A cyclo is a bicycle rickshaw.
Do not use them in Saigon. Do not use them anywhere if you have a choice.
About ten years ago an incredibly depressing Vietnamese movie called Cyclo was released, depicting the terrible hardships endured by very poor people (in this case a cyclo driver and his family) in a poor country. It didn't do wonders for the cyclo industry, that's for sure.
Beyond that, a cyclo is a kind of relic left over from the colonial period - a time when chubby Westerners in white suits would be carted around the Rue Catinat by Annanite (as for some reason the French insisted on calling the Vietnamese) coolies. Asking somebody to literally push you in a chair seems like an indignity for both of you.
More practically, cyclos are achingly slow and actually more expensive than a motorbike or taxi, due to the effort involved. I took one last night on what would've been a ten-minute drive in a motor vehicle but instead took 45 minutes, although that was partially because my driver had no idea where he was going.
2 comments:
What is the price of Taxis, Motorcycles, and Cyclos in HCMC?
Anyway... never underestimate those people especially the motorcycles.
The cyclo you rode were probably trying to avoid the polices. Or worse, he was using you as a naive front for some sinister business like smuggling condoms. Heh heh, just scaring you.
I think he just had no idea where to go.
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