Cyclos

One of the "not to miss" things the tour guide books like to mention is taking a ride in a cyclo. A cyclo, for those who don't know, is basically a cart attached to the front of a bicycle. This is just one of the many ways that the guide books are way off. Would you want to take a ride in this?

In case you're wondering what's being loaded in there, well that's a big pile of grease. Dirt, bricks, various dirty building materials are all common cyclo cargo.

To be fair, the cyclos in Hanoi are a bit nicer, but to me there's something a little too lazy about having some poor guy cart you around town. And, strangely enough, the only people I've ever seen in them are fat, lazy looking tourists.