Taiwan Travel Guide & Tips: Overview

I spent 24 days in Taiwan in late 2023 (November and December). If you’re planning a trip there, this series of posts may help with your planning.

I also have a few posts highlighting some great street art I came across during my trip, with one post covering the entire county and one dedicated to Comics Alley and another dedicated to Rainbow Village, both places being located in Taichung.

This post provides a general overview of the country and places you might want to consider visiting if you have the time.

Planning

If you haven’t been living in a cave the past year or so, you are aware that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has exploded in popularity. Even though I have traveled a lot in my life, I have never really enjoyed the planning piece of the experience. I know some love it, but not me. So, I was curious how effective using an AI tool might be to plan my trip. I experimented with two such tools, Google’s Bard and ChatGPT. Bing is also worth a try but since it’s powered by ChatGPT I didn’t bother with it.

My Itinerary

Working off the itineraries the AI created, I crafted this finalized itinerary:

If you look carefully at my itinerary, you may notice something strange. I started with a plan to go counter-clockwise from Taipei around the island, first hitting Taichung. Unfortunately, while I had pretty good weather to visit nearby Sun Moon Lake, the forecast for Alishan (the next destination) was quite awful so I decide to backtrack and go to Hualien/Taroko Gorge and continue clockwise for the rest of the trip. This was a bit inconvenient, but not too awful since the island isn’t terrible large.

I would say that I had enough time to see everything I wanted to. I missed out on the Pingxi Branch Line due to weather and a couple of things around Taipei so perhaps a couple of days more would have been nice but overall I would say 3-4 weeks is perfect to see everything in the country. You could probably skip some things and see the highlights in a couple of weeks if you are tight on time.

Maps

I use Google Maps a lot when I travel, but I haven’t really used the “My Maps” feature much so I decided to give it a try. I made two different maps, one for Taipei and surrounding areas and one for the rest of the country. Why? No good reason, that’s just the way I did it. I probably thought it would be less cluttered but I don’t think that’s really true.

I think these maps are a good idea in principle, but I found them to be problematic in actual usage. The big issue I ran into is that you have to actually select a map to see everything you saved. Those waypoints don’t just show up in the regular Google Maps app by default. OK, not a big deal in theory. But, what I then noticed is that when I do load up one of my custom maps and I click on any saved waypoint, none of the regular Google Maps details for that location are visible (description, reviews, etc.). I don’t know if this is somehow user error, something specific to the Android app (though the same issue also seems to exist when using a browser), or this is the way Google wants it to work. Assuming it wasn’t my error, I found it very inconvenient so I think in the future I will just save places in the regular Google Maps app instead. Still, if you want to see the locations I did save (after pretty thorough online research), here are links:

Taipei and surrounding areas

Rest of Taiwan

During my research I also came across Tom Rook’s “Hidden Taiwan Map” map that you might find interesting.

Popularity, Infrastructure, and English Proficiency

As far as I can tell, Taiwan isn’t a popular destination on the worldwide backpacking circuit. That’s from personal experience outside the country (not many backpackers or world travelers I know have been there) and inside (I didn’t see many non-Asian tourists). That’s not to say it’s difficult to be a tourist in Taiwan because Taiwanese themselves do seem to enjoy traveling throughout the country and, as an advanced economy, the infrastructure overall is quite good. This lack of popularity with predominantly English speaking tourists might, however, be the reason that the overall level of English proficiency seemed pretty low to me. Normally, at least hotels have reception staff that speak English fairly well, but that was rarely the case in the places where I stayed. Likewise, it’s easy to get a train or bus where you want to go, but asking for help in English from the staff on duty is a hit-or-miss proposition. This should in no way discourage you from visiting but is worth noting. On the plus side, it was refreshing traveling and coming across so few other Westerners. Of course, that may have also been because I was traveling in winter, which is probably not ideal for weather.

Writing (Transliteration / Romanization)

A friend of mine living in Taiwan told me that Taiwan differs from mainland China in the way that they approach transliteration (spelling Chinese words in roman letters). Mainland China uses Hanyu Pinyin whereas Taiwan uses a mix of different systems. According to Wikipedia, attempts to make Pinyin the standard in Taiwan occurred in 2002 and 2009, but while the system has been official since the latter attempt, Taiwan largely has no standardized spelling system. This is an issue because Pinyin makes sense to foreigners in that the word as you would naturally read it sounds at least close to the word as it’s really pronounced. But, that isn’t always the case with Taiwan’s version(s) and thus, even some city names don’t sound similar to the way you will be tempted to pronounce them based on the transliteration.

