If you are like me and have spent most of your time in the western world, going to a tropical country like Taiwan is something new and exciting. At the same time, some things can be a bit scary for the uninitiated.
Before I went to Taiwan I was most afraid of :
- The native poisonous snakes & killer bees (they have signs around here warning of this)
- Tropical diseases. The two unusual ones are Dengue Fever & Japanese Encephalitis. At least there is no malaria or yellow fever here!
- Typhoons / landslides
- Earthquakes
Afterwards, I discovered these nasty surprises :
- Getting hit by scooters / car in an accident or as a pedestrian. The roads are pretty chaotic here.
- Poor enforcement of rules and infrastructure.
- Some Flora have very sharp edges which can cut you. I wasn’t use to this, so I cut myself pretty badly one time while I was in the nature doing some river tracing.
This may all look scary but the odds of you being affected by any of this are quite low. Snakes rarely bite people, bees rarely chase people. The most dangerous thing by far is the vehicular traffic, but if you keep your eyes on the road, you should have great odds.
Interestingly, it’s a very dense country so when something bad happens, it feels like it happens close to you. You often get the feeling that Taiwanese are one big family.
Still, it’s advised to get health insurance when you come here, if your home country’s insurance doesn’t cover, as accidents do happen. Don’t put yourself in a position where you can’t afford medical care while abroad. In my case, insurance has been mostly to keep me from being too anxious about the bees and snakes!
Travel Insurance Bear 