While travelling around Asia you’re likely to find some wonderful old vehicles. Asia received exports from Europe, USA and Japan so the vintage vehicles you may come across are an interesting variety; and also many vehicles were adapted for local use so they’re unique to that part of the world.

Just as in the West these days, they may be parked in someone’s drive, on a side street, or round the back of a temple like this Buddha-car, but they are definitely out there and you never know what you may discover around the next corner…

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietman – April, 1998

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A cyclo driver takes a lunch break in the grounds of a wat (temple)

Chiang Mai, Thailand, January, 2005

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Catering 3-wheel handcarts in Bakhtapur, Nepal

April, 2002

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Chinese New Year parade in Chiang Mai. The Thais celebrate western New Year and Thai New Year (Songkran) too, in April. The western New Year holiday time is the most dangerous time to be on the roads – usually 1000 people are killed in accidents each year over that week. Traffic police finish their work at sunset, so anarchy rules at night.

Chiang Mai, N. Thailand, February, 2002

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Used mineral water bottles are a scourge all over Asia. But these kids have a novel recycling concept – plastic bottles turned into toy cars

N. Cambodia, April, 1996

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Chinese workmen ‘renovate’ the Tibetan Quarter of Lhasa. Under the pretext of improving sanitation, Tibetan houses were systematically destroyed, being rebuilt in identical style ..though now with Chinese landlords.

Lhasa, Tibet, November, 1995

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This was snapped from the back of a bus on a 2-day journey from Kashgar in Xinjiang Province, western China, down into Pakistan.

After my journey across China from Shanghai to Kashgar, the first thing I did as I crossed the border into Pakistan was to have a cup of proper tea. The owner of the tea-shop was so amused when I explained why I was so happy to drink it that he would not take any money for it (which was just as well, as I’d not yet changed my yuan into rupees).

May, 1996

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This Vespa Sidecar taxi plies its trade at a N. Sumatra bus station

Indonesia, March, 1995

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Horses provide most of the transport needs in rural Tibet. Under Chinese occupation, Tibetans subsist in extreme poverty in the countryside, and do not own motorized vehicles.

May, 1995

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I spotted this 1949 Vauxhall Wyvern while I was taking a shortcut on my bicycle through the grounds of a wat (temple) in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai, Thailand, February, 2002

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It was still dangerous to travel in most parts of the country during my first visit to Cambodia in 1996. Some Western journalists had recently been killed. There were bandits on nearly all roads, and ‘Pol Pot’ guerrillas in the north – sometimes the real Pol Pol group but usually bandits calling themselves Pol Pot.

Siem Reap was one of the three designated ’safe’ destinations for tourists, though getting to it from Pnomh Penh could be dangerous too – the fast speedboats up the river were often shot at by locals who were annoyed that they disturbed local fishing. So speedboats had machine-guns mounted on them.

When I travelled to outlying areas of the Angkor Wat temple complex, I had to pay an extra £2 for a young lad carrying a wooden pretend rifle to sit on the back of the pick-up truck (with blacked-out windows); I felt much safer.

I’m not sure what it’s like now, but Cambodians were very trigger-happy when I visited Cambodia in the 1990’s. I was once in Pnomh Penh during a local festival and I found that, whereas in other countries locals throw firecrackers, Cambodians simply fire their guns in the air. Bullets often kill someone on their way down.

This motorcycle pulling a trailer is a typical ‘bus’ for locals.

Siem Reap, N. Cambodia, March, 1996

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This ornate dragon car I spotted on a side street in Saigon was used for funerals.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam, April 1998

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Autorickshaws can be found all over India in various states of dismantlement and decay, or propped up at various angles to work on the underside.

If you’d like to see more photos of autorickshaws, tempos, bajaj’s, cyclerrickshaws, delivery tricycles, etc, please click here

Delhi, India, February, 1997

http://indiantriporteurs.wordpress.com/

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Daihatsu made three-wheelers from 1930 (motorcycle triporteur style with the pick-up bed behind). The first 3-wheeler car, the Daihatsu Bee, was produced in 1951.

The company was taken over by Toyota in 1966 and ceased manufacturing 3-wheelers in 1976.

I spotted this delightful little Daihatsu three wheeler on Moon Muang St in Chiang Mai.

Chaing Mai, Thailand, January, 2005

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My epic trip across China was from Shanghai in the east to Kashgar in the far western province of Xinjiang.

I stopped off at Gansu in Inner Mongolia (northern China), to visit Xiahe, which is a Tibetan town next to the Labulang Monastery. In fact, I have to say (sadly), that the population ratio of Tibetans to Chinese in Xiahe is greater than in Tibet. The Tibetans in Xiahe were also somewhat more relaxed than those in occupied Tibet.

This photo was taken in ‘The Grasslands,’ an area beyond Xiahe that is very much like the pampas of Argentina.

Xiahe, China, April, 1996

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There were still plenty of old cars to be seen on the roads of Indonesia in 1995. Here, a cyclo passes a parked Mark 1 Ford Zephyr

Bukatingi, N. Sumatra, Indonesia, March 1995

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This Chinese policeman poses for me on his Xing Fu motorcycle

Lhasa, Tibet, April, 1995

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I’ve always been well-received by local people during my budget travels. Muslim countries have a long tradition of hospitality to visitors. I’ve travelled in over 50 countries, but North Pakistan was definitely one of the most hospitable places I’ve been to.

It’s great to see old Bedfords again. This fabulous beast is a Peshawar city bus.

Peshawar, North Pakistan, May, 1996

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Whereas Thailand, Cambodia’s richer neighbour, still has many variations of 3-wheeler vehicles for commercial transportation, Cambodia did not move beyond 2-wheels. Here, a live pig is strapped to the back of a motorcycle for the journey into Siem Reap weekly market. The pillion passenger can not reach the rear footpegs, so he is holding onto the pig.

Siem Reap, N. Cambodia, March 1996

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As elsewhere around warm parts of Asia, cycle-rickshaw drivers traditionally have an afternoon nap sheltering from the sun

Pnomh Penh, Cambodia, 1997

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IF YOU WISH TO SEE MORE ODD PHOTOS OF TRAFFIC IN ASIA, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO THE NEXT PAGE…