Sunday, March 3, 2013

The Philippine pedicab - workhorse of the provinces

This evening as I sit at my laptop, I thought I'd take a little break from my theme of our trip to New York (to be continued!!), and in contrast to the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple, take a quick glimpse of a snapshot of life in the Philippine provinces.   The rural provinces are one of my favorite parts of the Philippines.   While I love the hustle and bustle of the big city and hanging out at the big malls in Cebu with my family,  I was born and raised in a small town surrounded by rural areas, so I really love seeing and experiencing the rural, agricultural lifestyle in the provinces and small towns.  

These are some shots of my 2nd-favorite means of transportation in the Philippines -- the pedicab (my 1st favorite means of transportation is a bangka [outrigger canoe]).  These were taken by my wife the last time we went to Philippines in August 2011.   The pedicab is basically a covered sidecar welded to a motorcycle, which is used as a taxi in the rural areas and smaller towns and cities.  It is a much more common sight in rural areas than in the large urban metropolitan areas (such as Manila, Cebu, etc.), which use jeepneys and multicabs (small trucks) and taxis. This is largely because the pedicab is not safe for use on freeways as it can't get up to speed quickly in heavy traffic, especially if it is carrying a lot of weight.  The pedicab can carry quite an extraordinary number of passengers, and I am always amazed at the capability of the small horsepower motorcycle engine to carry a load of the driver and oftentimes greater than 4 passengers, with several in the sidecar, maybe 2 or three behind the driver on the motorcycle, and perhaps one or two hanging on the sides.

It's actually really fun to ride in rural areas, and I'd like to take a try driving one sometime too.  It gives a unique perspective that is much different than traveling in a car.   Our daughter really enjoyed it and had fun, as we have no such thing in the U.S. (we of course have motorcycles, but no pedicabs).  When we returned to the U.S., she took a toy pedicab that we had bought in Philippines to school for show and tell, and presented a little talk about her experience on a pedicab.  She told the teacher and her class that "it has no seatbelts, and no doors".  The boys in her class (who of course like to play with cars and and trucks at that age) in particular were amazed, and they passed the toy pedicab around the room from desk to desk, some of them making "vroooom-vroom" noises as they played with the pedicab!




9 comments:

  1. I am glad you liked riding a pedicab as much as we Filipinos love it too...:) Our means of transportation as well here in Dumaguete...:)


    xx!

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    1. Hello Grah!

      Thanks so much for stopping by! Yes, I really do enjoy riding pedicabs... a fun and great way to ride and take in all of the sights, sounds, and scents, instead of being locked into a car behind a window with aircon blasting. Dumaguete - I'd love to visit there sometime, have never been to Negros. I think there was a Japanese airfield there (or somewhere nearby) where they had fighter planes during WWII.

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  2. Sounds you'll enjoying... guess you visit somewhere in visaya and Mindanao area? I can see the sign ( words visaya)... have more fun :-)

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    1. Hi Pettit Mom!

      We really did enjoy it, and indeed you are right about the sign! I am trying to learn Bisaya, although I can't speak it or write it, I can listen and understand (if I really try and focus) a good bit of it .

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  3. nice to know you're enjoying your stay here in the Philippines! it's amazing how your daughter proudly showed the toy pedicab. so cute. :)

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    1. Hello Honey,

      Thanks for your comment! Yes, our daughter really was proud of the pedicab and is proud of her Filipino heritage. It's fun for her to show and teach the kids here in States about Philippines, and even more fun to learn about Philippines when we visit there.

      Take care!

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  4. awww. that was a really nice story. for us Filipinos who grew up in here, it's like a part of our routine, nothing extraordinary...but the way you put it in the story, the way your daughter proudly shared her nice experience (i really hope so) in the Philippines, it's really overwhelming... :)

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    1. Hi Vic,

      Thanks so much, I am glad you enjoyed the story! It's interesting how the routine and ordinary of one's life could be considered very exciting and exotic to someone from the other side of our 'big blue marble'. The pedicab is indeed fun and fascinating to us - sheer excitement to our daughter, and for me I enjoy riding them very much too. I see the pedicab as a testament to Filipino ingenuity... but it's kind of an unsung hero in comparison to the jeepney. I really appreciate the ingenuity and design behind the jeepney too (and I love that kind of 1940's aircraft polished aluminum/stainless steel look that many jeepneys have), but the pedicabs are also really cool and really mobile. Yes, our daughter proudly shared her experience, and the kids in her class were amazed learning about what they considered to be a really different and exotic means of transportation.

      Take care and thanks for stopping by!

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  5. Thanks for sharing about your story about the pedicab and your good feedback. When we went home in Philippines I let my husband rode the pedicab he was happy as well and he did not complain he's a happy camper that he experienced our public transportation.hehheheh,our daughter was 18 months he just a happy baby coz she's in my lap and not in the car seat.

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