Taiwan - Day 2 (15 Sep 08)

To Fo Guang Shan (Light of Buddha Mountain)
- Cross the TRA platform (TWD 6)
- Walk towards the Kaohsiung old Station (museum) to the Kaohsiung Bus station
- Purchase bus ticket to Fo Guang Shan (TWD 77)





The driver was very patient with the elderly and local folks carrying bulky items but he was not as tolerant with us, tourist. He got impatient when we took about 1 min to search for the tickets that we were supposed to hand over to him upon alighting. We really didn’t know cos someone has already checked our tickets when we boarded the bus at the station. But he was quick to divert his attention to a very young and sexy mother with her son.



Foguangshan is one of the world's most important Buddhist centers. The 40m high golden Buddha is surrounded by 480 smaller Buddha, all replicas of the Great Buddha.

The huge Buddha can be seen from afar and it’s also an indication to alight. The bus stop is at a shop house in a little village at the foot of Foguangshan.

Foguangshan monastery is the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. We manage to cover most of the sites under the ridiculous hot water except for the Buddha Tooth Relic Shrine cos it’s closed to the public on Monday!

One of the must visit site is definitely the Pure Land Cave. This tacky place is like our Haw Par Villa except instead of the eighteen hells, they built the excellence and beauty of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss which is a Cave of great Bodhisattvas of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, as well as the great Arhats, the Buddha’s ten great disciples, and others. Whether it’s the eighteen hells or the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, it has the same effect of frightening people so that we will not dare to do evil deeds.







On our way out of Foguangshan, we stopped by a convenient store to buy drinks. James took out a 100 dollar note which was refused by the cashier. It took us a while to realize that we have given a 100 dollar Thai baht! Haha… other than the picture of country’s president, both 100 dollar currency notes looked identical.

We had initially wanted to proceed to Cishan of sweet treats and Old Street but the next bus is scheduled to come an hour later. Having nothing much to do at the quiet little village, we decided to head back to Kaohsiung main station but the next bus to arrive was also an hour later. We were stranded. Lesson learnt: check the bus schedule!



After some wasted hours, we were back at Kaohsiung bus station. Our next stop is Dream Mall, a landmark in Taiwan and the first mega-shopping center in Asia.

Took MRT to Kaisyuan station (TWD 25) and catch the shutter bus to Dream Mall.

We had the most satisfying Jap meal (just TWD 550) and took the Hello Kitty Ferris wheel.















MRT to Famosa Boulevard station



Liuho night market




More Pictures - Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Event of the day:
Nantou Lushan Kirei Hot Spring Hotel (綺麗大飯店) collapsed.