(Daniel)I got up extremely early today, wondering where this day would take me, and seriously excited by the fact that I may be able to see the Wolf, and could it even be possible that I may be back on the road today if things went well? I walked across the road to a shopping centre where I bought myself a Malaysian SIM card, I then had a terrible breakfast in the Swiss Hotel where I called Dart, Asia’s Malaysia office, with my new DiGi SIM card. As a point of interest, I had to register this SIM by law before I could use it, this is some kind of anti terrorist/ crime measure, but I wondered how far they would get looking for me at my hotel room, should something happen?!

Haz answered the phone at Dart Asia, and told me that I could come to their office straight away. I got some cash from the bank, and hailed a cab to take me to Putrajaya, which is a kind of old town suburb of KL. We drove for around 45 minutes and then, with some telephone assistance, found the place in a small industrial estate. I thanked the taxi driver and took the lift up to the Dart Asia office where Haz met me and sat me down to go through the paperwork. She was about to give me the release note, but then told me that I still had a bill to pay, which was the additional fees at this end, a total of 880RM or around 250 dollars. I was pretty annoyed, as I remember clearly Desmond Fernando telling me that there would not be any additional charges except a customs clearance charge, which should be around 50 dollars, and I knew that this was still to come. I questioned the charge, but knew that this wasn’t the fault of this office. I would just have to chalk this down to experience, and next time get this all in writing. Haz took me to the bank again, where I got even more cash, and after writing me out a receipt handed over the document. I asked her how long she thought it would take to get the vehicle from the container and be back on the road. Her estimate shocked me, 2-3 weeks she thought, would be the worst case, but she had a contact, who would be able to assist me. Knowing that this would probably hinder my efforts, and would only be another person to pay, I declined her offer, and told her that I was going to Port Klang myself to try and get the vehicle unpacked and released to me. She called me a cab, which took me the 45 minutes journey on to the North Port at Klang.

When I arrived I was struck by the size of the place. Huge buildings for customs and the shipping lines were situated at the front of container yards with tens of thousands of containers stacked five high in most places. The driver took me through the gates to the customer services area, where I paid him and walked in with my bags. I explained my case to a representative, who took me around to another office called the documentation centre. Here I waited until a man came out and I explained my case showing him the carnet documents. He told me that I would need two huge forms completed, and that I would have to go to the Container yard and have the vehicle unpacked. I was unsure which would come first, but armed with my next destination, I walked back out of the port to the entrance to the container yard. This area was authorised persons only and I was stopped as I tried to enter but, with some careful explaining and a lot of waiving the carnets about, I was issued a pass. I then walked into the yard, and headed for warehouse 3b, which the man at the gate had suggested I ask at regarding my next move. I was the only person walking in here, as everyone else had a moped to get around or was driving a huge truck. The weather was stifling, when I looked at my watch it was nearly 2pm, I would have to move fast if I was to get anything done today.

After a long walk and several stops to ask directions, I found the warehouse and walked into the office, a portacabin sat outside the main doors to a huge warehouse, where containers were being unpacked. A young guy inside the cabin turned around when I entered, and I gave him the papers which I had collected, along with my carnet docs and the release form. He looked through these and then told me that it would be unlikely that I would get the vehicle today, but that I could prioritise unpacking immediately, and depending on the current location, may have my vehicle for tomorrow. At this time another guy came in, his name was Daren, and he seemed very keen to help me with my problem. Together we drove back to the documentation area, where he got an additional 'chop' on my release form, which I needed.

We drove back together to the warehouse where we prioritised the collection of the container. Unfortunately, it turned out to be as far away as it could possibly be, stacked five up in the area furthest from the warehouse, but I got a good feeling, and was pleased that the original estimate of 2-3 weeks seemed to have been way off. An hour later the container arrived outside the office. But then, fate or stupidity played a cruel hand, and I realised that my watch was an hour fast, having not changed it from Thai time. This meant that the customs people had already gone home, and that even though the container was here in my grasp, I would not be able to open it until tomorrow. I felt I had made a good effort and so was not too disappointed by this. Daren even drove me to a local hotel which he recommended, and on the way invited me to a wedding dinner this evening! I was unsure at first, but he told me that it would be a good thing for the wedding party that they have a foreign guest, so I accepted, and started to think if I had any clean clothes to wear let alone smart ones!

The hotel which Daren took me to was full, so I took a taxi further into Klang to the Gold Course, a huge hotel situated on the river, which I noticed was badly flooded and had burst its banks. This is rainforest country after all!

After a frantic time showering and getting ready, Daren called me again to say that he was downstairs waiting, so I took the two Lifts down to the ground and went with him and his Girlfriend to the Wedding Dinner in Klang. This was a huge affair with at least three hundred people and a 9 course sit down dinner. As you can imagine I was the only foreigner there, and was received very well, with people coming over to talk to me and find out who I was!! During the meal, there continued a mix of speeches and karaoke while waiters trooped food in and plates out!

When I got back to the hotel later I had a few more drinks in the bar before bed!

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