Pousse-Pousse Rides

The pousse-pousse — a two-wheeled cart pulled by a running man — is the defining sight and sound of Antsirabe. Hundreds of them operate throughout the town, and arriving visitors are met immediately by a crowd of drivers competing for custom. The competition keeps prices low, and a short ride across town costs almost nothing by any Western measure.

It is worth taking at least one ride for the experience: the speed, the skill of navigation through traffic and pedestrians, the calls between drivers, and the view from the slightly elevated seat. Choose a young driver if you want to move quickly. The drivers are almost always young men from the surrounding highlands trying to earn enough to send money home, and the fare — though low — is real income. Tipping is appreciated and not expected in the transaction itself.

things to do sight
A story
Antsirabe's pousse-pousse fleet was deliberately introduced in the late colonial period as a form of employment for highland Malagasy men, on the model of the rickshaws then common in colonial Asian cities. Unlike most cities where they have disappeared, Antsirabe still runs hundreds of them because the altitude makes cycling difficult for casual riders and the streets are too narrow and hilly in the older quarter for efficient car navigation.

Other places in Things to Do