The buffet at the La Lu Hotel surpassed any I’ve ever experienced, and that is saying a lot. The choices were endless and delicious. I tried several foods for the first time including loofah. Prior to this trip I only thought of a loofah as something to wash with. But Ivy Chen explained that if you pick it when it is young, it is edible and used a lot in Taiwanese cuisine. I can’t say I loved it, but it was edible.
We departed Sun Moon Lake and made a dash for the Old Mountain Line Railbike Tour in Miaoli. They have strict policies about arriving on time and we had cut it close. Fortunately, traffic was light, and we made it with minutes to spare. It’s an odd tourist attraction. Passengers ride in a miniature train outfitted with pedals for each of the four passengers. However, the cars are electrified so there is no pedaling. You ride for about 20 minutes through tropical vegetation and a tunnel lit up like a Disney ride. You get off, hang out at a tourist ghetto for 45 minutes, then return the way you came. I was unimpressed. The most exciting part of the ride was that Tristan’s seatbelt malfunctioned and he couldn’t get it unbuckled. The attendants came with scissors and cut the belt to release him.
The story of the railway line is that it was originally built by the Japanese for mining purposes. An earthquake destroyed it, and the railway line was abandoned. We saw one of the demolished bridges. Some entrepreneurial person decided this would make an excellent tourist attraction and refurbished it.
Leaving the area we traveled through lush rice fields, much of it ready for harvesting. We stopped for lunch at a local noodle house in a small town. The amount of food was insane, and insanely delicious. The total cost for lunch was about $10 for Tristan and me and it was only that expensive because we wanted to try everything.
We then headed to our hotel, The One Nanyuan Land of Retreat & Wellness located in Xinpu. The area is renowned for its stunning mountain landscapes, rice fields and fresh produce such as citrus and Asian pear. It is also full of history and culture, where the majority of residents are of Hakka ethnicity, a Han Chinese sub-group. The hotel only has twenty rooms. It’s exclusive and expensive, not the type of place I normally stay at. But the tour operator had arranged it, and I was glad we came. The architecture is stunning. Tristan went on a 90-minute guided walk through the property. I stayed behind and chilled.
Pre-dinner we were treated to a musical performance on a Guzheng, a stringed instrument. Then came the many course dinner. The emphasis is on healthy and local foods. There was an entire book explaining what we were eating, how it was prepared and what to be aware of when eating it. The food was incredible.
After dinner there was a wine tasting and “vinyl” jazz concert.