THEY fly, they float. They groan and strain and struggle. They glide and rattle and roll.
Vehicles. They take us and our goods, on holiday or to work, to the shops or round the block. Cyclos, xe-om, moto,matutu, boda-boda, tuk-tuk, 3-wheeler, autocycle, ferry, cat, yacht. Russian Ladas. Iranian Paykans. British motorcycles, Jerry-built front-loaders, and hey, why not just put an anti-aircraft gun on a ute?
Heavily loaded boat pulls away from shore. This is the main, possibly only, transport for villages on the northern half of Lake Tanganyika, including to Gombe National Park, Tanzania.
These elongated bikes transport people, goods and equiptment up hills near Osmena Peak, Cebu, Philippines.. Several times I saw a person lie across the tank, legs to the left, head to the right.
Space was a premium on this lake ferry from Kigoma to Gombe National Park, on Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania.
African people are incredibly resilient, putting up with hardships we struggle to imagine. So are their cars. Lliongwe, Malawi.
This was our transport in to Vwaza Marsh National Park, down a dusty road in Malawi.
A barge in the dry season, Mongu, Zambia.
A motorized wagon on the streets of Saigon, Vietnam 1993. Backward economies are the mother of engineering invention.
An old Mercedes bus took us to Tehran from Mashhad, Iran.
One of many classic cars we saw in Aleppo, Syria.
I snapped this pimped up pick up in 2005. Pimped up home-engineered pick ups were a feature of Syria's civil war.
A battered 3 wheeled pick-up, Palmyra, Syria.
Felluca on the Nile in Upper Egypt. If you don't have time to sail to Cairo, at least spend a few hours on one.
A 3-wheeler struggles with a sandstorm, Farafra, Egypt.
Money can't buy taste, especially not dodgy fast money in Kazakhstan.
When tankers reach the end of their life, they are broken apaprt by hand by low paid workers, like these in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Riding on the outside of trains is not unusual in Bangladesh.
"Rocket" is the name of Bangladesh's river ferries. They are are peaceful way to see the country. Just DON'T go deck class.
Rickshaw drivers in the evening in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Rickshaws are a vital part of Bangladesh's transport and economy, and yet there are moves in Dhaka to phase them out.
Small punts used for crossing Dhaka's Buriganga must compete with barges, ferries and tankers, in Bangladesh.
A tractor doubles as a taxi, in Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
Small boats are the backbone of Bangladesh's river towns and villages.
A rusty bus in Bangladesh, held together with paint and prayer.
A barge lows lie in the water, Khulna, Bangladesh.
A cycle wagon used for transporting goods, or a large family.
A rickshaw driver workng hard, Khulna, Bangladesh.
A real bone shaker in upcountry Bangladesh.
Bogra, Bangladesh. 3-wheelers wait for customers.
Truck traffic in a port on the Greek islands.
A battered old 3-wheeler still serving its owner in Rhodes, Greece.
I wonder if these horse and carts are still in use in Flores, Indonesia? A beautiful island, with great tourist potential, when I was there in 1992, development was behind the rest of the country.
A British BSA motorcyle in Indonesia's Bukittingi keeps on keeping on.
Ethiopia's Harar is a pastel flavoured city of history, as this classic car and chunky three-wheeler will attest.
A crowded ferry considers its options on Bahir Dar lake, Ethiopia.
A Russian Volga rests in Garm, upcountry Tajikistan.
Hard to really be a tough guy when you're running around on a gloryfied kids' toy. Albania.
Is it a car, a scooter, a bike, or a tuk-tuk? It's an EV, and it's in Kosovo.