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I first visited Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in 1996.
I traveled there again in 1997, before moving to live in the city in 1998 and 1999.
I touched on this in an earlier post about how much Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) has developed over the past 14+ years, but on my recent visit, one of the most pronounced changes for me was the dearth of the once-ubiquitous cyclos on the city's streets.
Cyclos (pronounced see-cloes) were once a popular means of transport throughout this bustling city of 7+ million. They were made famous on the big screen in films such as Three Seasons and Cyclo, but in a controversial decision that came into effect in 2008 -- in an effort to tidy up downtown as well as ease the traffic woes -- city officials voted to prohibit these battered, but treasured, symbols on the streets of central Saigon.
Whether drivers, trash collectors or delivery men, it has been reported that up to 60,000 people depended on cyclos for their livelihood. Doubtless, this has greatly decreased in recent years.
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Cyclos still appear in HCMC's outlying districts -- such as Cholon, the city's Chinatown, where I made this series of photographs -- but there is now a total ban on registering new cyclos in HCMC, save for a few hundred brand new, shiny "tourist" ones that city officials will permit to ply their trade in the downtown areas of Saigon.
One of my fondest memories of living in HCMC was a warm Sunday afternoon, spent with three friends touring the city's outer reaches in the front of cyclos, exploring bustling local markets and tiny side streets with expert Vietnamese drivers at our healm.
It is a shame that the iconic cyclos are disappearing from the frenetic streets of Saigon, along with the colourful captains who pilot them.
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