I woke up early on the morning of the 18th to this incredible view.  We slept amongst the clouds and I am completely and utterly charmed by the simplicity and absolute breathtaking scenery of undulating mountain peaks on all sides.  Our B&B is the cutest little B&B in the area with the most gracious hosts.  They loaded us full of good food and plied us with literature and information on the area.  I highly recommend staying here.  We will most certainly return.

Norse Forest Homestay   Phone # 049 2980 0431 

We got another early start on the day at 9am.  I could barely face the thought of getting back on the bike after yesterday’s adventures but the fantastic mountain scenery and fresh mountain air soon woke me up.  We were treated to terraced orchards of rose apple, snow pear, cherry and plum trees.  Pink blossoming cherry tree orchards and white plum trees dot the ethereal green and blue landscape.   It looks like a picture from a book. 

We drove for twenty minutes down through mountains and stopped for awhile to gawk at all the tourists at  Ching Jing Farm, which is the main tourist attraction in the area.  Apparently, being able to walk on the grass amongst the sheep and cattle grazing on the mountain side is a real novelty for the Taiwanese.  We couldn’t understand the attraction, especially when sharing it with hundreds of others doing the same thing.  The crowds of people kind of spoiled the scenery a bit and we admired from afar but decided not to stop.  That’s the beauty of traveling by bike.  Throughout the entire trip we were able to pull over, take a break and snap some pictures pretty much anywhere we pleased.  We knew there would be plenty of these opportunities down the road. 

7-11 breakfast on the go.  We ate in the parking lot and marveled at all the idiots trying to drive the wrong way in the parking lot and then we hopped back on the bike with our sights set on Sun Moon Lake.

We just had to stop and sample some of the locally grown fruit.  John bought me a snow pear for a late evening snack.  It was as good as it looked.  We chatted with the local vendors for awhile.  They were astounded by John’s great height and wanted to know what he ate.  John constantly draws stares and comments no matter where we are.  Most people think his great height is quite charming and often want to have their picture taken with him.  I constantly watch people sneak up behind him when he’s not looking to measure themselves against him.  He’s 6′9.

Our ride down out of the mountains to Puli was terrific and our energy bounced back as the sun warmed our backs.  We passed mountain reservoirs and lakes and found hidden temples everywhere.  Puli is dead in the center of Taiwan.  It’s a gorgeous little city just north of Sun Moon Lake.  I would have liked more time to explore the area better.  Puli is famous for its air and water quality.  I particularly loved looking at all the terraced rice paddies, orchards and flower gardens.  We’ve both decided that we are going to come back here at a later date to explore a bit more.