For this Hanoi cyclo driver, 1994 was the best

I met this cyclo driver, Mr Vien, last week in Hanoi. He was waiting, along with around 30 other cyclo drivers, for a tour group to arrive. Mr Vien’s been a cyclo driver since 1979. He’s 70 years old. He told me 1994 was his best year. There weren’t as many tourists back then, but most took cyclos. These days few take cyclos. 1994 was the year Bill Clinton lifted an economic embargo on Vietnam that had crippled the country since the end of the war. There was great optimism. But Mr Vien and all the drivers with him kept repeating that life now is “vat va” - which means “very tough” in Vietnamese. These guys know what tough is. Things have always been tough for cyclo drivers. In 1979, things would have been especially tough. And these are tough guys. Mr Vien is probably making more money now than he could have dreamed of in the 80s. But his costs are higher. So is official harassment - something all the drivers kept complaining about. Cyclos, once a key part of Hanoi’s transport system, are not compatible with the planning of a modern city - especially one growing as quickly and chaotically as Hanoi. Vien competes for space on the city’s narrow, congested streets, with millions of motorbikes and tens of thousands of cars, - a surprising number of BMWs, Mercedes, Bentleys, and even the odd Maserati, among them. That's a big change from 1994, when Hanoi was a city of bicycles with an occasional Russian Volga ferrying around the important. If you’re taking a cyclo during your travels, remember that theirs is a tough gig. Remember to agree a charge in advance. And remember that sometimes things don’t work out so well. Unless you’re very confident or know your cyclo driver, we wouldn’t recommend travelling by cyclo alone, or at night.