Time to hit the big city.

We headed north from PD on roads that grew gradually as we neared KL. A stop by the road yielded fresh dragon fruit and lychees that we wolfed down in the shade of a bus stop and then back on the road again.

Then we met another cycle tourist. We’ve only seen one other group since leaving Australia so we were excited- but not as excited as Sven from Hungary, who sprinted after us up a hill, despite the fact he wasn’t actually heading that way.  

Sven had been on the road since April and had hardly seen another cycle tourist in all that time. He’d also been in Thailand for a while and was keen to talk English to someone and we were happy to oblige. 

We exchanged tips about where we’d been, Sven was heading from Bangkok to Singapore, so our route in advance, so we picked up some good ideas for our route.  

As we were hitting the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur the clouds drew in and we sat in a Petronas petrol station with a bunch of scooter riders sheltering from the worst of the rain.

One ice cream later the sky had cleared and we were off again.

We’d read of cycle routes into KL but nothing appeared for us as we barrelled down the freeway into town. The traffic was very courteous though giving us plenty of room so it didn’t feel dangerous. In fact, as it snarled to a halt in the city centre we were able to weave our way through the stationary cars and make good progress.

Our objective was an OYO boutique hotel, and we found it pretty easily, before showering and heading out to see the sights. 

First was the Bicycle Artisans bike shop round the corner. The most amazing bike shop with a superb collection of handmade bicycles from a variety of European and local frame builders. They also had a very classy range of clothing. We came for a couple of gear cables, we left with new cycling shorts for Sarina and Tiger and a tube of very expensive sunscreen. It better work!

Then we headed off to take a look at the Petronas Towers. They were the only think I knew about KL, so it seemed sensible to take a look. I could write a long essay about the influences that I believe show in their form - Ankor Wat for example, but I don’t have an architecture professor to impress, so I’ll leave that to Tiger.

Unfortunately the trips up the tower were sold out, so we made do with a stroll around the Mall instead.