Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2023 Spring Asia Cruises I - Holland America Westerdam Singapore to Yokohama

March 6, 2023 (Monday) - Kaohsiung, Taiwan

After Puerto Princesa in the Philippines, our stop at Boracay was cancelled due to high wind. That was a real disappointment because I was really looking forward to be at this renowned beach town. Then a day in Manila which I do not have any photos of that stop. If interested, you may see our video for that day here. 

When we gathered at 6:50 for the exit at 7:00, almost everyone was there except Ed and Linda. Cheryl helped me called them and they said they did not realize the change of time. Oh well, what about the post-it note? Once we got everyone there we went down to the terminal and waited for Scott and the bus. What happened was Scott had to notify the bus driver for the time change, and they went to the new terminal instead. So it took a while for them to get to us at terminal 9, the older terminal. Well, we did not get to see the new terminal after all. Scott and the bus arrived a little past 8:00 and we left as soon as possible. First to the Lotus Pond, which I was glad we got to go. It’s quite an attractive place and made a good impression for the group. We spent about an hour there before heading over to Fo Guan Shan. There we spent a couple of hours and had lunch of vegetarian food before leaving for our trip back to port. This is a huge establishment and an impressive place to visit. One member told me she was glad that we visited both places that was on the ship excursion but for a much cheaper price. On our way back, we went past the city center, Love River, and then to the Art Center near the port. Scott went and got bubble tea for everyone but some people were just too anxious to get back on board so we just had the bus went back to port and Scott had to run back with all 30 some cups of bubble tea back to port. Poor guy! At the end of the day, we all felt that we had a good day in port and everyone was happy of the excursion.

I am feeling much better than the day before but MOR probably got cold while watching the ship leave port on deck 9. He came back with the chills and he said he has a temperature. After dinner, he took a couple of NyQuil and went right to bed. He slept through until the morning.

Our ship and the Regent were the two cruise ships that they welcomed back on their first day of reopening the port after the pandemic. It was also the opening day of the new port terminal in Kaohsiung but, unfortunately, Regent took the honor of docking at the new facility instead of us. We ended up at the old terminal and that was what messed us up on this day. Our bus went to the new terminal while we waited at the old terminal and it took them a while to get over because of the traffic jam there. We lost almost an hour to begin with as the bus picked us up a little past 8:00 but all was well afterward.

We were welcomed with martial art performance at Kaohsiung port.

Very impressive!

Our guide for the day. He said he had lived in Canada for a while before moving back to Taiwan.

Our group of 34. Scott took good care of us.

Lotus Pond

I was certainly glad that we got to visit this place because while communicating, Scott thought that we might not have enough time since this is kind of out of the way. I think after the change of lunch time, it made sense to drop by here first before we get to Fo Guan Shan later in the morning.

This is part of the Shoushan National Nature Park.

The Tiger and Dragon Pagodas on Lotus Pond.

Entering through the mouth of the dragon.

These sculptures inside reminded me of Tiger Balm Garden in Hong Kong, where they depict scenes of people being punished after death if they did not behave while living on earth.

On the other side of the pond is the Spring and Autumn Pavilions which we did not get close to.

Beautiful pond!

Entering the dragon's throat and out of the tiger's mouth is said to bring good fortune.

Across from the pagodas is the Tzouying Tzu Chi Palace.

Fo Guan Shan

Fo Guan Shan is on the eastern edge of Kaohsiung city before crossing the Kaoping River to Pingtung County. This is the major attraction in Kaohsiung and for our day there. Some called it Buddha Land, which includes the monastery and the biggest buddha statue in Taiwan on a huge acreage piece of land. 

We spent a couple of hours here and enjoyed a vegetarian lunch at the fancy restaurant there.

Entering Fo Guan Shan.

Main entrance

The Big Buddha

Main Hall under the statue with a museum inside.

Lunch

Delicious dim sum!

Our coach

Our group of 34.

Just a random shot of the highway.

Then the driver took us on a drive around the city center as we were running out of time.

The Formosa subway station which is suppose to be very pretty inside.

Kaohsiung Music Center

Back to the Kaohsiung Pier area. I believe this is called Banana Pier.

Hamashen Railway Cultural Park

Taoist Temple near the park.

We were rushing at the end with many worrying about our all aboard time. Scott was nice enough to get each of us a cup of their famous Taiwan milk tea while the bus took us back to port. He had to carry bags of milk tea and ran back to catch us up. What a guy! We made it back and with time to spare before the ship got ready to leave port. What a day!

Looking at the city as the ship got ready to leave port. That's the 85 Sky Tower of Kaohsiung.

Kaohsiung Music Center is not far from port.

Goodbye, Kaohsiung!

There were people waving goodbye to us as we sailed out.

I must say that we had a wonderful day in Kaohsiung with the most amazing travel companions on this tour. Everybody seemed to enjoy the trip and cooperated nicely to keep time with no complaints. Scott was the most gracious host who made things pleasant for us on this day. By the way, Scott even paid for travel insurance for each of us as it was required by the government when there is a land tour. Thanks, Scott, for a wonderful day! We will see you tomorrow in Taipei!

For video of this day, please visit here.

"Honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself."   -- Matthew 19:19