The cyclo is a man-powered three-wheeled pedicab that is ubiquitous in the cities of Vietnam. The English word is pronounced ‘sickle-o’ and probably comes from the French term for it (cyclo-pousse).

The cyclo is based on a heavy-duty bicycle, and from the driver's seat on to the back, that’s just what it is. What distinguishes the cyclo from the other pedicabs of Asia, such as the samlor of Thailand, is that the passenger seat is up in front of the handlebars, kind of like a large, wide scoop. The seat is supported by wheels on each side, making the cyclo a tricycle. The driver turns the whole seat unit to steer the cycle. The ‘scoop’ is sandwiched between two wheels and has a padded bench seat that is designed to carry two smallish people, but it’s not uncommon to see one with a load of four or five kids or several crates of goods. There’s a fold-up canopy to protect passengers from the hot tropical sun and a footrest/splash-guard in front. Other than that minimal protection, the cab is open to the air. It gives a completely unobstructed view forward and to the sides and the movement creates a welcome breeze that is much appreciated by your hot and sweaty body. On the downside, there is nothing to protect you from a collision and the unobstructed view is usually of chaotic traffic and massive objects that all seem to be hurtling directly at you with destruction in mind.

During the war, when things were rather more intense in Vietnamese cities, the motorized cyclo appeared. That monstrous contraption, a fond memory of American GIs and expats of all kinds, was a hell-blend bastard child of motorcyle and front-end loader. It’s large, unmuffled and abused two-cycle engine screeched and shrieked like a banshee on crack and spewed great clouds of milky blue smoke. The drivers, relatively safe behind the shield formed by their passengers, drove their inherently unstable mechanical demons in either of two driving styles, ‘frenzy’ or ‘death wish.’

Well, all that is gone now, and the cyclo is back to its original, saner form. A descendent of the renown but obsolete rickshaw, the cyclo provides an inexpensive urban transportation solution for moving people and goods about town and has a lot of quaint charm appeal for the tourists. It also provides a means of income for the men at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, the modern-day coolies (from the Chinese ku li ??, meaning bitter labor). In communist post-war Vietnam, the bottom of the ladder is occupied by many skilled and educated men and women who have been cast down permanently because of their relations with the Americans or the ‘democratic’ regimes of the war. One young tourist tells of an experience in haggling with a cyclo driver over the fare for a tour. After a long back-and-forth in Pidgin English, the driver changed his demeanor and said in flawless English, “Look, why don’t you just give me the dollar. It means a hell of a lot more to me than it does to you.” This driver had been an interpreter for the U.S. military for several years. For many a cyclo jockey in today’s Vietnam, the seat of his vehicle is his bed for the night.