I have listed the 4 attractions that are great for visits if you are strapped for time with just 2 days 1 night and prefer more of a budget spending.

Directions

I arrived at Taipei for 1 night before heading to  Nantou.

To do so simply board the High Sped Rail (HSR) 台灣高鐵 at Taipei Main Station to Taichung HSR station. The journey is fast and takes about an hour.
Plenty of train frequencies and thus no need to pre-book, just purchase tickets on the spot. You may even choose free-seating tickets, cheaper, but comes with the risk of not having a seat. However, that is highly unlikely for HSR. Most locals choose free-seating tickets.

Reaching Taichung HSR, follow the signage to find Nantou Bus 南投客運 all the way at level 1 exit 5. Upon reaching you will spot a small counter — the one and only — operated by them. 

Purchase your Bus tickets.

Spot the queue for the tickets

CheCheng Station車埕火车站

Japanese Influences

Sun Moon Lake is a gorgeous and fun place I wished I had more time to explore when I was there last July. I had only a night's stay, but would strongly recommend 2 nights' stay to fully explore at your own leisure.
With so much to see,  one day is too much of a hurry to enjoy really. 

Air, Land And Water Travels

Travelling around the SML is easy with plenty of choices — air, land, water. You have it all. With the SML Nantou Pass, you can enjoy exclusive round-island bus ride, hop on and off on ferry and a round-trip on the cable car! Or even better, as the locals recommend, cycle round the island along those designated cycling pathways —  which I missed — to take in the sights of the lovely lake 360 degrees. 

You can simply rent a bicycle but from what I observed not everywhere has a cycle-way. You might still need to cycle on the main roads along certain parts of the journey.

Other Alternatives from Kkday a travel service provider from Taiwan:
(To maximise your time, hire a private driver in Sun Moon Lake)
( 1 Day guided Tour around Sun Moon Lake in English)
(Cycle around Sun Moon Lake )

Round-Island Bus

I missed the chance to hop on and off the bus but here's the schedule. Seriously, 2 nights might have been sufficient to visit all the other attractions. Unfortunately, I do not have time to try out this bus. Taking the round-island bus is great because it brings you to certain locations like Ci En Pagoda, Wenyu temple, for which ferries don't reach.

Board a Ferry

From what I understand, accommodations are spread across Shui She Pier 水社码头 or Ita Thao Pier 伊达召码头. As for me, I stayed in Shui She Pier. Before I could board the ferry I had my pass ferry coupon exchanged for one of the operator's ferry ticket.  There are in fact many ferry operators so I guess whoever gets the coupons en-cash for money too.
With the buses, you have to note the timings, the ferries, however, come regularly and you only have to note the last ferry from your destination to whichever pier your accommodation is located. Just don't miss that!
Below is how the SML Nantou pass looks like.
(Get your 1 Day Ferry ticket with Kkday)

On the road towards Shui She Pier where you board the ferry.

And yes, it's a bustling sea of activities going on—what with the mass of China Chinese visitors. 

1. Xuan Guan Temple 玄光寺

It was a tight timeline and Xuan Guan Si was the first place to be. Clear bright skies at the Xuan Guan Pier. 

Perched atop a mini hill (?), the temple is within walking distance—obviously—via some flights of steps.  Can you see at the highest point? Partially covered by trees though. 

Step It Up, Step It Up

Looks like a serene, peaceful place? Anything but. The place was fully overflowing with China visitors. The scenic was indeed tranquil. If you can stop by to appreciate the greens without being jutted out of the way by them.

I was foreseeing long flights up, but thankfully, it was quite manageable and elderly should do just fine too. In about 5-10 minutes, you should be able to reach the main hall of the temple. 

Considered to be much faster than climbing up to Hong Kong's Big Buddha in Lantau Island.

It's a mini temple, simple and well maintained with devotees praying, but the serenity and peaceful was missing.
The premises surrounding the temple was not huge. 

 I would have loved to stick around and appreciate the architecture and scenic longer if the crowd was not as intense — on taking photos! 

It's almost mandatory that anyone on the island must not leave without having these eggs. There is only 1 such stall there right near the pier. You will not miss it. The queue though long, was fast moving. 'Ah Ma' simply means Grandma and this stall is famous for their Grandma-recipe tealeaf boiled eggs.

So a selfie with the landmark before I leave. Too many people hogging the stones. Phew. 

2. Ita Thao Pier 

This pier is the most happening of all, with plenty of food snacks along the street. I would strongly recommend you to spend up to half a day or more.

This is also the pier to be if you want to catch the cable car up to the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village 九族文化村. It was raining cats and dogs when I was there and thus I was not able to take many photos but you can always trust the snack street if you are hungry. Plenty of food there and it's just a short walk to the pier. At this pier, there's also a Tourism Centre, help is available. 

It was quite a walk to reach the cable car station so don't arrive too late for the ride. Budget about 15 mins.

