After breakfast in the hotel, we'll head higher still, across the island's mountainous spine. While the drive is long, we'll take many breaks for sightseeing, photography, and soaking in panoramic views. We'll stop to touch the trunk of the Bilu sacred tree, said to date back to biblical times. After reaching the top, we'll descend into the valley, reaching magical Sun Moon Lake, the island's largest and most pristine body of water.

Yesterday was about travel, so today is about staying put and exploring Sun Moon Lake to the fullest. We'll travel across the lake on a pleasure boat, hike through a magnificent grove of climbing bamboo, and visit the serene Xuanguang temple, a major pilgrimage site for followers of the Buddhist faith. We'll have great meals, and do a cycling trip around the lake (listed as one of the top ten cycling routes in the world by CNN Travel) before heading back to our lake view hotel.

On the journey's fourth day we'll say goodbye to Sun Moon Lake and head deeper into the mountains. Our goal for the day is the Alishan scenic area, but the landscape through which we'll be passing is so beautiful that we'll take our time, stopping for a tribal meal with a great view first followed by a visit to a well known tea farm, where we'll walk a trail passing through some of Taiwan's most beloved tea fields. Once we get to Alishan, we'll take a ride on the narrow gauge Alishan mountain rail before checking in at Alishan house hotel.

It's the final day of the tour, and you'll want to get up early to enjoy the sunrise in Alishan, for it's only at this time of day that you'll be treated to a view of the "sea of clouds" for which the area is justly known. The morning will be taken up by hiking through the high mountain forests of the area, including past a cypress tree that's said to be a thousand years old. After lunch, we'll head to a tea house called Alishanwin for tea with tremendous views before heading back to Taipei City.