Thursday, July 12, 2018

Taiwan: Day 2 (Cingjing)

We were going up to Cingjing on the second day of our trip. We had signed up a package with Starry A Plus 遊台灣 whereby we would have a driver to drive us up to Cingjing from Taichung, to give us some tour and one night stay at Starry House. Honestly, I highly recommend this package if you are going to Cingjing with just two persons as hiring a private charter will be costly and taking a bus will be too tiring.

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That morning, we had our host to drive us to Taoyuan train station. We had bought 2 one-way THSR tickets from Taoyuan to Taichung from Klook which cost us RM122. Yes, it was hassle-free and no complication during the redemption.

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The tour guide, Xiao Chen, was already waiting for us at Taichung train station. He had texted me earlier to introduce himself through WeChat even way before we flew to Taiwan. He would be driving us to a few places while on the way to Cingjing.

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The first stop was Sun Moon Lake. He brought us to this spot where we can enjoy the view from a distance. There was a café so we had a drink and dessert. Xiao Chen was really nice to give us a treat.

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We then took a boat ride to the other side where Xuanguang Temple is before we explored around the place to have our lunch.

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Xiao Chen recommended this bun and yes, it was really delicious and filling too.

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He then later drove us to another location, Feeling 18 where it sells really good chocolate and will give out free chocolate samples. You can buy gelato next to it. Just across the street, you can get free tea if you bring your own bottle.

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Our next destination was Cingjing Farm. This place is great for those who love fresh air and greenery. We are able to see sheep up close and interact with them. By interacting, we are just feeding them. We then went to watch the horse riding show which is originally from Mongolia before Xiao Chen drove us to Starry House. It is a circular theatre with seating for us to enjoy the show. The acrobats were really skillful.

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Back in the Starry House, we had a lovely host and a cozy room. My brother stayed in this place during his last visit to Cingjing. Same goes to another friend of mine. And yes, I did not regret choosing this place. It is highly recommended but it is not easy to reach this place using a public transport.

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Starry House prepared dinner for their guests too. I think most of the guest houses in Cingjing do that. We had steamboat that night and it’s lovely. Why? Having steamboat in the cold night. Sweet!

As we signed up a separate package mini tour through Xiao Chen, we had to sleep early as needed to wake up reaaaaally early to hike up the mountain higher to watch starry night as well as sunrise.

Stay tuned!

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