Friday July 28, 2017
Today’s Flashback Friday is a look at some unusual fish trap transportation in Vietnam.
One fun game to play when traveling around Southeast Asia is “Spot the most unusual thing carried on the back of a bike.” While navigating the motorbike traffic of various countries, we’ve witnessed the transportation of everything from pigs to potted plants. But nothing on the road has been quite as elaborate as this bicycle display at the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi, Vietnam. This bicycle was used by a fish trap vendor to peddle his wares throughout the Red River basin from 1982-1997. The surprisingly balanced arrangement can support as many as 800 bamboo fish traps, with a variety of designs for catching small freshwater fish. As both transportation modes and fishing gear types are changing, the chances of seeing such a set up in real life are fading. Thanks to this display, we’re still able to admire the picturesque and practical nature of this fish-related business practice. Unfortunately, we’d be hard pressed trying to find a bicycle big enough to support one of our own custom-built fish traps…