Given my love of travel, in my freshman year of high school I decided to start a collection of model vehicles from foreign countries — methods of transportation that are characteristic to that country.  Why vehicles?  Well, model vehicles are commonly sold and tend to be characteristic of specific cultures.  Plus, the fact that they are cheap does not hurt. 🙂  Some of these vehicles I bought myself, while others were gifted to me.

From top to bottom, left to right:

Truck from Pakistan: Pakistani trucks are known for their colorful decorations, that can be anything from geometric designs to pictures of movie stars.  This truck, in fact, was what started off my collection.

Bullet Car from Japan

Carreta (Ox-Cart) from Costa Rica: Decorated ox-carts have traditionally been Costa Rican farmers’ main methods of transport, and served as a status symbol for families.

Eight-Grade Car Project: A battery-operated car my friends and I made in our eight-grade Physics class.  The car is made out of pine wood, has lego wheels, a 9V-battery holder, a switch, and a motor.  Power gets transferred to the wheel through a rubber band.

Cable Car for San Francisco

A traditional boat from the Andaman and Nicobar islands

A model of an 1870 B-26 steam engine from the National Rail Museum, Delhi

Autorikshaw from India

Car from Greece: During my trip to Greece, I could not find a model vehicle that was characteristic of Greek culture.  Instead, I got a car with a built in clock, and permanently set it to Greek time to remind me of my trip.

Bike from Cambodia

Horse-Drawn Carriage from London

Double-Decker Bus from London

Tintin Model Car from France: I know, technically Tintin is a Belgian comic series, but I saw this car in France and couldn’t resist.  Plus, it is from one of the first Tintin comics I ever read, Land of Black Gold.

Houseboat from Kerela

Camel-Drawn Cart from Rajasthan

Hand-Crafted Truck from Oaxaca

Tuk-Tuk from Cambodia

Taxi from London