

How to eat the glutinous rice!

How cool and environmental is that? We rate Monsters Village 4 Poo Poo Rockets. 

We retired that night to a welcoming lodge called the 溪头青年活动中心 Xitou Youth Activity Centre. We had specially chosen this place as our mother had stayed in this very hostel when she was all of 15 years old on an overseas school trip years ago! To be able to return after what seemed like an eternity was especially exciting for Mama! The lodge is nestled amidst thick forests with imposing tall trees and is a great place to enjoy nature at its best. 

You stay in small wooden huts with no air-conditioning as the weather there is really cool due to the high altitude.

 We took short hikes around the area to admire the wide variety of flora and fauna, and stunning vistas. 

One special attraction in this area is the sea of clouds (云海 yunhai), which is a breathtaking view of low-hanging clouds surrounding the mountains. The sea of clouds makes the mountain peaks look like little islands. 

The Sea of Clouds. 

 We rate Xitou 5 Poo-Poo rockets. 

Later, we travelled to 日月潭 Sun Moon Lake. This lake earned its bizarre name because it is shaped like a sun and a crescent moon stuck together. It is an extremely large lake - one needs to take ferries to get around. We took a boat to an aboriginal village on the other shore of the lake called 伊达邵 Itha Thao. The village seemed like a tiny fisherman's port, but we ended up eating crepes and bean curd instead of seafood. 

That night, we stayed at another minsu in the mountains of 清境Cingjing. The supposed attraction here was 清境农场 Cingjing Farm, which had sheep and horses in an environment fashioned after New Zealand pastures.

Unfortunately, the farm was disappointing. Uncivilised tourists tried sitting on the sheep and lifting them up over their heads. The poor sheep were very frightened and made loud noises in protest. In a nutshell, we don't consider Cingjing Farm a must-do, and we rate it only 1 Poo-Poo Rocket. 

After leaving Cingjing, we headed further uphill to one of the highest points in central Taiwan, 合欢山 Hehuanshan. Brrrr! If you are planning to go there, don't forget to pack your thick coats and jackets! The temperature on the mountain is 6 degrees celsius! Look at the view from the top! 

Coming down from the peak, we admired the oldest tree in that area, the 碧绿神木 Bilu Shenmu Heavenly Tree. It is believed to be more than 1000 years old! The tree trunk is so thick that you can barely hug half of it! 

The Heavenly Tree!

 We rate Hehuanshan 5 Poo-Poo Rockets. 

But that's not the end of our amazing Taiwan holiday. There's still lots more to come in our next post where we head to a rocky beach, a hot spring and a grand old museum. Stay tuned!