On the 3rd day of our Taiwan trip, we joined a tour with KKday called the Shiding Thousand Island Lake, Ba Gua Tea Garden and Shiding Old Street 1-Day Tour.
It’s not far from Taipei but it sure looks like a world away.
Getting There:
Locals usually drive to visit these sights as they’re not easily accessible by public transportation. Which is why we opted to join a tour instead.
As mentioned, I booked via KKday. It’s a sightseeing tour where you get the chance to see a beautiful lake and check out actual tea plantations. A wonderful break from the busy city scene in Taipei.
The ride took around an hour. For those traveling with kids, note that the van doesn’t provide car seats so bring your own if you wish. I brought our Mifold, which is a portable booster seat, perfect for traveling!
Shiding Thousand Island Lake
Upon arriving at the site, we were joined with another group from another van. We followed their driver, who served as our guide. He took us for a short walk to reach this view point.
You can climb up this contraption to get a better view (although honestly, it didn’t really make a big diff haha!)
What a beautiful sight seeing these little patches of land surrounded by turquoise waters and covered in lush greens. According to the description at the website, this area was formed by the surrounding Feitsui Reservoir and Beishi River, which makes it look as though there are many mountains huddled together.
Ba Gua Tea Gardens
We went back to the van and was brought over to our next stop: The Ba Gua Tea Gardens.
You won’t be allowed to walk through the tea plantations themselves (sorry to those hoping for an IG-worthy photo of themselves walking through the fields!) but you’ll be able to see them from the view point.
And don’t fret. If you angle your camera properly, you can get a different kind tea plantation photo here at the view point, just like we did on the photo above! Haha.
There was an outdoor cafe selling all kinds of hot and cold drinks. Luke wanted a chocolate milkshake and I obliged. He’s been a wonderful travel companion after all. 😀
It was also my bribe to get him to pose for me for the photos. Nyehe.
Jingualiao Fish & Fern Watching Trail
Our itinerary called for a 30-minute hike to see different kinds of birds, fishes and plants. However, because the weather was hot and it was already noon time, we were pretty pooped by this point.
We asked our driver if we could just wait in the car and skip this one out but he said he could actually drive us to the meeting point where we could wait for the rest of the group. That’s where he was going to wait as well. Haha! Yay. So that’s what we did.
We were brought to the end of this bridge where the group would end their trail. After taking a few snaps, we had time to actually sit down and have lunch.
Note that lunch isn’t included in this tour and because the itinerary was packed, you wouldn’t have time to eat. But because we skipped the hike, we were able to have one.
Shiding Old Street
Our last stop was at Shiding Old Street. It’s a little town with 300 years of history. We spent an hour and a half leisurely exploring the area.
The place is famous for their Tofu Ice Cream so we didn’t pass up the opportunity to try it! Luke is averse to anything that looks milky so he vehemently declined my proddings to try it. Haha! It was really good though; like frozen soy milk!
We walked around to explore the area and check out the different small shops.
Luke had fun running around and turning the whole area into an obstacle course. (Look at the stressed look on my brother’s face at the back, trying to keep up with this kid. Haha!)
More obstacle courses. 😀 He was happily roaming and laughing while the elderly adults, a.k.a. us (hahaha jk,) were just sitting and chilling.
Eventually, I had to grab and trap him in a ticklish embrace. Hehehe.
Later on, our driver arrived and met up with us to drive us back home to Taipei. We arrived back at the Taipei Station at around a little past 3pm. And that concludes our tour!
Things to Know About the Tour:
- Not all the drivers serve as guides. The driver of our van was not one. But once we were at the stops, we were joined with another group and the driver of that group served as the guide for everyone.
- The drivers speak Mandarin and only very little English. If you wanna chat with them, you need to brush up on your basic Mandarin!
- Lunch is NOT included in the tour. However, we were each given a box of snacks which included around 4-5 different kinds of breads. If you’re not picky, I mean if you’re just after having something to bite, that is definitely more than enough for lunch!
- There’s a lot of walking. Take note when planning to go with kids. Also, make sure you wear proper footwear.
- It can get hot so come prepared. Wear light clothing, bring a face towel or lots of tissue, or better yet, go when the weather is cooler.
Don’t forget to book via KKday to get the best price for a hassle-free tour!
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