Monday, 03 October 2011 16:15
Bicitaxis in old Havana.
They emerged on the streets of my city in those rough years of the 90´s, and to some extent they assimilated because they were a palliative supposition in addressing the serious lack of public transportation that we were suffering. It was a city unaccustomed to these devices, those of which are especially abundant in Asian cities.
An although we don´t have much in common with those cities and their inhabitants, it seems that bike-taxis are here to stay. I can assure you that in essence, Havana bike-taxis are like the Asian ones, bicycles specialized for transporting passengers (along with the driver), with a light cover providing relative protection from the sun and light showers. But only up until there are they similar, as there are many aspects that are radically different.
We´ll start with the drivers. Ours have a proverbial talkativeness, never stopping while talking and peddling, commenting on the weather, the national baseball series or the latest news. And if you´re a tourist, for the same price, you will have a guide, illustrating Havana (but beware, many of them were not born there and only know the very basic overview), or be offered a souvenir (cheaper than in stores, of course).
Then we´ll move to the equipment. Numerous devices have a radio or music players with additional speakers, for the passenger´s free enjoyment (or disgust), at especially high volumes…it can become deafening. And believe it or not, they use electric car batteries as a source of energy.
The drivers, it must be said, take pains to decorate their cars, either by painting the frame, upholstering the seats, or finishing the handlebars. Due to road conditions and the weight of passengers, among other reasons, many drivers replace the conventional tires with motorcycle or even small car tires.
If after describing these Havana tricycles, you decide to take a journey in one, compare them to those which can be seen in Bombay or Hong Kong.
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