Kuala Lumpur

Our bikes arrived to our hostel a day and a half later while we discovered KL in the same clothes as we had on who knows how many hours earlier. KL is disorienting and colorful, hard to navigate as a pedestrian, yet laid back, friendly and good food to be had almost everywhere.

Though the official language is Bahasa Malay and Muslim the official religion, the mixture of Malay, Chinese, and Indian, and indigenous ethnic groups and religions: Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and others all seem to harmoniously live alongside each other. Fortunately for travelers, English is widely spoken as a second language, which is left from colonial days when the British set up trade in the late 1800´s.

In KL we got over our jet lag while trying all the different types of cuisine, the bird park, butterfly park, while waiting for our bikes and clothing to make it to the hotel.

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On Saturday morning we finally got to meet Jeff. He picked us up in his car and drove to Lake Gardens for a real Nasi Lemak, the typical malay breakfast dish. Turned out Jeff is an organizer for the Tour de Langkawi! We talked about the upcoming Tour, which starts in Langkawi on the 23rd of January, and finishes in KL the 1st of February. I mentioned our interest in organizing a cycling tour in Malaysia and discussed several possibilities.

Later on we moved to a more relaxed place to have a copi (the malay coffee with condensed milk). Unfolded the map, Jeff gave us tips about the places to go, rest stops and so helped us plan the whole trip. Very helpful! Now we have an idea of what’s coming in the next few days and we’ll see how riding goes. Time flew by, we ordered lunch, and by the time we realized it was after 5. As the race is coming soon, Jeff was super busy and had work to do.
His help has been unvaluable! Terima Kasih!