Our Indulgences in Taiwan - Kao Hsiung highlights

This will conclude our Taiwan travel series, a post on our adventures in Kao Hsiung. We spent 4 days 3 nights in the city, the second most populated city in Taiwan after Taipei. Once we touched down in Taoyuan International aiport, we took a short bus ride of about 15 minutes to the High Speed Rail station. Do not be misled by the signs in the airport, the rail station is actually quite far away and not walk-able at all. Once we reached the station, we bought a train ticket which departs in about 30 minutes time. The journey is about 90 minutes, only made possible by the HSR and not the normal train.

We would say try not to have high expectations of the city, it is in fact very different from Taipei. It is much less developed, less crowded and things seem to move at a rather slow pace. You may come across many night market recommendations online but we think only Rui Feng Night Market 瑞豐夜市 is worth exploring.

Some quick bites: Stinky Tofu, Fried Squid, Mutton skewers and Ice-cream

Drinks to flush it down, white bittergourd juice with honey is an interesting and healthy drink to try!

We did some sightseeing, firstly at FoGuangShan Monastery. Most tourists who visit Kao Hsiung are likely to make their way here because this is a key scenic place with the largest Buddha statue in Asia.

Moving onto Cijin island, this is a near by island accessible by car or ferry. It has a very rustic old-school feel, with a beach view, if you get to the top of the hill you'll enjoy a great view and explore the lighthouse.

Tianhou Temple is an old temple we found on our way down to the market area, many people still come here to worship the goddess for blessings.

Once we left Cijin island and back to main land, we took a train to Sizhwan station where the Takao Railway museum is. It is an old railway station with some well-preserved old trains.

Along the way, we also saw some old sugar cane warehouses now converted to venues for art exhibitions.

The biggest mall in Kao Hsiung - Dream Mall. You might have heard or seen this mall in some Taiwanese dramas and how romantic it is to take a ride on that ferris wheel on the roof of the mall. Well, the mall is huge but honestly nothing fantastic in terms of what it offers in retail. It might just be worth a look on the roof top, take some pictures of the ferris wheel and enjoy the burst of colors. Basically, that's about all we did at the mall and made our way back cos it was kind of boring.

Lastly, we took a walk along Love River. Although it has been portrayed as a scenic walk in most travel guides, actually it is just an old drain cleaned up and repackaged. Photos may be deceiving, just like the one we took!

Kao Hsiung was a city we chose to add on to the itinerary cos we have been to Taipei a few times, and thought it might be a good idea exploring somewhere else. Perhaps there are hidden gems in Kao Hsiung that we didn't manage to explore, but generally we still prefer the vibrancy and glorious food offered in Taipei!