Myanmar Trishaw was invented by Sayar Nyo, a car repairer from Nyaung Bin Market, Mandalay in 1938. The trishaw is made of three wheels – a combination of a bicycle and sidecar which has two back to back seats for two passengers on the left side of the driver. Myanmar trishaw is very different from others in Vietnam, Laos, or Cambodia.
History
The reason for the invention of the trishaw was a significant economic revolution in transportation at that time. Unlike Yangon there were no rickshaws in Mandalay at that time, only horse cart and train. When the nationalist uprising occurred across the whole country, the people decided to make their own national economy and tried every way to get rid of foreign industries. They figured out a way to make their own vehicles using only bicycles based on the amount they could spend. Thus, the very first trishaw was invented in 1938.
Victory
At that time, 60 miles of the road was made in Mandalay by the British government but only 6 miles of railway track. So the benefit of using trishaw far outweighed that of using trains as people could go almost everywhere by the trishaw like a door to door system. Almost everyone rode trishaws because of the cheap transportation and the trains eventually stopped running.
Trishaw Nowadays
Trishaw nowadays still has the same structure and is still the best way to go sightseeing around the city. Even with its slow mode, you can go into the small streets, it is comfortable and very convenient to people watch and take photos at leisure. The price is amazingly reasonable and also very safe especially in the streets of the inner part of the city. I have also noticed some foreigners enjoying the rain in their raincoats and riding trishaws in the rainy season. I highly recommend to experience the trishaw at least once and the drivers are very friendly and helpful too.