Phrases

• Hello: 你好 (Nǐ hǎo)
• Thank You: 谢谢 (Xièxiè)
• Yes: 是 (Shì)
• No: 不是 (Bù shì)

Currency

When I was there, 1 US Dollar was worth about 32 New Taiwan Dollar (TWD or NT). I believe there is a per-transaction limit of NT$20,000 for ATM cash withdrawals. And, speaking of ATMs, I had read that 7-Eleven ATMs charge NT$100 per transaction, while those in Family Marts do not charge a fee but my experience was that both now charge. I did find at least one bank, First Commercial Bank (First Bank), that didn’t charge any fee. Some online posts claim that that Taiwan Cooperative Bank, Bank of Kaohsiung, and Cathay Bank don’t charge a fee but I cannot confirm that and, I believe Cathay Bank is the ATM provider in the Family Marts so perhaps that has changed. I also read that it depends on your home bank, so if that is true, it would explain why there is conflicting information online, though that’s not typically the case in other countries so I am doubtful.

Hotels

There are a few things to note about hotels in Taiwan. First, for some reason virtually all hotel prices skyrocket for Saturday nights. Double, triple, and sometime even higher increases are common. My friend said that is because Taiwanese people prefer to travel during the weekend, presumably because they are busy working during the week. That may be, but it still strikes me as odd, as presumably the same situation exists in other countries but you don’t see the same price effect. If anyone can shed more light on this, please do so in the comments.

The second issue to consider is the lack of English proficiency that I already mentioned. If there are no problems that need to be addressed, this is not a big concern, but if you experience problems with your booking or your room that need to be resolved, it could be.

A third thing I found interesting—and annoying—about hotels in Taiwan was the fact that almost all have quite late check-in times (16:00 or even later) and early checkout times (11:00). I completely understand that as a general rule since you never know how quickly cleaning staff can turn over the rooms after checkout. But, what I found strange was that this rule is followed to the letter even if your room is already cleaned and available when you arrive early. Zero flexibility as far as I could see. Most places will let you store your bags while you wait but it’s the only place I have traveled that took these hours so seriously.

A fourth thing to consider is that walk-ins are often more expensive than online bookings, especially with bigger hotels so you might need to book online instead of paying in cash on-sight. Also note that some hotels have very specific payment methods (e.g., no cash, no credit cards, only PayPal or bank transfer). Pay attention to that when booking to make sure you won’t have a problem.

Finally, something I noticed at quite a few of the places I stayed is that there often isn’t any staff at all. And, this applies to proper hotels, not just Airbnb or similar rentals. Sometimes there is staff on site with limited hours but, often, the building and your room have electronic codes to allow entry and these are provided after booking (often only slightly before the check-in time).

Mobile Service and Wi-Fi

Taiwan was the first time I tried using a prepaid E-Sim mobile service. I may write a post on the experience later, but for now I will say it worked very well and, in fact, was cheaper than the physical SIM card options available inside the country. I bought a 30-day, 30 GB package from MobiMatter for $13.99, which I think is the cheapest option out there, but there are other popular providers you can choose as well (and there are less expensive options for less data and less days if your trip will be shorter). If you want to give MobiMatter a try, you can use my referral code (JBTRA16880) to get a future discount. For reference, the actual SIM was provided by 3HK out of Hong Kong and used the local Chunghwa network with 4G LTE speeds. I found it fast and had no problems connecting anywhere I traveled. Setting it up was fast and painless and it worked the second I turned it on upon landing.

Do note that my E-Sim, and most that I am aware of, are data-only services so you cannot make or receive regular phone calls. This isn’t much of an issue these days as I usually talk with friends and family via messaging apps or via my Google Voice VoIP service. But, it does mean you may not be able to call hotels directly or register for some apps or services that require a local SMS verification.

Besides mobile service, Wi-Fi is available in a lot of places around the country. In particular, you can get free service from iTaiwan WiFi, which is provided by the government of Taiwan and has about 9,700 hotspots in major tourist spots, transportation hubs, cultural establishments and government offices all over the island. No registration is required. The city of Taipei also runs a free Wi-Fi network covering public areas such as governmental offices, libraries, hospitals, MRT stations, and Metro malls. The SSID for the Taipei Free wireless network service is “TPE-Free.” I believe Kaohsiung and Taichung may have also had their own public networks.

