Trishaw Drivers, Melaka

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You will see lots of trishaw drivers around Dutch Square, China Town and other central parts of Melaka. Some of them are interestingly decorated and some play loud music while you take the tour. For a change, try one of them.

There are abundance of rickshaw man ready to take you to wheel around this town. For a simple US$5 you can hop onto these colourful (and flowery) rickshaw and see the sceneries of town for half an hour.

Sometime rickshaw equipped with a blaring stereo but you can politely ask them to switch it off if you can't stand the sound tune of local songs.

Singapore has got a fleet of these trishaws too, ferrying tourists around for a hefty price; but those in Malacca are so much more colourful and cute! Adorned with plenty of flowers and flags, these trishaws seem popular with the Caucasian tourists. I have no idea how much a ride would cost though.

When visiting the Banda Hilir, you may be offered to have a trishaw ride. If you never had this ride before, I recommend that you take the offer. It will be a fun and joy ride. These trishaws here are all being 'make-up' with flowers, lights etc. They even sometimes plays loud music while taking visitors for a ride. Its fun, its really fun....

Look out flowered-decked, song-blastin' trishaws the next time you're in Melaka. I wasn't able to tear my eyes away from these boys who seemed to have a hell of a gd time on one. Behind them is the Wooden Replica of Malacca Sultanate Palace The design is based on the description of the palace from the 'Malay Annals'. The palace houses the Malacca Cultural Museum.
Pal, Muddybok is more an expert in this field, so click here to see his rich description of the Melakan history and his excellent guide to some 'hidden' places in town.

Where
Near A'Formosa, at the foot of st paul's hill

A visit to this Maritime museum is a must. It is one of those sails that found its way into the straits of Melaka in the 16th Century. It is said that this ship sank in the straits of Melaka, on it way to Portugal. Efforts to revive it was initiated by Malaysian Tourism and now it is a symbol of its colonial past. Inside the ship are exhibits of other foreign ship models,

Outside the church on the main square the rickshaw drivers ply for business. Their "Tour" consists of stopping off in Chinatown at the various temples and mosques, before heading past the Dutch ship and out to the Formosa area before returning to the church.

It's obviously a very touristy thing to do, but if you are very short of time then it is novel way of "doing" the sights.

If I remember rightly, we ended up agreeing on 30 Ringgit for the one hour ride (summer 2003).

Try to avoid late afternoon as they are more interested in the tourists who arrive in those vast air-conditioned tour buses. I presume the tour companies book them out in advance.

Chinatown is worth exploring later in more detail at your own pace.

Our driver spoke reasonable english and even let me ride the contraption so I could carry him for a little while !

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plenty of trishaws to choose from...

pick one rider that can give a good history of the place, plus have strong muscles to ride trishaws!

negotiate prices beforehand... half tour vs full tour