Experience the traditional way of getting around Penang!
A trishaw, or ‘beca’ as they are known in Malaysia, is a three-wheeled vehicle with a driver in the back, who propels the vehicle by pedalling, and a cab in the front just large enough to seat two adults.
Trishaws took over from rickshaws as the principal form of public transport in George Town around the end of the 19th Century. A rickshaw is a cab which is pulled along by someone harnessed to the cab in the back in the same way that a horse pulls a cart. This form of transport was brought to Penang by Indian immigrants, in whose native country the rickshaw was invented. The trishaw is a quicker and less energy consuming variation on the rickshaw, utilising the then newly developed bicycle technology from Europe.
Decades before the arrival of comfortable taxis and public buses, thousands of trishaws shaped Penang's public transportation system since the 1950s. Today, the numbers have dwindled to about 200 trishaws and it is now a part of the city's living heritage.
Trishaws are available for hire as a form of public transport in the busy areas of Penang, particularly George Town and Batu Ferringhi, where travel by taxi is sometimes difficult because of the narrow streets and large numbers of pedestrians. If you hire a trishaw then you need to negotiate a rate per hour, or fraction of an hour. Most charge RM40 to RM60 an hour for a trip around the George Town World Heritage Site. The historic centre of George Town is not that large and you can cover the main sights in an hour with photo stops along the way. If you plan to go inside one of the attractions, such as Fort Cornwallis or the Cheah Kongsi Clan House, consider doing that at the start or end of your trishaw hire period.
What trishaws are perfect for is to take you around the various better known wall murals in George Town which can be difficult to locate. Trishaws are also useful for people who have difficulties walking because of age, injury, or health problems because they can take you to places which cars cannot access.
With international borders closed for two years since the Covid pandemic started in March 2020, and interstate travels banned until recently, tourism has been greatly affected, forcing many to look for other jobs. For trishaw riders in Penang who are mostly senior citizens, with no source of income, many are left homeless.
How to claim this Virtual Cache?
COMPULSORY LOGGING REQUIREMENT
The coordinates will lead you to a trishaw station where you can find trishaws for hire. Post a photo of yourself or your GPS or a thumbs-up or peace symbol (V) with one or more of the trishaws there, to prove that you are on site. Logs without photo will be deleted.
You are not required to hire a trishaw for this virtual cache. However, if conditions permit, I hope you will allow yourself this fun and unique experience while in Penang!
Enjoy, and happy geocaching! 
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.
Photo credit: https://travel2penang.org/tag/rickshaw/
Congratulations to lometogo and Traveljunkies on FTF!
Thank you for the Favourite Points, lometogo, Traveljunkies, rzinger, OrienTheory, brashteam! Much appreciated.