Renting another car
When I arrived in Taichung, I had a look around for car rental companies hoping I would be able to rent a car on the spot. I went to one rental company, that rejected me as I could not speak Chinese and didn’t have a local driver’s license, which was ironic considering I had just driven the entire length of the country in a Tesla! I wasn’t ready to give up, so I tried another rental company where I had to wait around for around 30 minutes as there was no one there and I didn’t have a sim that could make phone calls to call the number. Eventually a family in a rental car arrived to drop off their car followed by an employee of the rental company. Only one problem, the employee couldn’t speak English (and I couldn’t speak Chinese). After waiting for the family to return their car, I communicated with the employee using Google translate, and was able to rent the car that had just been returned for the day on my international driver’s license.
Renting a car solved 2 problems, it meant I was more mobile around Taichung, giving me the ability to go to Sun Moon Lake as I wanted, and it meant I had somewhere to store my bags rather than booking a hotel earlier and leaving them there. This meant I could go straight to Sun Moon Lake not wasting any time and organise accommodation for the night when I returned to the city later.
Going to Sun Moon Lake
After leaving the rental store, I proceeded to make the drive to Sun Moon Lake. The road there was like what I had experienced in the rest of Taiwan, filled with mountains, long bridges, and long tunnels. Only this time, my car wasn’t as flash. Nonetheless, I was able to make it to Sun Moon Lake safely. I didn’t really know much about the area when I arrived. I decided to park at the Xuanguang Temple. The weather wasn’t perfect, but I was able to get some great drone shots of the temple which was surrounded by Sun Moon Lake, as well as walk around and admire the views of this enormous lake that is surrounded by temples. There was even a local band playing at the nearby wharf, adding to the atmosphere of the place.
On the way back, I stopped by then Xiangshan visitor centre; a place I had passed on the way. The building had some very interesting architecture which I enjoyed walking around as well as seeing another angle of Sun Moon Lake. At the Xiangshan visitor centre, I enjoyed some matcha cake and tea before heading back to Taichung City, driving around the Lake on the way back.
Taichung Nightlife
After getting back from Sun Moon Lake, it was getting late, so I decided I would need to organise some accommodation. I booked a hotel room that only cost around $25 for the night which got upgraded for free to a double room with 2 queen beds – not that I was going to need them. I was quite surprised to find that my room was so nice despite only paying $25 for it.
After checking into my hotel, I drove over to the Feng Chia night market. I quite enjoyed this market, as it was less crowded than other night markets I have been to in other cities, and still had some great food. I had some Xiao long bao, fried mushrooms (which were delicious), and a freshly made mango juice. After walking around the market for a little while, I decided to head back to my hotel for the night.
