So when you’re in a country, you may like to know what the transport there is like. I’ve tried to be brief as this is the last page I’m doing for a while…..

In the cities you’ll be taking tuk-tuk (a small three wheeled convance) or taxi. Varies in price, but most journies not more than 50 baht or so. Anyone offering a tour for 10 baht is going to take you into a suit shop, and leave you if you don’t buy a suit. Well, that’s what happened to me. Intercity there is train – I went third class, and apart from being slow slow slow it was a pleasant nice trip that cost me around 160 baht for a half day trip. The local buses are interesting, also dirt cheap. They play Thai television so enjoy. And then there’s the special air conditioned buses for tourists. Bangkok to Chiang-Mai, around eight hours and 400 baht. Probably the most comfortable, but not the most rewarding way to travel.

In the cities there are taxis or rickshaws – basically the same as a Thai tuk-tuk. In India you can get one pulled by a bicycle though. As far as intercity travel goes, the trains are amazing and dirt cheap, and also I think, the safest way to travel and experience. There are different levels of buses, just as cheap but a ride on one will make you so thankful for your life, you’ll never get on one again. I was in one that went 1 km down the wrong side of the road into traffic!! Need I say more??

Both metro systems in Moscow and St Petersburg are brilliant. Trains sometimes every 30 seconds and clean and efficient and around less than a dollar a ride. A little confusing if you don’t read Russian though. In St Petersburg there are also rather dodgy looking trolleycars, but I didn’t ride them. Between the cities there is an overnight train service. There are reports of theft on it it, but I was fine and in second class luxury for I think around $40 US. They even gave me breakfast.

Cairo also has a reasonable, if overcrowded metro system, and that’s very clean. But I did a lot of walking in Egypt which is the way to go. Caught a bus to the pyramids but that was a little confusing. The train network in the country is pretty good – to Aswan from Cairo is an overnight journey, and I think I even slept! The slower trains will be delayed though, as I was on the way back to Cairo. This was all I used.

The trains are brilliant, but expensive. I never tried the buses. Sometimes I couldn’t believe how efficient the system is. Most capital cities have a metro – Munich(okay, not a capital), Rome, Paris, Prague or some like Amsterdam have trams. (Prague too) Not as brilliant as the Russian metros, they still do the job well.

The tube in London is not as good as it could be, but it covers a vast area comprehensively. Heat gets trapped down there though. The trains are even more expensive but wonderful, and the buses cover most of the continent and are a lot cheaper – but very cramped.

New York, Boston & Toronto have good subway systems, operating (at least in New York) all day and night. The bus from New York to Boston was an over-nighter and was $35 US. Otherwise I flew on my rtw ticket, but air travel is a common way to travel the states – with the distances to cover it’s no surprise!!