🦼𝗖𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗼 - 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆🦼

V-Stop Travel Agency
Nov 12, 2021
2 min read

Among the crowded bustling Hanoi, among people and hustling cars running in the Old Quarter, sometimes we encounter pictures of cyclo lines for tourists going on sightseeing, along the old traditional craft streets.

Each roller ring contains very own stories about a Hanoi of the past, present, and the future. The cyclos have become an indispensable beauty of the Vietnamese capital. Today, let’s V-Stop tell you the story of this fabulous vehicle.

𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐨

‘Xich lo’ is the Vietnamese pronunciation of the French word ‘cyclo’. This vehicle was first introduced in French in 1939 by a man named Coupeaud, but was used mostly in colonial countries in the 20th century, especially in Vietnam.

Cyclo is transport using human power, has three wheels used to transport passengers or goods, usually with one or two chairs for visitors and a place for the driver at the back.

At first, cyclos were bought and used by France staff and the Hanoi mandarins for moving purposes. The birth of it changed the mindset of people traveling, moving from the road mainly by palanquin, hammocks, horses to a different mode of transportation, which is more convenient. Gradually, this means becoming familiar on the streets of Hanoi, and exists to this day.

With the advantages of convenience, it does not occupy too much space, very suitable for the small streets, alleys, small entrance of the old town, cyclo means of passenger transport is extremely useful, helping people to move around more easily.

𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢 𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐨 𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬

Since the coming of car’s engines, the higher living standard, cyclos are now served mainly for tourism.

Wandering on the streets of Ha Noi Ba Sau Street, we can still unintentionally catch the image of a cyclo on the roads, hustle for the usual worries of a bucket life.

Hanoi is wide, thoughtful, but actually small, pretty lovely like the palm of my sister's hand. Wandering around, the appearance of an old city can not be hidden by the rapid mushroom of skyscrapers.

Each loop of rolling, not only containing his hard-working sweat, but also the very private story about life, human and a whole Hanoi in it.

“Ride Cyclo (Xích Lô) in Hanoi. It’s something in between a bike and a rickshaw, driven by an authorized driver from a tourist company or hotel. It’s slow enough for you to enjoy the crazy street scene, without the sweat of manning a vehicle yourself.”

By: An T Nguyen - Studied Biochemistry at University of Marburg

Cre: Quora.com