Useful Mobile Apps

I found a small number of mobile apps to be very useful during my trip, including:

• Google Maps
• TransTaiwan (Android, iOS) was probably the most useful app after Google Maps. One thing to note, however, is that if the journey you want to take involves two different trains, when you go to buy the tickets at a machine in the station, you will need to search and purchase each ticket separately. That might sound obvious but, on the other hand, you might think the kiosk should be capable of getting you whatever tickets you need based on your start and end points. So, you may want to check each train segment for seat availability before actually purchasing any of them.
• Go!Taipei Metro will help you navigate the Taipei Metro system.
• T Express (Android, iOS) should be helpful in finding and booking Taiwan High Speed Rail tickets but since I never did so I cannot comment on how good the app is.
• Bus+ (Android, iOS) is said to be good for bus-related travel but I didn’t end up using it much. Maybe it will be of more use to you.
• 12Go Asia lets you book trains in Taiwan. Instead of having to buy train tickets in advance from the station, you can just book your ticket online instead and have peace of mind that you have a seat.
• KKday and Klook are two travel apps that provide some tourist information and discounts on select attractions, activities and services. I didn’t end up using either
• The internationally popular messaging app Whatsapp is not popular in Taiwan. Most Taiwanese use the Japanese messaging app LINE instead.

Transportation

To and From Taoyuan Airport

Transportation from Taoyuan airport to Taipei city can be achieved via bus, taxi, Uber, private car but the best option is the Taipei Airport MRT Express train, which operates from 06:00 – 00:00, about every 7-minutes. The trains alternate between commuter and express trains (Express Train: 35 minutes from Taoyuan airport to Taipei Main Station; Commuter Train: 50 minutes). It’s smooth, has free Wi-Fi and you can charge your mobile phone at certain seats. A single-journey ticket costs NT$160 to get to Taipei Main Station. It’s NT$10 cheaper with an EasyCard or iPass. If you get to the Taipei Airport MRT at least 3 hours before your flight, you can use In Town Check-In to check your luggage and get your plane ticket. This will make your trip to the TPE Taipei Airport much easier and relaxing since you don’t have to transport your luggage. If you want to get from the High-speed Rail (HSR) to Taoyuan airport you can connect to the Taoyuan airport MRT line at Taoyuan HSR Station (A18) or at Taipei Main Station (A1).

The Taipei airport bus is very affordable and runs even during the odd hours of the night. You can find the ticketing counters on B1 of Taipei airport. This is the cheapest option from Taipei airport to city after midnight.

Taking a taxi from Taoyuan airport to Taipei will cost you a flat rate of NT$1000. The rate for Taipei airport to city after midnight is the same. Taking a taxi from anywhere in central Taipei to TPE Airport will cost you a flat rate of NT$1000. Taxis need to be reserved in advance so if you’re staying at a hotel, they can call and make the arrangements for you.

EasyCard | iPass

The EasyCard (悠遊卡; Yōu-yóu Kǎ) and iPASS (卡通; yī kǎ tōng) are contactless smart cards operated by the EasyCard Corporation and iPASS Corporation, respectively. iPASS was originally limited to Kaohsiung but now both work nationwide. They can be used for payment on the Taipei Metro, buses, and other public transport services in Taipei, and usage has since expanded to multiple kinds of businesses, including convenience stores, department stores, supermarkets, taxis, and other retailers. They can generally be used on all trains and buses throughout the country. Like conventional electronic fare systems, the cards employ RFID technology to operate without physical contact. They are available for purchase at all Metro stations and all chain convenience stores.

When using either card on the Metro and buses, you must scan the card over the sensor area on fare gates both entering and exiting the stations; the first pass registers the start of the journey and the second as the end. Fares deducted from the card depend on the distance traveled and whether a public bus was used within a transfer time frame (currently, one hour).

Using either card often provides a discount (20%) compared to a single journey ticket price, and if you transfer from the MRT to an ordinary city bus, or vice versa, within an hour, the bus ride is only NT$7.

