not so patiently – for the light to change from red to green, so I could be on my way to an important appointment, I began to wonder if everyone drives a car to work. Probably not. Transport comes in many shapes and forms, seeming to vary country to country. In Hong Kong, for example, one might travel to work in a shiny high-priced Rolls Royce limousine with its counter-balanced hub caps which ensure that the RR insignia is always in an upright position. Conversely, a more lofty entrance might be in a hot air balloon in the Valley of Luxor. For those closer to the ground, why not use a motorized scooter to zoom around the old part of Singapore? There isn't much zoom zoom but oodles of fresh air. Or for water lovers, why not take a gondola ride under the Rialto Bridge in Venice? If one is seeking more pomp and ceremony why not chance a ride in the Golden Carriage used by the Royal House of Windsor to travel to and from formal appointments of court or if that is a little over the top, maybe a less ornate horse and cart ride in the mountainous regions of northern Romania might do the trick. When visiting neighbouring Kazakhstan, why not enjoy a chairlift in the foothills outside Almaty, or if that is a little pedestrian, why not explore the opportunity to travel on wings? Skiing to work among the grand mountains of St. Anton in Austria gives a much bigger rush than that first cup of coffee. For those who like to travel en mass, a day ticket on an open-topped double decker bus in London, learning all about the Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, are a must. If it is an exotic form of transport you are after, why not follow an Egyptian balanced atop a donkey herding a camel safari to the Pyramids? Yellow New York taxis are a comfortable ride and synonymous with a city that never rests but if it's relaxation you are after, enjoy a leisurely afternoon ride in one of the traditional wooden boats at Versailles. As the traffic signal turns green and I'm forced to stop daydreaming and zoom off to work, I think of the oxen-drawn rotary lawn mowers in the gardens of the Taj Mahal. Moving up and down in an established pattern, they are not unlike a horse-drawn Amish carriage moving in a rhythm far removed from the modern world. I enjoy my mode of transport, but a helicopter ride from the mother ship of an icebreaker exploring in the Antarctic does hold a certain appeal. Jan Thompson is a travel writer who has visited countries across the world from Egypt to the Antarctic.
