Maltese Bus Driver

The island country of Malta has a fleet of about 500 buses, most of them owner-operated. The British Leyland buses date mainly from the 1950s, and they're painted bright red and orange on the outside. On the inside they're customized with images of the Virgin Mary and Bob Marley.

Route 49 takes a loud and bumpy ride from Qawra to Valetta. I did this sketch of the driver as he steered, shifted, made change, and called out to his friends along the way.


Afterward I showed him the sketch, and he told his friends in Maltese that I made his nose too big.