Both cards can be reloaded at any MRT Station via a special vending machine at an MRT station kiosk (person in booth by the gates) or at any convenience store. Do consider, however, if you lose your card, anyone can use it to make purchases. There’s no verification system. If you put too much money on your card, you can get the balance refunded to you at any station.

Metro

The Taipei Metro (MRT) is very convenient and well run. Trains generally run from 06:00 to 00:00, with convenient bus connections outside the stations. Kaohsiung and Taichung both have pretty good Metro systems as well.

A single-journey ticket for the MRT Taipei system is a token with a pre-loaded value. To use it, when going through the boarding gates, just scan the token against the terminal and the gate will open. When your journey is complete, just drop the token in the departure gates and the Taipei MRT gate will open.

Using an EasyCard or iPass will, naturally, be much more convenient than buying individual tokens.

Note: People in Taipei are serious about the Metro rules. People line up for the train, everyone stands on the right of the escalator. No gum, food, or drink (not even water) or you’ll be fined. And don’t sit on the dark blue seats. They’re reserved for pregnant woman, children, and the elderly—the latter are highly respected.

Trains (not Metro)

For practical purposes, there are three types of trains: local, express, and Taiwan High-Speed Rail (THSR, 台灣高鐵 , Gāotíe). The first two are both run by Taiwan Rail Administration (TRA) and use the same stations. The latter, which runs from Nangang (near Taipei) to Zuoying (near Kaoshiung), is its own separate system and most often has a dedicated station, which is often not very close to the other systems’ stations. Sometimes, in fact, these stations are inconveniently far such that you will need to take a bus or taxi to get between them.

Although many guides I found online seemed to sing the praises of the high-speed trains, I actually never used them. That’s partly because, as I said, they are usually less conveniently located. They are also more expensive, sometimes quite a bit more expensive. Which would be fine except that the difference in speed between them and the express trains was rarely significant (it’s really not such a big country after all). That might not be true if you were traveling the full length of the island but in my case I was usually just traveling from one city to the next nearest in my itinerary. I should note, however, that there are 2-day and 3-day passes. They weren’t a good value for me but they may be worth considering for your travel itinerary. Note that you can buy THSR tickets at any high speed rail station or at 7-ELEVEN, Hi-Life OK Mart, and Family Mart convenience stores.

Regardless of which train system you use, buying tickets in advance is recommended, especially on weekends (though not that you’ll only be able to make reservations up to 14 days in advance). If seats are unavailable, you can still take the train, but you won’t have a seat so you’ll have to stand. This happened to me from Taipei to Taichung, and it wasn’t pleasant. If you don’t buy tickets in advance, you can still just show up on any train using your EasyCard or iPASS.

Buses

You need to hail the bus you are taking as you see it coming—much like hailing a taxi. The terminal stop of the route is listed on the front of the bus in Chinese and sometimes English, so it is important to make sure the bus you get on is going the right direction.

For city buses, I read that you sometimes pay when boarding, sometimes when alighting, sometimes both, but I only ever saw instances where you need to pay both boarding and leaving. As with trains, an EasyCard or iPASS are your best bets.

Many bus stops in Taipei have electronic billboards that show when the different buses that stop there will be arriving next, in real time. Outside of Taipei, such signs are hit or miss. For the most part, Google Maps was pretty reliable in the cities, but I found it to be occasionally wrong when outside of the metro area, mostly by not realizing a line had finished service for the day or wasn’t running on that particular day at all. When it was accurate, however, it was very good at getting me where I needed to go.

Intercity buses arrive and depart from the Taipei Bus Station, which is on Chengde Road, behind Taipei Main Station. Generally speaking, the buses operated by private companies are more comfortable and sport such amenities as wide reclining seats and individual game and video monitors. The government run buses are blue and white and are called guóguāng hào (國光號). All intercity buses are known as kèyùn (客運) and can be distinguished from the local city buses called gōngchē (公車) by the fact that they do not have a route number, but only the name of the destination.

I only took two intercity buses, one from Taichung to Sun Moon Lake (and back) and one from Chiayi to Alishan National Forest (and back). I might have taken one from Hualien to Taroko Gorge had I not rented a motorbike instead. For most other routes, the train is your easiest option.

