In the central part of Bhutan, some people used to eat areca catechu. It is different from Taiwan’s areca catechu, Bhutanese always eat fresh rather then air-dried ones. Nowdays, it is well known that areca catechu is not good for our health, Bhutan government thus encourages people to stay away from areca catechu.

The history of the Bhutanese began to eat areca catechu was an interesting story. Caiwang said when Padmasambhava( also known as Guru Rinpoche) first came to Bhutan, he saw people hunting and killing animals for food. He replaced areca catechu to local people from meat.

Bhutan Government prohibited people to kill animals. Therefore, they only imported meat from the countries nearby. Due to the transportation problem, meat is considered as rare ingredients in this country and thus meat are always air dried or cured. My friends seem didn’t like the only dish with meat. Vegetables is fresh and far more delicious than meat in Bhutan. Maybe it is a good chance for us to reflect, is it necessary to eat meat to survive?

我們沿著上山走過的步道下山，一個老婆婆迎面而來，空氣飄來一陣濃烈的氣味，老婆婆向我們咧嘴微笑，只見他滿口爛牙，牙縫染上了和牙肉毫不相襯的淺粉紅色，這時我忽然明白：「這位老婆婆有吃檳榔的習慣。」

不丹中部的人較多都有吃檳榔的習慣，有別於台灣檳榔，他們都吃新鮮檳榔，但近年不丹政府為市容整潔和人民的健康著想，鼓勵人們戒除檳榔，現在已越來越少人吃了。

對於吃檳榔的起源，Caiwang 指有說法是：相傳蓮花生大士來到不丹，發現當地有些人有打獵吃肉的習慣，蓮花生大士為了導人避免殺生，於是將檳榔給當地人吃，以此代替殺生食肉。

今天不丹雖沒有禁止或限制人民或遊人食肉，但肉類對這個國家的人來說卻是珍貴的食材。不丹沒帶禁肉，但禁殺生，所以肉類都只能由附近國家進口，由於運輸問題，肉類多是風乾或醃製過的肉。我們幾乎每餐的餸菜之中，最多一碟是有肉，其他都是炒菜、豆之類的，同行團友對這碟唯一的肉似乎都不太好評，反而看似普通的炒菜炒蛋卻是清新美味。