Epilogue (September 2000)

As I finish preparing my travelogue from our 1998-1999 journey for publication, now nearly two years after the trip, I can't help but look back on the Sun Moon Lake portion of our journey and realize that it can never be the same for us or anyone else.

On September 21, 1999 a killer earthquake struck Taiwan. Ground zero was very near Puli and Sun Moon Lake. In the town of Puli, 98% of the buildings were destroyed. The beautiful new hotel we stayed in was destroyed.

Sun Moon Lake was similarly damaged. The lakeside hotel we stayed in fell into the lake. The small temple on the island was also destroyed. Many of the rides in the aboriginal village we damaged and the park was closed. The temple with the stone lions suffered serious structural damage. One whole mountain in the area was totally obliterated.

Even the city of Taichung was seriously damaged.

Thousands of lives were lost.

Taiwan is still re-building in the devastated areas, and it will be many years before Sun Moon Lake reclaims its position as the number one tourist area in Taiwan.