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle (24-Hour Toll-Free Travel Information Hotline:0800-011765) is a set of distinctly branded bus routes (some intercity, some local) that serve tourist sites, and are generally easier to use than regular routes. The official website offers route maps, timetables and recommended itineraries, but is somewhat confusing to navigate. There is, however, a toll-free number for inquiries. There are also information desks at major transport hubs. There are a variety of economical combo tickets to choose from. Feel free to utilize this service and plan your own relaxing trip.

Motorbikes

You don’t really need to rent a motorbike to access any place of interest in the country, though a few places like Taroko Gorge might be more conveniently accessed if you do. If you do want to rent a motorbike there are a few things to consider:

• Many rental places will not rent to foreigners. Period.
• Places that will rent to you will most often require you have an international driver’s permit (IDP) so get one before visiting.
• Be sure you buy some good travel insurance to cover any potential accidents and make sure the coverage doesn’t specifically exclude motorbike usage.
• Turning left… is an interesting experience in Taiwan. It’s a bit difficult to explain but basically, while cars can turn left from the left-hand lanes as is possible around the world, with rare exceptions motorbikes cannot. Instead, you will usually see a white-line painted box on the right at intersections. The idea is you have to first turn right and go inside that box and then wait for the light to change so you can go straight (which will, in effect, be going left from the direction you had been traveling). This is such a strange thing and, frankly, makes no sense to me, but it is the rule and I have read they are quite strict about enforcing it, often using stationary cameras to do so.
• The brands that are popular in Taiwan are not the same that tend to be popular in other SE Asian countries. Specifically, Honda and Yamaha weren’t popular at all. Anecdotally, it seemed like Kymco and SYM were the most ubiquitous.

Ride Share | Taxi

Uber is available in Taipei and you can also use Uber to order local metered taxis. I read that Uber rides in Taipei city during non-peak hours tend to be about 20% cheaper than a metered taxi. Uber is also available in Kaoshiung, Taichung and several other parts of Taiwan.

Taxi fares in Taipei start at NT$70 and charge NT$25 for each kilometer. Taxis can be paid for with cash, credit card, or EasyCard. Taxi fares in other counties of Taiwan have different starting fares.

E-Bikes (uBike)

I have seen the e-bike trend come and go in many places around the world. In Taiwan, it seems to have firmly caught on. I think the main reason it has done so there and not in other places is because the locals have adopted their use in large numbers whereas in other places they were targeted to tourists. I could be completely wrong about that, but it’s my current take on things. The main company you will see everywhere is YouBike (uBike). Unfortunately, this service is pretty much useless to you and me. That’s because apparently the powers that be have not considered that foreign visitors would actually want to use these bikes, which is evidenced by the fact that you need both a local phone number and a local ID to register.

I read that Giant Bicycles Corporation operates a large network of bicycle retail stores that offer rentals but I didn’t notice them. Apparently, they rent for as little as NT$100 per day, if requested one week in advance, though generally the day rate is around NT$300. Also, I read that rented bicycles can be picked up at one station and given back another station. This can be convenient if you want to go down the east coast with a bicycle and back up the busy west coast with the train/bus. A one week finesse bike including bags costs as little as €100. As I say, I didn’t notice these, but there were very many private rental shops in Sun Moon Lake, where riding around the lake is a popular activity.

Gogoro Smartscooter

All around Taipei (I can’t recall if it is popular in other cities or not) you will see Gogoro stations. These support Gogoro electric scooters. I guess these stations have swappable batteries so you can quickly replenish your scooter’s energy needs. At first I thought that these scooters are some kind of rental program like YouBike, but I later learned that you must purchase these scooters and then pay a monthly fee to use the stations. I believe there may be one or more companies that have purchased large numbers of these scooters to rent, but I never verified this and I doubt they are available to tourists in any case.

Electricity

Taiwan uses the same Type A two-pin and Type B three-pin electrical sockets as the United States. Electricity is supplied at 110 V at 60 Hz.

