December 13, 2023 – Puli – Sun Moon Lake – 25kms – Song He Homestay

December 15, 2023 – Sun Moon Lake circle tour – 35kms- Song He Homestay

The 30 km cycling route around Sun Moon lake was one of my very favourite bike rides. A third of the route follows  a beautiful paved bike path that dives down to the lake shore and then climbs back up into the high jungle as it winds around the lake. Much of the path is elevated above the forest floor and you feel like you’re flying through the huge stands of bamboo and broad leaf tropical trees. The road sections were also magical as they swung up, down and around hairpin curves to visit temples along the way.

We were serenaded along the way by a number of birds, but the haunting call of the Taiwan Barbet was my favourite. We followed their calls until we finally glimpsed them high up in a tree. The Chinese name translates as five colour bird, for its rainbow plumage.  We also saw several small troupes of wild monkeys.  They were hard to miss as they crashed through the foliage.

We were not alone on our cycling journey around the lake.  There are literally hundreds of rental bikes available in the two towns on the lakeshore.  We did notice, however, that once we were a couple of kilometres from town the number of other bikes dropped to a trickle.  It seems that Taiwan is taking a “build it and they will come” approach to cycling.  There is lots of cycling infrastructure throughout the country, but comparatively few cyclists going further than a few blocks.  We have yet to see any other touring foreigners, and only a handful of Taiwanese.  We are grateful and appreciative of the cycling infrastructure, even if few others are using it.