Glimpse - Your Stories from Abroad

Runner-Up
[Varanasi, India] The quintessential experience in Varanasi, India is to take a boat ride along the Ganges at dawn. We watched the city wake up and thousands of Hindus come to the ghats along the sacred river to bathe, worship, and auspiciously begin their days. As we headed out, I took this photo of a boatman silhouetted against the early morning sun. Despite the heat and pollution and noise, at that moment, floating along the Ganges, everything was perfect.

Photo by Olivia Postell
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Runner-Up
[Outside of Ihosy, Madagascar] In Madagascar, the main method of getting from city to city is the taxi-brousse, a semi-chaotic bus that also doubles as a mail delivery truck. Trips of about 600 miles can take upwards of three or four days when traveling in southern Madagascar, or longer during the rainy season. This picture was taken several hours outside of our breakfast stop in Ihosy. The taxi-brousse, overloaded with mail and luggage, is sinking in the middle of the National Highway. Everyone in the bus had the opportunity to push, pull, hold, and lift many times during this single trip. Other adventures during this voyage included cutting down tree branches to make ramps, rebuilding parts of the road that had caved in by stacking rocks over the ledges, and even replacing the motor in the middle of the highway at 2 a.m. (fortunately, they thought to pack an extra one).

Would I take the trip again? I already have, many times.

Photo by Andrew March
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[Maud Island, New Zealand] Maud Island, a predator-free sanctuary in the Marlborough Sounds, is home to many of New Zealand's native taonga (treasured) species, including the flightless Takahe and a species of frog found nowhere else, the Pekeke. It is also home to an invention of recreation: the bathtub boat! After a full night of field research studying the island's frogs (frogs are nocturnal), our days are full of exploration and discovery, often aboard this curious sea craft. This is a photograph of my fellow student and field researcher, Janey, climbing aboard the bathtub boat as the jetty lazily stretches out behind her in the midday sun. While it is easy to push the bathtub out to sea, you have to make sure you have your paddles... or else who knows where the current will take you!

Photo by Michel Ohmer
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[Bath, United Kingdom] London to Bath was my first trip alone while studying abroad. I was worried the whole train ride that I would miss my stop because I could not hear the conductor, but Bath is hard to miss when approaching. These are the train tracks that lead to and from the historic city, where I met family friends and spent the weekend learning about the undiscovered towns of the English countryside. The bench on the right is where townspeople used to sit to watch the magnificent trains arrive and leave the city.

Photo by Janet Vlosky
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[Koh Phi Phi, Thailand] With no developed roadways, native islanders of Koh Phi Phi rely on long-tail boats to transfer people and goods around the island. This long-tail boat is resting on the shores of Koh Phi Phi Don, looking out toward the sister island of Koh Phi Phi Le. However, being the budget-conscious traveler I am, I spent most of my time trekking through the jungle interiors of the island instead. By the end of my four-day trip on the island, my wallet was thanking me, but my feet sure weren't!

Photo by Tim McNaught
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[Kamakura, Japan] Japan is known for the most advanced forms of transportation in the world. Whether it be the bullet train or the subway, public transportation in Japan is unparalleled. On the other hand, there are many parts of Japan that still rely on bicycles or other less advanced forms of transit. In Kamakura, a culturally dense part of Japan, tourists are attracted to these bicycle-pulled rickshaws.

Photo by Filip Svitek
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[Gulu, Uganda] Given the intense poverty in northern Uganda, most people travel by basic means. They move on foot or bicycle, as pictured here. Travel at night is daunting as the roads are lit only by passing cars.

Photo by Pete Muller
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[Rome, Italy] Getting to Rome from the quiet, medieval Umbrian hilltop town where I've lived these past three months was easy, comparatively speaking. I had mastered the intricacies of the Italian railway early on, managed to find my way home from faraway towns (after Italian buses repeatedly left me stranded), and dodged Fiats like a real-time game of Frogger. After coming to terms with the complexity of Italian transportation, a horse-drawn carriage was the last thing I expected to see outside the Colosseum.

Photo by Christine Mallia
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[Chittagong, Bangladesh] It's 6:30 a.m. at the fish market, and it's packed—filled with men, fish, eels, sweat, yelling, and bargaining. Young men push by with wicker baskets full of fish on their heads, fresh seawater seeping through the cracks onto their faces. Rickshaws ring their bells and old men direct traffic and bark orders. I stop for a second to get my bearings and wonder how I will get out of this mess. I'm engulfed in a group of young boys who are curious to see my next move. Will I buy? Will I walk? Will I take a picture? That's when I see her, curled up inside the rickshaw, pulling away from it all. If only we could ride away together.

Photo by Angela Saunders
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[Gothenburg, Sweden] There are many tiny islands surrounding the city of Gothenburg, and the easiest way to get between them is by ferry. In this photo, a boat travels between Sweden and Denmark. Most Scandiniavans have weekly or monthly passes that can be punched every time they ride. A map shows the routes of the ferries and the stops they make, just like a map for a metro.

Photo by Simone Steger
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