Food and Drink

Bubble Tea

Pearl milk tea (珍珠奶茶 zhēnzhū nǎichá), aka “bubble tea” or “boba tea”, is milky tea with chewy balls of tapioca added, drunk through an over-sized straw. Invented in Taiwan in the early 1980s and a huge Asia-wide craze in the 1990s, it’s not quite as popular as it once was but can still be found almost everywhere you go. I tried 20+ shops and lots of different flavors/varieties. I actually prefer the teas without milk, which often don’t include the tapioca, but usually you can add it for a small fee if you want. There are also other options, like jellies and fruit. In all cases, you can specify the sweetness level and the amount of ice you want. It seems like 50 Lan (50嵐) is the most popular (by word of mouth and by number of locations) shop though I saw a lot of Coco shops as well. Xing Fu Tang (幸福堂) seems to be the most popular option for brown sugar bubble tea, which I liked but could barely detect the actual tea flavor. My personal favorite shops were Kebuke, Lu Shui Ju (Sun Moon Lake), and Tea & Magic Hand (茶之魔手, Tainan). Of course, that was strongly influenced by the type of tea I happened to try at those locations. In any case, I never really had any bad tea experiences. One thing to note, however, is that there are almost no sit-down tea shops. They are all small takeaway operations. There are some coffee cafés around but not many.

Food

Taiwanese cuisine didn’t really impress me. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t fantastic either. Granted, I mostly ate street food and at basic restaurants. I rarely came across any spicy dishes, so that’s either good or bad, depending on how your tastes run. Some popular dishes include: beef noodles (牛肉麵 niúròu miàn), stinky tofu (臭豆腐 chòudòufu), oyster omelette (蚵仔煎 ó āh jiān), gua bao (aka “the Taiwanese burger”), braised pork rice (滷肉飯 lǔ ròu fàn), xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), flour rice noodles, cold noodles with miso dressing, and Taiwanese mochi with peanut or sesame filling.

A popular option when taking a longer train ride is the Railway Bento (臺鐵便當 Tái tiě biàndang). This takeaway dish, based on the Japanese ekiben, is a holdover of the Japanese colonial era. The most popular bento is the braised pork cutlet bento. You can find this dish at major TRA train stations throughout Taiwan

Other Tips and Observations

• Fill out an arrival card online at https://niaspeedy.immigration.gov.tw/webacard/
• There is a Taiwan the Lucky Land giveaway program. You have to register online before arriving and then you can visit the booth at the airport to see if you have won any prize. I didn’t. The website says it runs until June 30, 2025.
• Traffic drives on the right side of the road.
• Tipping is generally not practiced in Taiwan. Bellhops in high end hotels and porters at airports are an exception and should be given NT$50 per bag. Also, tipping to show appreciation for exceptional service is not uncommon. Tipping is also not expected in taxis and drivers would usually return your change to the last dollar.  In place of tips is a 10% service charge when dining at most full-service restaurants which is automatically added to the bill.
• Unlike many SE Asian countries, bargaining is not common in Taiwan.
• Call 110 for police in Taiwan, and 119 for fire department or medical help. Most of the public telephone booths allow you to call 110 or 119 for free. The police and fire/ambulance offer service in English.
• For those who need Taiwanese governmental assistance in English, this website has a 24-hour toll-free foreigner service hotline at 0800-024-111, which you may call for assistance.
• Water quality in Taiwan varies depending on location. According to the water company of Taiwan, tap water is in general safe to drink. However, it is advised that drinking water be boiled in order to eliminate residual chlorine and bacteria. One source claims the water is not safe in Kaohsiung. Any water or ice you are served in restaurants will already have been processed. Water fountains in Taiwan always incorporate filters, and they can be found in practically every lodge or hotel as well as (for example) larger museums and Taipei MRT stations. You can refill and reuse your bottles at these fountains as well.
• The country code for calls to Taiwan is +886. Numbers Starting With 0800 are commercial toll-free numbers, just like the 1-800 numbers in North America.
• I didn’t take any free walking tours during my visit, but I am a fan in general. If you are as well, check out Like It Formosa.
• Most convenience stores have small seating areas where you can relax. This is probably partly because you can buy hot meals at convenience stores, but I think more so because most of the tea shops are takeaway only so there aren’t that many places to go and sit for a while if you need to wait to meet someone, catch a train, etc.
• I didn’t witness this firsthand, but apparently the highways are lined with brightly lit booths staffed by attractive, skimpily dressed young women called betel nut beauties, who compete for the attention of customers to sell the mildly addictive stimulant betel (檳榔 bīnláng), consisting of areca nuts and slaked lime wrapped in a betel leaf.
• I rarely noticed tangles of poles with electrical or communication wires, unlike you say in most SE Asian countries. I presume they have been buried instead but I don’t have more information on this.

Like this content? Why not share it?