Korea - 1972 Korean Transport

People performed amazing feats of manual labor. This guy is typical of the loads they hauled by hand.

Bicycles were equally loaded. I recall seeing a guy with large square egg cartons on the back of a bike, piled way above his head. As he rode and the bike tilted, the cartons on top weaved in a broad arc.

Another loaded bike.

Heavy-duty motor-trike loaded with rice straw.

Some sad looking ponies used for hauling. This one has a load of charcoal cylinders for andahl heaters. Scary things, sometimes using soda cans cut and soldered together to distribute the warmed exhaust air under floors - and with it carbon monoxide where the pipes leaked.

Tippy 3-wheeled trucks were usually piled high like bikes. This one has a heavy load of charcoal cylinders.

Another case of a man carrying a heavy load. He has an A-frame under that load of brush. Think of an artist's 3-legged easel with shoulder straps. When he puts it down, he spreads the third leg like a tripod and the load stays upright.

This is the street outside our Seoul apartment. Note the barbed wire on the wall to the right. Not seen is the scraps of broken glass set vertically into the concrete as a further deterrent. This fellow came by often and crawled into garbage bins set into the walls, extracting anything he thought he could salvage. Tough life.

Women didn't have it any easier.

Streets were swept by hand with handmade brooms.