While being a travel writer means I can skip the worst part of a 9-to-5 job: the daily commute, these chaotic and raucous commuting scenes have taken on more of a cultural aspect for me. When I’m traveling in Hong Kong or Japan, I always make it a point to catch the peak hour – just to experience the local lifestyle. This week’s sponsored post is a fascinating piece that brings us around odd corners of the world on the worst commutes you can ever imagine.
If you think your trip into work is hell each morning, spare a thought for these poor souls.
It’s amazing how far people are willing to commute to get to work. The average US worker spends over 100 hours a year commuting, and in the UK the average commute for those with a London job was 139 hours when measured in 2006.
However, while many spend hours each day travelling to and from work, at least in most cases the commute is reasonably safe and painless. Next time you think your commute to work is tiresome, spare a thought for these poor souls.
The Rammed Train in Pakistan
This might look like a carefully choreographed number from Slumdog Millionaire: The Musical, but this is just a normal day in the life for a bunch of Sunni Muslims taking a trip home after work. We bet your trains never get that crowded.
Zipline to Work
Sure taking a gigantic death slide to work might seem like fun at first, but strapping yourself into a tight harness for the daily plunge, as these people in Colombia have to do, is far from a comfortable commute. If you happen to drop your laptop on your way to work, no insurance company is going to cover you for “accidental damage” – of that you can be certain.
Japanese Efficiency in Travel
The Japanese pride themselves on efficiency, which means if there is room on the train, that room had better be filled – otherwise it’s just wasted space. People with London jobs might sympathise with the cramped train commute, but the Japanese take ramming people into trains to new levels. They even employ “pushers” to make sure everyone fits on.
Alligator Attack
Your commute might be long and hard but one thing most of us can be thankful for is that there is little risk of alligator attack on the way to work. Not so for Kimberly Hanson of Salt Springs, Florida. Ms Hanson won the Quaker State Award for the World’s Worst Commute having to negotiate the possibility of being snapped in half by huge alligators each day on her way to work.
The Runner of Marathon
Few of us have to contend with a commute that is so difficult that we die of exhaustion. So spare a thought for Pheidippides, the poor man who ran 150 miles in two days as an Athenian herald in the Battle of Marathon. After the Greeks beat the Persians, Pheidippides was sent on a “short errand” back to Athens – some 26 miles away – to bring news of the Greek victory. Having delivered the message, Pheidippides promptly died, birthing a legend.
Sources: BBC news, SMSread, Mainstreet.com and Tecture.com.
Photo credits: Flickr Creative Commons photos by Nick Farnhill, smsread, Jenly, gullevek, Tom Spinker and Sebastia Giralt.
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That train in Pakistan is unbelievable! I wonder what happens if you are in the middle and you need to get off? That could be a pretty bad position to be in…
In Tanzania, I knew many students who needed to cross a wide river in a small wooden boat everyday to go to school. The river was crocodile and hippo infested making it a pretty dangerous crossing. In Kenya I also knew some students who walked 2-3 hours to school and sometimes couldn't make it all the way due to elephant herds blocking the way.
Very interesting list, I'm glad I don't have to make to much of a commute.
Mark, you've always got interesting tales to share! I remember when I was teaching in Tanzania, the education officer I stayed with told me about students who had to walk 2-3hours to get to school as well. It's amazing how this world works!
Man, I thought commuting in Boston was bad. When you get to this level, you really have to ask yourself if that job is worth it.
That train in Pakistan is insanity!
LOL the japanese train pushers. Brilliant. I thought the authority fella was going to calm them down but he got in there and pushed!