Flat rail between tracks: This metal strip drives the train magnetically, used on Vancouver's SkyTrain.
Tall dark conifers: Dense firs and cedars under grey skies suggest the rainy Pacific Northwest.
English 'SWITCH' sign: English-only rail signage fits English-speaking North America.
First thing that jumps out is the wide flat strip running between the two rails. That's the reaction rail of a linear-motor metro, a system used in only a handful of cities, and paired with towering firs and a flat grey sky it points straight at Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain. Overhead wires are missing, which already rules out most Pacific Northwest light rail in Seattle or Portland. The chain-link fencing and the English-only switch sign keep you in North America rather than Malaysia, which shares the technology but would show tropical green. For other British Columbia rounds, lean on the vegetation: tall, dark Douglas firs and western red cedars crowding right up to roads and rail are a strong coastal BC signal.
Easily confused with
Seattle or Portland, USA: Their light rail has overhead wires, not a flat centre rail.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Same train technology, but palms and tropical plants, not firs.
Remember: Flat metal strip between rails plus fir trees means SkyTrain, Vancouver.
Blue-over-green train coaches: Myanmar Railways paints coaches blue over green; crowded open windows suggest Yangon's commuter loop.
Cream-and-orange diesel engine: This worn cream and orange locomotive style is typical of Myanmar's older diesel fleet.
Water hyacinth swamp: Floating weed covering wet ditches points to flat, humid monsoon lowlands of South or Southeast Asia.
The train jumps out first: slow, battered coaches painted blue over green, doors open, people leaning out, pulled by a faded cream and orange diesel. That already says a poorer tropical rail network, and the coconut palms plus a ditch choked with water hyacinth confirm flat, wet monsoon country rather than dry India or hilly northern Laos. Tidy Thailand and Malaysia feel less likely given the patched tarp roof on the shack and the overgrown trackside. Myanmar fits best, and a passenger train winding through swampy green suburbs is classic Yangon. A habit worth keeping for Myanmar: look for round, bubbly Burmese letters on signs and buses, and remember cars drive on the right despite many being right-hand drive.
Easily confused with
Bangladesh: Bengali script has a flat top line; Burmese letters are round circles.
Thailand: Thai trains and roads look tidier; Thai script is spikier than Burmese.
Pastel blocks, railed balconies: Warm stucco flats with iron balcony railings and roller shutters strongly suggest northern Italy.
Low terracotta roofs: Shallow red-tiled roofs on plain pink blocks fit postwar towns in Italy's north.
Flat town with plane trees: Plane trees, a cyclist and dead-flat paving point to the Po Valley plain.
Ignore the bronze trunks; the useful part is behind them. Those salmon and pink apartment blocks, with long iron-railed balconies, roller shutters and laundry out, are classic postwar Italian housing. The red-tiled roofs are low and shallow, which rules out most of northern Europe, where roofs are steep. Plane trees, a cyclist with a basket and completely flat paving hint at the Po Valley, Italy's big northern plain, where cycling to the shops is everyday life. The round red no-entry sign is standard European, so it confirms Europe but not the country. A habit worth keeping: in Italy, the plainer and more pastel the apartment block, the more likely you are in the industrial north.
Iranian flags lining road: Green-white-red with a red emblem in the middle means Iran.
Green Persian sign: Persian script above small English text on green is standard Iranian expressway signage.
Painted kerbs and barriers: Kerbs painted in alternating colours and yellow-black barrier posts are common across Iranian cities.
The first thing that jumps out is the endless row of flags, and the red emblem in the white band settles the country before you look anywhere else. The green sign confirms it: Persian script, which looks Arabic, sits above smaller English text. That rules out Arabic-speaking neighbours, which use different flags. Big multi-lane expressways, dusty mid-rise blocks and dry summer haze point to a large city, and Tehran is the safest pin for Iranian urban highways. A habit worth carrying elsewhere: Iranian kerbs are often painted in bold alternating colour bands, and the dry, pale light with planted trees along the roads is typical of the country.
Easily confused with
Tajikistan: Tajik flag has a gold crown and stars; signs use Cyrillic.
Iraq: Iraqi flag is red-white-black with green Arabic writing.
Remember: Persian script plus green-white-red flags with a red emblem means Iran.
Decorated matatu minibus: Airbrushed, graffiti-style minibuses with names like 'Statesman' are the signature of Kenya.
Black-and-white bollards: Striped black-and-white kerb posts and painted kerbs are common across Kenyan towns.
Phone number 07xx: Ten-digit numbers starting 07 on shop signs fit Kenyan mobile numbers.
The minibus jumps out first: blazing yellow fog lights, airbrushed portrait, a big nickname across the windscreen. That matatu culture is uniquely Kenyan and strongest in Nairobi. Traffic keeps left, which rules out most of Africa west and north of here, and the English shop signs and Japanese Fuso and Isuzu trucks fit East Africa. The mid-rise, slightly weathered concrete blocks with grilled windows, roller-shuttered shopfronts and a rider in a hi-vis vest on a boda boda (motorbike taxi) all point to a busy Kenyan town centre. A portable lesson: Kenya paints kerbs and bollards in black-and-white or yellow-and-black stripes, so look for those along road edges even when no vehicles are around.
Easily confused with
Uganda (Kampala): Kampala minibuses are plain white with blue stripes, not airbrushed art.
Tanzania (Dar es Salaam): Dar daladalas carry painted route colours and Swahili-heavy signs, fewer art buses.
Remember: Wildly airbrushed minibuses on a left-driving street almost always mean Kenya.
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