After a few hours of bus journey, we arrived in heaven. That's what I would describe Cingjing. Cingjing is located in Nantou county which lies in the centre of Taiwan. The mountainous area makes it perfect for just chilling, doing nothing at all, watching stars at night, feeding sheeps and goats and enjoying the cool weather (24°C).
I had booked myself a room at Shangrila Hanging Garden & Resort after chancing upon it on the brochures from the Taiwan visitors' centre.The pictures were stunning and so was the real thing! It lives up to its name and beauty, but the pictures must be pretty old now as they have built a shelter over the stairway and the trees have grown so much that they cover its side view and it's impossible to take a shot like the one on the website.
It was slightly past 3pm, we checked in and was led to a room on the very top at the attic. The whole place seems to be in accordance with the wooden theme, yet with a bit of an elegant touch. There are cute handmade sheep figurines, plenty of teddy bears and a huge dog living under the same roof. The staff was exceptionally hearty and remembered my name throughout the stay, I was really impressed! The room was tiny, with soft bouncing-perfect twin beds. The beds were right under the low walls of the attic so we risked our heads getting bumps in the morning, and I decided to sleep facing the other way round. The room though small was well-equipped, it had a fan, TV, table, coffee & tea and a private bathroom which had literally no wallking space.
I was pleased. Everything seemed perfect. I would not regret or gave up anything to skip Cingjing for sure, that few hours of bus was worth investing. We sorted ourselves out, then headed out for a walk around the surrounding... There were plenty of lovely places to stay nearby too and each with their own unique style and a panoramic view of the amazing mountain scenery. It was then we felt our stomaches growling and decided to head to 7-11 for quick fixes, there were a couple nearby and there was no issue finding food when needed. I sure began to love 7-11.
Right besides 7-11, there was this honey store where they exhibited the bee-making-honey process and a paper museum named Carton King Creativity Park accompanied with a paper themed restaurant and a park named 小瑞士。I had the honey ice-cream as my dessert and it was a pleasant surprise! It was really so good that I couldn't bear to finish it... It tasted just like the real honey melted in your mouth, and the fragrance had overpowered my senses. It was a very sweet feeling, just like falling in love :) Friends are telling me to import them now!It had started to rain by then, so we just hanged around till it stopped. I didn't go to 小瑞士 though, BS wasn't keen and I guess it wouldn't be fun without anyone snapping photos for me. We got back, and we watched TV till we knocked out... BS went out to shoot some pictures, whilst I stayed in and tested my strawberry hair curlers (left overnight) :)
At probably 5am, I heard BS leaving the room, he had gone out to snap the sun rise. So I sat up on my bed and peeked out of the window. The morning was chilly, my hair was curly, and dawn was breaking in... It was serene and a beautiful morning. I went back to bed and when BS got back, we went down for breakfast. It was buffet style and a really nice spread; there were coffee, a few types of tea, milk, soft drinks, cereals, porridge, hams, eggs, mushrooms, fruits, salad, breads with butter or jam (brown, green, purple and black!) and probably more that I couldn't remember. It was a great start... then we saw someone who looked like Angela!
The plan for the day was to visit the Cingjing farm (@ Green green grassland), there was a 20-30 minutes trail to follow from where we were staying. The hardest climb was the 步步高升 which consists of 487 steps to the top, there we walked along a nature path and bypassed many adorable fluffy rabbits with almost no eyes to get to the entrance of the farm. The admission was cheap... but the downside was that the sheeps and goats weren't allowed to roam around due to precaution against disease outbreak. It was a letdown but I just had to see them even if I couldn't touch them! :)We saw the goats behind the fence first, and tried to feed them with grass! It was fun. I love nature... I feel so at home everytime! After the goats, there was only greens and mountains, no sheeps in sight... except probably from a faraway farm. I was getting a little disappointed, but decided to head further to see what the farm offered. There was also pony or horse riding, but I didn't try it because the space for the riding was so confined. There was this musical sheep castle, wonder what they used it for, it was empty except for a souvenir shop but it was a great spot for pictures.
Cingjing is truly enchanting... I will even consider having a B&B here! With the perfect weather, lots of greens, sheeps and easy access of 7-11, tell me why not? We walked and walked, enjoyed the beautiful greenery, nice blue sky... Then to my surprise, BS pointed out sheeps to me! I was thrilled!! I rushed forward to see a lining up of sheeps' backsides. Obviously they weren't that keen to meet me huh, but I found one feeding very near the fence and we took pictures :)
I was satisfied, even though there was no touching involved... but someday I will be able to! That was almost it, we had seen what we could at the farm... We went for some food and sheep souvenir shopping (for myself, of course). On the way back, we fed the rabbits!! Look at her (I guess it's her), she is a darling, isn't she!!
We went to the nearby malls to check out restaurants and more souvenirs. Well there wasn't much to do there anymore! It was impossible to walk down the road to look at further places as it wasn't safe, there were signs to prohibit walking down the winding road. Then on the way back to the resort, rain started to pour. We stayed in to watch TV, and then it was still pouring, so I decided we should have dinner at the resort instead. It wasn't cheap but for great comfort, it was worth it :) It was salad buffet dinner. Then more TV till I fell asleep. That night, BS went out to take pictures again, I opened my eyes on my bed and was stunned to see the sparkles. I sat up, peered out of the window, it was pitch dark up there but it was dotted with many many diamonds, I couldn't count. But I just stared in awe.
The next morning, I woke up with great reluctance to leave this place! I had breakfast with heavy heart, just thinking of how lovely it would be if I had a week here! Then we did a last minute looking around before checking out. The 1 hour bus journey down to Puli made me nauseous (too much winding down the road), my motion sickness was back. Fortunately, it did not persist during my 4.5 hours bus journey to Taipei, it was a comfortable ride with TV and big chair... and I fell asleep.
It was 6ish in the evening we arrived back in Taipei.
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