By plane, by train or by camel

Arriving in Bangkok in November of what should have been my junior year, I was greeted with the resounding call of the tuk-tuk drivers: "TUK-TUK? TUK-TUK?" Having never been exposed to these open-air converted motorcycles, I opted to stay on my feet for the first day. Necessity and curiosity soon pushed me into one of these modern-day carriages, and I reveled in the thrill of watching Bangkok rush by while listening to my driver shout an abridged history of the city over the roar of his engine. When studying or traveling abroad, Princeton students have a chance to live like a local and experience the place they're visiting in ways that normal tourists cannot.

In many remote areas, animals still serve as a common form of transportation, which allows for a more direct interaction with exotic creatures than fond in any zoo. In the northern mountains of Thailand, outside the commercial hub of Chang Mai, I climbed aboard the back of an elephant with a pair of fellow travelers and a nimble guide who perched himself directly on the head of our mighty transport. My traveling companions and I clung to our steel bench as we lurched from side to side with the elephant's deliberate gait. The slow pace of our movement was far from efficient, likely not the choice of locals, but an unforgettable adventure nonetheless.

Elephants aren't the only animals Westerners aren't accustomed to riding when they head abroad. When Robert Spackey '08 was studying abroad in Turkey, and spending his spring break in Cairo, traveling by camel seemed like a grand plan. Along with another student from Turkey, Spackey arrived at the Pyramids of Giza with few options: "When we arrived, we saw horses and camels," he said. After a 30-minute ride on horseback, it was time to switch to the camels, and Spackey got a quick lesson in economics not often taught in McCosh 50: haggling. "He first quoted us a price of 175 pounds, which is about 20 U.S. dollars. We scoffed, of course, and proceeded to talk him down." Ten percent is often a safe response when bargaining. By the end, Spackey and his friend found themselves on the back of a camel, having only parted with 30 pounds. "It was a comfortable ride, though the area was very touristy," he said. "Hardly the middle of the desert like I was picturing."

Riding on live transportation can be tricky, depending on the mores of individual cultures. Last summer, a group of Princeton students stationed in Ethiopia as members of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) hired donkeys to assist in moving equipment and supplies. "A lot of people used donkey carts to move things," said Andy Lapetina '07, the group's president. "They cost about 20 birr [$2.25] per day." Still, as tempting as it may have been for Lapetina and his peers to hop on the back of one of their hired donkeys, local customs required them to use their own two feet: "We never rode on [donkeys]," he said. "It is taboo in Ethiopian culture to ride donkeys."

When animal travel is taboo or difficult, or when it's necessary to traverse great distances, buses are the global standard. As might be expected, quality and availability differ depending on location. The landlocked nation of Zambia, located in southern Africa, has an extensive bus system, but it takes a bit of work to figure it out. Last year, while taking time off from Princeton to work with NGOs in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, Ted Gudmundsen '08 learned to utilize the local buses despite a few peculiarities unique to the Zambian bus system. "The bus system is funny because it is not mapped anywhere in the entire country. There is just a system that everyone knows, and in the central market there is an area where all the buses are," he said. "It's madness, with hundreds of buses sprawled across an open area and people just screaming and shouting. But it seems like they know what they're doing, because they do, and I didn't."

Her first time abroad, Aylin Bilir '07 headed to Turkey on the same strip as Spackey. Unlike Zambia, Turkey has a number of bus services, some of which offer many of the creature comforts to which we were once accustomed when flying within the United States. With her school located on the coast of the Mediterranean, Bilir had to take a lengthy bus ride to visit relatives living in central Turkey, but she found the experience to be quite pleasant. "I took a bus by myself from Alyanya to Ankara, which was about eight hours," she said. "The bus had drink and snack service just like airplanes, and it cost the equivalent of $18 U.S."

If the buses of Turkey sound cushy, let me introduce you to the world of coche cama, which I discovered in Argentina. The direct translation from Spanish yields the phrase "car bed," which is a pretty accurate description. Picture a double-decker bus with three fully reclining lazy boys in each row. Now add a hot meal, accompanied by a glass of fine Argentine red wine and a few blankets to keep you warm as you enjoy a movie or two. All this was mine for a mere 120 pesos, or $40 U.S.

Sometimes, when a bus alone won't get you to your destination, you have to use a combination of transportation modes. While studying abroad in Santiago, Chile, during the spring of his sophomore year, Josh Loehrer '08 had to get creative to reach some of his destinations. When trying to reach a national park on the renowned fishing island of Chiloe, Loehrer took three buses, a boat and a taxi over the course of two days. On another trip, Loehrer benefited from the companionship of a local man he met en route to Validivia. "On the bus ride [to Valdivia], I sat next to a Chilean man and began a conversation that lasted for a few hours. In the morning, we arrived in Valdivia, and he invited me to have coffee and to meet his girlfriend," he said. "He then took me to a nice place to stay." Such experiences are frequent when traveling the late night buses in South America, an integral part of reaching the most unique places.

When traveling abroad, every aspect of daily life can become a memorable and unusual experience, and travel perhaps the most so. Every year Princeton students board planes and scatter across the globe in search of adventure, good times, culture and breathtaking scenery. From the window seats of buses and trains, atop elephants or camels or cruising aboard a ferry, Princeton travelers soak in the world on the go and develop invaluable skills they can't just learn in the classroom.