The cyclo is not unique to Phnom Penh but, perhaps more than anywhere else, it remains one if the city’s trademarks.
Towering above most other traffic, the long legs of the riders propel what look like ungainly and antiquated machines with an aura of grace that reminds us of a bygone age. These men and their back to front tricycles really are the kings of the Asian road.
Today there are more than 3,000 cyclo-drivers working in Phnom Penh carrying all manner of people and goods. Many of them are among the city’s poorest and least privileged denizens.
Often hailing from rural areas and with few other skills, they eke out a life of a few dollars a day, returning to their villages only at planting or harvesting time. Many have no real accommodation in Phnom Penh and spend their nights sleeping in their cyclos along the roads and pavements.
The Kings of the Roads is a coffee-table book; but in so being it invites the casual reader to take a closer look at the daily lives of cyclo drivers and to learn about some of the really positive initiatives being implemented to alleviate the living conditions of this underprivileged but hardworking section of the community.
By Robert Joiner
From SE-Globe Cambodia’s English Magazine.
Towering above most other traffic, the long legs of the riders propel what look like ungainly and antiquated machines with an aura of grace that reminds us of a bygone age. These men and their back to front tricycles really are the kings of the Asian road.
Today there are more than 3,000 cyclo-drivers working in Phnom Penh carrying all manner of people and goods. Many of them are among the city’s poorest and least privileged denizens.
Often hailing from rural areas and with few other skills, they eke out a life of a few dollars a day, returning to their villages only at planting or harvesting time. Many have no real accommodation in Phnom Penh and spend their nights sleeping in their cyclos along the roads and pavements.
The Kings of the Roads is a coffee-table book; but in so being it invites the casual reader to take a closer look at the daily lives of cyclo drivers and to learn about some of the really positive initiatives being implemented to alleviate the living conditions of this underprivileged but hardworking section of the community.
By Robert Joiner
From SE-Globe Cambodia’s English Magazine.
