They are taking away the Cyclos. Another icon bites the dust, the march of progress of course, a roughshod quickstep over what was once essential but now inconsequential. So it was with London Routemasters; Glasgow trams, Shanghai rickshaws. Russian Trebant Taxis. What next? The Manila jeepney, the Thai songtaow...
The cyclos are as iconic for VietNam as the conicle hat. Although only seen in the major cities, they are for most people visiting the country a way of accessing some sense of the past that isn't enshrined in a museum or simply post-carded. These contraptions, bicycle meets rickshaw are still a way of life for a lot of people. They now ferry passengers from A to B in lesser quantities as people upgrade to motorcycle taxis but they also transport all manner of stuff that can't be shouldered on a motorbike taxi or squeezed into a car. Cyclos, ridden with grace and without urgency can carry an incredible range of things; from construction materials to bottled mineral water; from a baby palm tree to a drinks vending machine. The cyclo drivers are to a man, stretched and weather beaten; their elongated frames both skelatal and sinewy strong. The government has promised that these men will be given a motorised substitute for their pedal-powered cyclos. Considering the staggering rate of change in Saigon and the accompanying ability of a lot of Saigonese to adapt to that change, it may be just another moment of transition. But the atmosphere of an ex-colonial, 'Fall of Saigon' era city is rapidly going up in construction dust and the noise of millions of motorbikes.
Photo courtesy of Kate Hildebrand's travel blog.
