In previous blogs, I’ve talked about transit during your overseas trip; getting from one place to another. In some cases it can serve more curious than the place you end up. From gondolas to go-carts and oceans to deserts you may rethink travel methods next time you opt for the run of the mill taxi. ![]() I’m sure this isn’t everything. but never the less; we have some of the strangest transport for your reading pleasure. There’s a whole lot out there. Take Charley Boorman (pic left) for example. In his self titled book and documentary By Any Means, he logs his three year expedition from his house in the UK to Melbourne, AUS spanning 24 countries and utilizing over 112 different forms of transportation. It is definitely a documentary worth checking out for adventure minded. Transit is a great aspect of travel when in an overseas location. It forces you to come face to face with the people, the surroundings, the atmosphere, and a certain level of interaction with the locals. I’ve seen quite a bit while moving from one place to another. Most memorable was, Venice, Italy and Frankfurt, Germany. In Italy we sat on a bench in the train station and watched two drunken guys fight each other because one wouldn’t give the other one money for the public bathroom (yes you have to pay in Europe). The Policia came and arrested them and it was definitely entertaining at 3am. The other was an old guy in Germany who sat across from me in a cabin car. He stared at me for an hr. My buddies were asleep at the time. I tried to talk to him in German by mumbling a few phrases but he didn’t seem very friendly. I don’t speak German so I might have accidentally told him to go screw himself, no idea. And one other thing; he had a weird leather suitcase on his lap and a fedora…it was odd. I think my point has been made; transit can result in some colorful tales, lets start the countdown shall we? #10: The Segway; It can kill you...literally
#9: Chiva Express; is it a bus, is it a train, what the hell is it?
#8: The Chicken Bus; its not just a phrase...
#7: Dune Bashing/ Desert Trekking
#6: Space Tourism; you think I'm kidding...
#5: Dog Sledding; Reindeer have nuthin on us
#4: The Tuk Tuk
#3: Chinese Junk Ships; standing the test of time
#2: The Rickshaw; who needs engines anyway
AND NUMBER ONE is....Elephant Trekking!
Work Cited
http://www.bbc.com/travel/slideshow/20130108-in-greenland-inuit-culture-survives http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20121025-the-future-of-space-tourism http://www.bbc.com/travel/slideshow/20121220-indonesias-exotic-spice-islands http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20121211-dune-bashing-in-omans-wahiba-sands http://travel.ca.msn.com/strangest-modes-of-travel-from-around-the-world#image=8 http://www.readersdigest.ca/travel/world/10-weird-modes-transportation-around-world?id=5 http://roadtickle.com/weird-modes-of-transportation/2/ http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00450/weirdwonderful.htm http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/architecture/4338387#slide-1 http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/infrastructure/the-worlds-18-strangest-train-stations#slide-18 http://www.bbc.com/travel/feature/20130205-exploring-melbourne-by-tram http://www.wildjunket.com/2010/02/25/around-the-world-on-10-unique-transport-modes/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_Any_Means
Sanrigo
3/14/2013 07:09:38 am
The elephant trekking is definately something that I am interested in. I remember riding an elephant at a circus as a kid and I had a blast. I guess I am still just a kid at heart. One that you mentioned in the beginning but didnt select as one of your top 10s is the gondola lift. All though it can be nerve wracking knowing your in a car with 10 other people suspended several hundred feet above ground by, what I pray to be, a very strong cable it is still a lot of fun. There is one in El Paso that I took with a girlfriend. It went to a small gift shop that had an area to walk around it to take in the mountains. We'll the gondola broke once we got to the top and about an hour later we got hit by a thunder storm. It would have been a plus having this frightened girl in my arms but I think I was more afraid than she was. Comments are closed.
|