• Travel

    Taiwan’s High Speed Rail

    September 16, 2024 - By 

    The Taiwan High Speed Rail was a very exciting thing back when I first rode it in 2007, which was also the year it opened. It cut the travel time between the two major cities of Taiwan, Taipei and Kaohsiung, from ~4 1/2 hours to ~1 1/2 hours. It is usually roughly US$50 to travel one-way from one end to the other, so many older people thought and still think it is an unnecessary expense and would rather take a much slower (and cheaper) train or a bus. Tickets can conveniently be purchased online, at the station, or at a…

  • Travel

    Train: Taitung to Nanzhou / Kaohsiung in Taiwan

    December 11, 2023 - By 

    We bought our tickets for the Taiwan Railway online while in the United States without issue and chose two meals, one vegetarian and one regular, at the time. The train tickets would take us from Taitung to Nanzhou, which would place us conveniently for my Kaohsiung aunt to pick us up. For our money, we received a very low quality QR code that we were doubtful about. At the station, we walked up to the counter and attempted to change our dubious QR code for the tickets. Unfortunately, the man at the counter was unable to scan the low quality…