On the third day of our holidays in Taiwan, we encountered a bit of a misadventure. The plan for the day involved checking out from our Airbnb accommodation and catching the Kuo-Kuang bus to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) from the Taipei Bus Station. The location of this bus station was next to the Taipei Main Station. Although we could have taken the MRT from Ximen Station to Taipei Main Station, which was just one hop away, the idea of lugging our luggage all the way to the station did not appeal much to us. We opted instead for an Uber ride for a more comfortable journey.
However, to our surprise, the Uber driver took us to the wrong bus station. I had my Google Maps app on, and I could see us heading in the opposite direction of our intended destination. Frustratingly, the driver insisted on dropping us off at the City Hall Bus Station. By the time my son and daughter joined us from their separate Uber ride, it was already way past ten o'clock, and we had missed the Kuo-Kuang bus we initially planned to take.
Initially feeling defeated by this unexpected turn of events, we had to quickly implement Plan B. Our new itinerary involved taking the MRT from Taipei City Hall to Banqiao (thankfully a direct connection, no need to change line), followed by a High-Speed Rail (HSR) journey to Taichung. From Taichung, we then boarded a bus to reach Sun Moon Lake. Throughout this journey, we had to carry our luggage with us everywhere.
By two o'clock, we finally arrived at Shuishe (水社), a village on the northern shores of the lake. Shuishe is one of 13 villages that make up the town of Yuchi (魚池鄕). After a short 10-minute walk, we reached the Yue Lake Backpackers Hostel where we registered with the on-duty staff. Very friendly and helpful guy, giving us tips on our transport arrangements. As our room wasn't ready yet, we left our luggage there and went back to Shuishe to look for lunch. Finally entered our room around 3.30 pm after a series of walks between the hostel and Shuishe.
Our day continued with more walking as we decided to take a boat ride to Ita Thao (伊達邵) on the opposite side of the lake. While there was no night market in the area, there was a thriving day market. However by six o'clock when the last boat departed from Ita Thao, taking all visitors away, the shops will call it a day. We purchased our food from the stalls there, took that last boat back to Shuishe, and enjoyed our meal as we strolled through the semi-deserted streets of this small village.
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