Fill Up Your Stomach

《劉山哥石板烤肉》
This is the first store at the corner and there's a huge Jay Chou face pasted on the banners. They sell a variety of pork sausages, hotplate pork and the Red tea bamboo half spring chicken ( the last 2 respectively at NT100 each).
Closed on Weds and Thurs.10am–7pm.

《啊布莎梦安》

I apologise for not being able to capture the appearance of the store because it was really pouring and there were no shelters in the middle of the road. Even an umbrella cannot prevent the drench. 

Basically, this stall sells barbeque meat sticks too and the mochi appearance is quite catching, to say the least.  

The mochi were skillfully toasted by the bosses on the fire grill repeatedly till crisp and golden on the outside, before chopped up into blocks in a bag. You may then choose from a range of flavors from original, seaweed, curry, peanut etc. 

Really tangy-chewy and not overly sweet when coated with the flavorings of your choice. 

3. Formosan Aboriginal Village (FBV)

九族文化村

After alighting at Ita Thao Pier in the afternoon, I made a quick walk towards the cable car terminal located at the further end of the pier, for FBV which sadly closes very early in the evenings. FBV is an amusement theme park but not just fun rides, but is also a highly educational site whereby visitors can learn about the origins and lifestyles of Taiwan's nine aboriginal tribes and enjoy tribal, traditional performances.
Note: The cable car's operating hours are 1600 and 1630 on weekdays and weekends respectively. So you can imagine, it will be rushing unless you reach there early in the morning, which I strongly recommend you to do so. But because I had only planned for a day in Sun Moon Lake, I had to cramp all the visits unfortunately.

Upon alight at the pier, look out for this blue and white building and there you will spot the long line of skyline cable cars. Walk around the perimeter and look out for directional signs which will lead you to the terminal. The walk takes about 20mins.

Names of the various tribes for exaple this shows the exhibition lifestyle area for the Atayal tribe in Taiwan. All these 9 aboriginal tribes are still in exsistence in present-day Taiwan.

If you want to spend time riding the rides, be at the Formosan Village early.

Below is the Aladdin Pavilion.

Look out for the Roman Fountain, the centrepiece of the garden with its gorgeous floras. 

Ritz Palace Restaurant, a famous photo spot.

Official website (english)

Enjoy your day out at Sun Moon Lake.

Email me if you have any questions or leave a comment below. 

What is?

GaoMei wetlands 高美濕地 is a nature reserve akin to Singapore's Sungei Buloh. Filled with natural resources and enriched with a vast biodiversity. There was once more than 120 over species of birds over at this wetlands and is still considered as an important conservation area in Taichung, Taiwan. Every Autumn/Winter there will be numerous species of birds flocking over to the wetlands seeking shelter for the change in seasons. 

Rediscovered Again

Interestingly, this secret hideout. previously unknown and unheard of even to the locals, became famous overnight when it appeared in Taiwanese singer Jam Hsiao's "Burning Piano" video.  However, Jam Hsiao was eventually fined was filming at the location "illegally" as he did not obtain approval prior. 
Now many, locals and overseas visitors flock over to visit this scenic, picturesque location, perfect for that Instagram-envy shot. 

Colorful Sunsets and Windmills

On good days, you can witness beautiful sunset/sunrise and this was also part of the reason why I was there — chasing the hues of sunsets. However, on that day, it was way too cloudy. Luck was not on our side and the sun went into hiding.

As with everything weather, things were really hard to predict. we enjoyed the bright hot sun throughout the day ( as you can see from Post 1 to 4 of Play! Outskirt Taichung) but came to the finale in the evening and the sun got covered up by the clouds.. :( 

Below is the only capture of a peek of the sun before it went into hiding by the clouds. 

Special features are the turbine generated windmills at the far end. 

Walk The Trail

Ever since Gao Mei garnered much attention from the public, to allow more visitors to experience the beauty and appreciate the untouched nature of the wetland, a planked walkway has been built exclusively for visitors to walk around.

Symbolism of the wetland are these mudskippers which can be spotted easily,

Sedges can be spotted growing as you enter the wetland. Wild geese too if you are lucky. 

Experience Walking

A little treat came at the end of the trail when you are able to take off your shoes and walk on the soft sands. Rest assured your feet won't come out dirty in fact, I saw many coming up from the sand walk and exclaimed how surprised they were to find that their feet remain clean. 

Famished?

If you are hungry after the walk, there are many snacks stalls around to fill up the void :)
The guide recommended this Ah Mah's stall and we had sausages. See the black piece of thing she was preparing below? That's 猪血糕 literally pig's blood, a local snack loved by many.


There's a whole stretch of snack stalls famed for their BBQ fresh squids, caught near the sea nearby and were cheaper than other locations sold.

Address: Gaomei Rd, Qingshui District, Taichung City, Taiwan 436
台中縣清水鎮大甲溪南岸

http://www.gaomei.com.tw/

Most visitors go up via taxis. In my upcoming posts, I will list the contacts of the driver whom I engaged for this trip.

Directions

 I stumbled upon their official website and they listed the ways for public transport
http://www.gaomei.com.tw/traffic-public/ :