It’s been a while since first time I got the news that my Taiwanese
singer idol will stay in Penghu on May for a new movie shooting until I decide
to join a 2 days Penghu tour with fellow
friends who share the same interest with me. I, my husband, and six other
friends will go out on a trip that we usually call a ‘star-chasing’ journey. My
excitement highly rises until it eliminates my worries about the high amount of
money that we should spend during the trip. Even though I still carry a
backpack along the way, but I book a five star hotel, rent a van together with
a driver that we mostly treat as a tour guide, and order food without first
looking at the price. My little attempt to save some money by taking a regular
train instead of THSR (Taiwan High-Speed Rail) train from Taipei to Chiayi has
completely fail. We will meet at Chiayi Train Station at 8 am and there is no
way for regular train to reach Chiayi from Taipei
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Train Ticket to
Changhua on My Cheap Backpack
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Welcome to Changhua
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Changhua plays an important role in Taiwan history due to its function as a base for
the Han (one of Chinese ethnic group) when they invaded Taiwan Bamboo Town
To reach Baguashan Giant Buddha Scenic Area from
Changhua Train Station is as simple as taking No 6933 or 6912 bus from Changhua
Bus Station, only 5 minutes walk distance from Changhua Train Station. The key
to make this short trip simple is to pay attention to the direction of the bus,
be sure to take the bus toward Lugang Station and not to the opposite direction,
like I did! Maybe arrive at Changhua, a hometown of my favorite singer to whom
this journey dedicated to, has make me too excited and unable to pay attention.
Maybe the May hot weather has cause my mind unclear and long for a quick relief
provided by bus’ air conditioner. I don’t know which factor, or maybe simply just
the combination of both factors, that encourages me to get on that wrong bus.
Looking around from the bus’ window, I could feel an atmosphere
of a city with a long history. Various modern and new branded shops mixed with
a lot of old and traditional food stalls in both sides of a small yet busy
street. It’s not exaggerating to say that some food stalls here have a history
of more than 50 years and still survive due to its delicious and unique taste. Two
of them that are very famous now are Beimenkou Meatball, which I will not try
no matter how delicious it is since I can’t eat pork, and Dawang Papaya Milk,
which unfortunately I need to pass too since I don’t have enough time. Both of
them can be easily reach by foot from Changhua Train Station.
While enjoying the bus
air conditioner, I also enjoy the slow pace of this city. People walk slowly,
the bus seems like in a slow motion scene when it passes red light one after
another, and each red light seems like take forever before it turns green! It
doesn’t take a long time before I loose my patience, look at my watch, and
start cursing the slow motion scene around me. Four bus stations already passed
and I still didn’t see my destination station name appears on the display
screen inside the bus. It’s already 4.30 pm when I realize that something is
not right and decide to get off the bus.
I cross the street in
a rush to find a bus toward the opposite direction. Standing still for around
15 minutes, there is no single bus passing by. I’m still surrounded by a slow
motion scene, a big street with only small number of cars or motorcycles
passing by, a never ending red light which I’m sure guilty of holding the bus
that I need to take in faraway place, and no taxi! Actually it’s not literally
means no taxi, but since I find no bus and decide to take any transportation
mode available include taxi, three or four vacant taxis pass by in front of my
face without intention to stop no matter how hard I waive my hand try to stop
them. It’s 5 pm when I almost start to cry thinking that my stop to Changhua
is just a waste of time. While seriously consider to go back to train station
to catch the train to Chiayi, a taxi stop and take us to Baguashan.
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| Gate to Baguashan Giant Buddha Scenic Area |
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Pathway to Giant
Buddha Statue
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Various God Statues
along Pathway to Giant Buddha Statue
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Giant Buddha Statue
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Lion Statue in
front of Giant Buddha
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Dragon Carving in
front of the
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Elephant Statue in
front of the
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A Little Fish Pond
inside
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Bagua Pagoda
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Baguashan Giant Buddha Scenic Area is definitely worth a visit. A fascinate
Great Buddha Statue, a beautiful Great Buddha Temple, and a pair of Bagua
Pagoda build in a beautiful area of Baguashan successfully clear my sadness and
replace it with happiness. Even though I only have around 45 minutes to tour
around the scenic area, I feel extremely satisfied, especially because I
successfully complete my mission to take a picture that imitate artist’s pose.
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Source of Picture
in the Left: weibo.com/richiefirework
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At around 6 pm, I start to walk to Changhua Train Station to catch a
train to Chiayi that will depart within the next half hour. Yes, I walk, not
take any bus or taxi, and it actually just needs less than 30 minutes! So, to
revise my previous statement, the simplest way to reach Baguashan Giant Buddha
Scenic Area from Changhua Train Station is not by taking No 6933 or 6912 bus
from Changhua Bus Station, but simply just walk for around 30 minutes. Not only
it will save time to wait for the bus and never ending red light, but we may
also find something interesting along the way, like Taiwan ’s
oldest Confucius Temple
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We arrive at Chiayi at night and directly go to
the hostel nearby, only around 15 minutes walk distance from Chiayi Train
Station. The hostel owners are husband and wife who are very friendly in
welcoming and giving us useful recommendations on what to do during our short
stay in Chiayi. Follow their recommendations, we decided to spend the night in
Chiayi by visiting Guanguang Night Market in Wenhua Street Penghu journey.
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Train Ticket to
Chiayi
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Stroll along
Guanguang Night Market in Chiayi
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