The preferred mode of transportation in many developing countries are tuk tuks. These noisy and shock-absorber-free vehicles vary in construction and in condition but they invariably offer the cheapest and sometimes – such as in heavy traffic – the fastest way to get around cities.

Cars are safer than tuk tuks, but they get stuck in traffic. Buses are cheaper, but they really get stuck in traffic. Motorcycles are faster – they don’t get stuck in traffic – but you can’t fit two passengers, their backpacks and a driver (contrary to what they tell you and what the locals actually will fit onto their motorcycles and scooters).

But even among the lowly tuk tuks, there is competition not only for your fare but also for the tip you might give if you arrive at your destination quickly. Pushing their motors for all they can give, the drivers will race past pedestrians, bicyclists and rickshaws – and, if you are lucky, other tuk tuks – at speed topping 25 miles per hour.

The name tuk tuk comes from the noise the usually-overworked motors make when chugging along. They are sometimes called mottos, although this is also used for motorcycles or scooters which also can carry four or five people on what Westerners would consider a seat for two. The more aristocratic sounding ‘auto-rickshaw’ is essentially the same thing as a tuk tuk but, in some countries, it differentiates the modern vehicles from the old-fashioned human-powered ones usually pulled by very old men who cannot afford to add the ‘auto’ to their rickshaws. In Indonesia, they are called Bajaj – again the same thing as a tuk tuk – except more crowded, dirtier and more reluctantly hired.

Tuk tuks are a fusion of motorcycle and sidecar except that the sidecar is actually behind, not beside, the two-wheeled vehicle. These are more like a little trailer than a sidecar and can seat as few as two people or as many as a whole family crammed tight with some of the kids hanging out the back and sides. Tourists – needing more space and having more money – usually limit themselves to two or three to a vehicle.

They are sometimes constructed with the front end of a motorcycle attached to a small box resting atop an axle. The box usually has one or two seats and can be completely open or may have curtains to enclose it during bad weather. Some vehicles are just a box as described above except that it’s attached to a normal motorcycle whose seat is removed to reveal a hitch. These are common in Cambodia and permit the driver to offer a ride in his tuk tuk to, for example, the airport for three U.S. dollars. When you refuse, he can offer to drive you on his motorcycle alone for half the price!

Some tuk tuks are beautifully decorated with colorful paint, plastic flowers, as well as portraits and statuettes of gods and goddesses. Some are given names that reveal more about the driver’s dreams for future greatness than the experience tourists can anticipate ridding in the vehicle. Popular names include: Sanjay’s Heaven, Paulo’s Limo and Seventh Heaven. I have yet to see, however, a bumper sticker stating “My Other Tuk Tuk is a BMW”.

So why is the other tuk tuk always faster? First, tuk tuks are invariably parked when their drivers offer their services so that the potential client has no idea how well the vehicle runs until he is crawling to his destination at turtle-speed. Second, tourists tend to negotiate the original price down (knowing that the touts have tripled the price for Westerners) leading to drivers to go slow to economize on gasoline.

While tourist-filled vehicles are marginally faster than those with locals as they are less weighed down, your own two-person tuk tuk will invariably be passed by all one-passenger, some two-client ones as well as all customer-free tuk tuks. Something to keep in mind when you wonder why “are all the other tuk tuks are faster than mine?”

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