The Skeptic Traveler: Nantou County - Sun Moon Lake & Formosan Aboriginal Village

Three straight years in a row, I spent my Christmas vacation in Taiwan and every time I’m there it was always an idea of me visiting Nantou County. Sunny but still cold. The weather was perfect unlike Taipei always cloudy and drizzling every December. But don’t get me wrong I love Taipei. Its mountainous area makes it a perfect tourist destination. If you are a nature lover like me, you’re surely going to love the vibe and ambiance of Nantou.

How to get there:

If you are coming from Taichung TRA train station just look for the Nantou Bus to Sun Moon lake via Puli. The bus is located in Gancheng Bus Station which is a few minutes’ walk from the train station. Fare is about 195NTD one way but if your gonnapurchase a round trip Fare is 360NTD (the return ticket validity is up to 15days from the time you purchase the ticket).

Please see location below: The left picture is where the Gancheng Station from Taichung TRA (map) and the right picture is the bus terminal where you can buy your bus ticket.

Nantou Bus going to Sun Moon Lake via Puli

If you are coming from THSR Taichung station there is a Nantou bus leaving every hour going to Sun Moon Lake from 8:10AM to 20:10PM. Just go to exit 5 platform 3 and board Nantou bus #6670. The duration of travel is from 2-3hours depending on the trafficand you will alight at Shuishe Visitor Center Sun Moon Lake. Base from my experience, roaming around here cannot be done on a day tour. So what we did was to book a hotel for 3 days to enjoy and roam around the place. We alot one day for the Formasan Aboriginal Culture Village theme park, one day for hop-on hop-off boat tour around the sun moon lake and biking around the lake.

Roaming Around Sun Moon Lake

We chose a hotel near the ropeway going to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village theme park in Ita Thao Village. On our first day we went on to see the village via the Sun Moon Lake ropeway. The entrance is at the north side of the Ita Thao Village operating hours is from 10:30AM to 4:00PM. Be sure to purchase the unlimited ride of the ropeway plus the amusement park entrance about 800NTD. Please be sure to finish roaming around the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village by 4:00PM to avail the ride back to Ita Thao coz the ropeway closes at 4:00PMdue to the thick clouds covering the mountains.

ITA THAO VILLAGE AT SUN MOON LAKE

Sun Moon Lake Ropeway Cable Car (at the north side of ItaThao Village)

Sun Moon Lake ropeway going to Formosan Aboriginal Village

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village Theme Park

The theme park is divided into 3 main theme areas. If you are coming from the entrance gate after you ride the ropeway, the 1sttheme area that you will see is the Aboriginal Tribal Areas. The 2nd area is the Joy to the world area where you can enjoy rides like Caribbean Adventure, Taiwan’s tallest UFO Freefall (this is a must surely you will enjoy the ride going up and the drop) and a wide range of indoor rides. The 3rd area is the European Garden.

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village Entrance Gate

If you like to see the Taiwan’s Cherry Blossom Festival happening every February, you should go here. Thousands of Peony Cherry trees throughout Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village bloom radiantly.

This part of Formosan Aboriginal Village Theme Park will be filled with cherry blossom every February of each year. The pictures were taken at December.

Joy to the World Area

This is where you can enjoy the rides in the Formosan Aboriginal Village Theme park. A lot of rides to choose. The rides can be enjoyed by children up to adults. Me and my brother tried the UFO Adventure. Taiwan’s tallest free fall ride at 280 ft (85m). You need to experience this ride if you will visit this place. The ride going up and falling down was totally amazing.

This is the whole map of Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village Theme Park

European Garden

This is the part of the theme park where you can feel the European vibe. Here you can find the Ritz palace, a miniature train, roman fountain and a gothic clock tower.

ice cream inside the park

view at the cable car ropeway

Biking Around Sun Moon lake

Said to be one of the 10 Breathtaking cycling routes around the world by CNN news in 2012, me and my brother were able to experience biking around Sun Moon Lake. You can do the 12KM (7.5 miles) in-out section or cycle around the entire lake doing 29KM (18 miles). The view around the lake was amazing and legit breathtaking. You can rent a bike at Shuishe pier. Rent costs around 200NTD for 2 hours every weekends or holidays and till 8:00am - 5:00pm during weekdays.

See below pictures around the lake: