We had to find some accomodation near the Pitta location as we wanted to be able to return just in case we couldn’t find the Pitta in our first search. But there aren’t any hotels online nearby so we end in Xitou about one hour away. However a bonus is that nearby is another famous nature area that we can try for tomorrow as we have already seen the Pitta earlier. Entering the parking is easy when we tell them that we have hotel reservations and then it is time to check in.
This hotel is not as used to foreigners but we check in successfully and receive a room at the top floor with some nice views of the surrounding area.
We don’t have time to enjoy the room however, the restaurant is closing soon so we descend to it and try to order but are send to the other one in the building. It seems we always get the restaurant that is open but does not serve food to newcomers. At least the second restaurant is open and allows us to order and we get a fun looking tea to start.
Besides us there are no other people in the restaurant, all of them seem to be in the one that turned us away. It is quite surprising really, we wonder what is happening, maybe a party or something else?
When it is time to order food we do not get many options, just two. One is simply beans, they say they are a specialty and fresh, and the second is an eggplant dish. At least they are reasonably good and we are full at the end but not that full that we cannot explore the area a bit afterwards and see the fireflies.
The breakfast is buffet style as expected and quite good, we are surprised that there are far fewer foreigners here than at other tourist locations. Close to zero really.
We pick the same trail as the previous day towards Xitou Ecological area but intend to explore Monster Village first. It is a small area with accomodations and a shopping street created in the style of a Monster Village but with no actual monsters as far as we can see.
The shopping street is quite busy especially when we exit Xitou, there are lines for ice cream, cold drinks and other snacks while the souvenir stands are less popular. We take a look and buy a few gifts and then it is time to return to the hotel, pick up the car and then drive to the last attraction of the day the Sun Moon Lake.
