A ride around the Sun Moon Lake Day 12

https://bit.ly/2BEsmZy

Today I took it slow. Had breakfast at 11 in the hostel. I had already put some work into the upcoming days as it seemed a bit difficult with the hotels due to New Year. I asked Dana, who works at the reception, if he could help me by calling directly and asking if they still have a room available. The result of the whole action was that I booked my accommodations until January 1st, 2019 and only paid half price for all rooms. Incredible. I will spend New Year in the mountains :-)

My day started between 1 pm and 2 pm with a tour around the lake. It's very touristy here, so I didn't visit the individual temples. But I didn't miss out on a lookout tower and bell tower on one of the highest points around the lake. The view could have been better, but after an estimated 900 steps, the view was worth it.

On the last stretch, I passed by a house in a small village where two women were eating ice cream in the yard. Proper ice cream cones with scoops...I haven't seen that in a long time. I stopped and started talking to the vendor. The people here by the lake all rely on tourism and have a basic knowledge of English. The two girls joined us as well. At some point, one of them asked if I knew that the lake is famous for the ground moving when you jump on it. I, of course, had never heard of it. The end of the story, an Australian woman who was still outside, the three of us, and the vendor's husband rode bicycles and scooters to one of the spots and he showed us the phenomenon. It's a former lake that has been drained but still has enough water. Sort of like a swamp. In any case, it's another crazy coincidence that everything unfolded from. I finished my ride and heard from Dana that there are a total of 4 Germans in the hostel now. I haven't met that many in the past 2 weeks. Tomorrow it's time to pack again and move on. Having realized today that my trip is nearing its end, I'm feeling a bit sad and reflective about it. I'm still mentally far away from home, and this might be the first sign that I'm slowly getting closer again.

Greetings to everyone