Here at WoWasis, we like to say that great transportation systems make great cities even greater. Urban above or below-ground rail systems are transformative. In Bangkok, for instance, the BTS Skytrain has opened entire neighborhoods to new commercial and tourism opportunities. In pre-Skytrain days, getting through Bangkok’s traffic was a nightmare. That must surely have […]
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5 necessary basics to driving successfully while touring Taiwan
Particularly in eastern and southern Taiwan, driving your own car is a wonderful expeience. Three great drives, with wonderful ocean vistas, include: Northeast Coast National Scenic Area East Coast National Scenic Area Kending National Forest Recreation Area and Hengchung Peninsula In other posts relating to driving a car in Taiwan as a visitor, WoWasis has […]
Read the rest of this entry »The challenges of a westerner driving in Taiwan: touring Tainan
Here at WoWasis, we love to drive, and you can see some of the best stuff in Taiwan fairly easily if you have a car. The roads are the best we’ve seen in Asia, and Taiwanese drivers are exceptional in terms of courtesy and technique. Taiwan’s freeways and expressways are as good as nay we’ve […]
Read the rest of this entry »Pa Farang on taxi scams in Bangkok
The Good Manner: Advice on Thailand from WoWasis’ Pa Farang This week’s dilemma: My taxi driver refuses to turn meter on: taxi scams in Bangkok Dear Pa Farang, What gives withBangkok taxis? Half the time the driver refuses to turn the meter on, and quotes me a rediculous price. Am I being taken to the […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis book review: Guidebook for Taiwan by National Geographic
Whenever we’re in a foreign country, we here at WoWasis always travel with a guidebook: they’re easier to use and markup than online guides, and we always end up running across stuff by accident that we wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. Our local bookshop only carried one guidebook for Taiwan, and that’s how we acquired (and […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis field test: the tiny but durable Utra-Sil day pack miniaturizes to 2×3 inches
So here’s the dilemma as we see it here at WoWasis: you’re traveling overseas, have one piece of big luggage, another smaller padded one for your netbook/tablet computer, which also holds a book or two. You know you’ll want to take a daypack overseas too, because you’ll be running around, and don’t want to take […]
Read the rest of this entry »Vietnam tourists killed in Ha Long Bay boat tragedy
Twelve international travelers were killed this week in the sinking of one of Ha Long Bay’s ubiquitous “sleep-over” boats. The Truong Hai 06 listed precariously for several hours before finally plunging into the waters of the bay during the early morning hours as visitors were sleeping. Scores of these wooden boats take visitors on overnight […]
Read the rest of this entry »Taipei’s e-Library Waiting Lounge at Taoyuan Airport: Taiwan finally goes high tech!
Taiwan’s Taoyuan airport in the capital city of Taipei has been deservedly maligned as being possibly the most Neolithic — from a westerner perspective — capital city airport in Asia. Forget about Western food (Asians will tell you the Asian food stinks, too). In fact, Taipei resident Jenna Cody, quoted in the February 13 issue […]
Read the rest of this entry »Why is my limousine hot pink? Of Thai birthdays, Buddha hand positions, and colors
Even casual visitors to Thailand have told us here at WoWasis that they’ve noticed a seeming color clash at practically every step. Here’s a house painted hot pink and yellow. A Bangkok taxi cab is green and yellow. A shop has red and green walls, but it’s not Christmas. Somewhat subtler are the sculptures of […]
Read the rest of this entry »Thai taxes: how are those roads and hospitals paid for in Thailand?
One day a few years back, one of us here at WoWasis had to go to a hospital in Thailand on an emergency basis. We got all stitched up, and paid nothing. Why? Here’s another question: why are Thai roads so damn good? (Compare them with the Philippines, which has some of the worst roads […]
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