Thursday, May 01, 2014

Taiwan Day 3 part 1 - 薰衣草森林

07-Apr - Woke up to a cool morning as the 民宿 owner brought up her home cooked breakfast to our room. This time, our breakfast consist of soya milk, burgers and glass jelly!

Yummy breakfast again =)

As we packed our luggage and bid farewell to 剑湖山 and 望民宿, I was kind of worried on how do we get to the 斗六 train station to catch our next train to 台中. Despite the research I have done, I just got to know that the public bus transport that I am planning to take does not pass-by the 剑湖山世界主题乐园 bus-stop until after lunch! I certainly do not have the luxury of time to wait as I have booked a day cab and instructed it to arrive at our 台中 hotel at 1300! Luckily, upon hearing our problem, the 民宿 owner offered to drive us to the 斗六 train station at a minimum fee. =)

As we arrived in 台中, it was still too early to check in. We decided to deposit our luggage at the hotel, eat our lunch and off we go to explore the 台中 surrounding in a cab!

The hotel we stayed in 台中 - Park City Hotel with Dove shower foam and shampoo!

Our lunch - 鲁肉饭 and 火鸡肉饭

The cab driver that was driving us today was quite experienced and accommodating. As he was driving us to the places we wanted to go, he will stop by local attractions or eateries along the way and introduced us to them. Soon we arrived at our first unplanned stop - 大坑地震公园. This park was built to commemorate the 921 Taiwan earthquake which happened in 1999. Some of the earthquake destruction marks are retained in the park itself.

Part of the original tar road beside the tree which was uprooted in the 921 Taiwan earthquake


大坑地震公园
 
Next, the driver stopped by a local famous dessert store and introduced to us the yam ice kachang, which became our second unplanned stop for the day.
 
The yam ice kachang shop
 
The locally famous yam ice kachang itself. The taste was not bad!
 
After we are done with the dessert, it is time to head off into the mountains to our first destination - 薰衣草森林. The lavender cottage was originally opened by 2 ladies who have a dream of one day owning their own lavender field in a quiet place where people can unwind themselves. As their venture grows, it soon become one of the must visit destination for the tourists coming to 台中.
 
薰衣草森林 entrance
 
Split road just after the entrance
 
Lavender cultivation
 
Nice place to relax and enjoy the scenery
 
Beautiful landscape
 
View from the top of a viewing platform
 
Beautiful landscape again
 
Drink stalls at the bottom of slope serving lavender theme drinks for travelers to relax
 
The highest point of the lavender cottage - Wishing Tree
 
Nice scenery again =)

幸福信箱
 
花园广场
 
Lavender boutique shop
 
with a Lavender teddy bear!

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