A Disappearing Part of the Culture

A cyclo

17 years ago, when I arrived in Phnom Penh, travel options were few.  Many people had bicycles. Some had motorcycles. Very few had cars.  And when you had to go to the market or some shop and had more than you could carry on a motorcycle, you hired a cyclo like the one pictured here.  They aren’t fast but they’re sure and steady and will get you home with all your goods.  But now with the advent of tuk-tuks and even more recently with the introduction of the auto rickshaws from India, the cyclos are disappearing. A few of the older women still use them for their daily trips to the market, and tourists will hire a convoy of cyclos to take them around the neighborhoods, but it seems the days of the cyclo are numbered.