(Daniel) I was up very early this morning, had a good shower and partook of as
much of the bad hotel breakfast as I could stomach. Then I walked downstairs and found a hardware shop where I bought a 75% off set spanner which I could use to finish the bolting on of the roofrack which we didn’t fully complete yesterday. Whilst wrestling with the remaining bolts I realised that there were two still stuck underneath the rack, which gave me a good hour and a half of hassle before I finally got everything as secure as it had been before. With the rack in place, I checked out of the Hotel and drove out onto the highway towards KL.

I drove out of Klang and, as is usually the case when everything is going to plan, something occurrs. This time, the fuel gauge stopped working. I figured that this would be a real pain to diagnose and predict how much fuel I had, and that maybe it was time for my next service, especially as I had just changed climates again. So, my next destination if possible would be Land Rover Malaysia, and who knows, maybe they would sponsor me with the cost of the service and repair work. Also, the noisy bearing which had started squeaking in the cold weather of Europe was getting really annoying now. At this time Nick phoned me again and asked if I had contacted LROM (the Malaysian Land Rover Owners Club). I explained I hadn’t and that I was really planning on driving back up through Thailand as soon as possible. I was slowly coming to this decision as I hadn’t really seen much more than KL and the Port town of Klang, and I thought that Thailand would offer more adventure for me. He seemed quite put out and, from this I ascertained that he had probably committed more than I thought to the guys at LROM. I told him that I would think about it, but that for now I had other issues to sort out.

After a short drive to KL, I found myself driving into the city centre, with no clue of where the Land Rover dealer was. I have to say though, this town is amazing, the buildings just seem to be more and more impressive with each new design that they bring to fruition. The Islamic designs mixed with the modern design create a modern city with an air of culture that can only be seen to be believed. I stopped at the first place possible and asked in a phone shop for an operator number, but they didn’t understand. I then walked into a garage, where the attendant had a pile of business cards. Among these he had a card for Land Rover Malaysia, and I thanked him when he told me I could keep it. I called the number but no-one answered, so I decided to drive there. I asked a taxi driver, who wanted to charge me to follow him, but I was in no mood for that now that I had my own means of transport. Also, I remembered another taxi driver telling me that the dealership had recently moved location. The driver pointed me in the right direction and I soon found myself in heavy traffic, but following signs to the area called Ampang, which the card listed as the address.

The heat was pretty stifling, having no aircon, but I guess I am going to have to get used to it some time! Eventually, I arrived at the site in Ampang, which was now a building site! I asked around, but no-one knew where the dealer had gone. I then drove down the road and stopped at a hotel where again I asked for an operator number, but the girl called the number on the card again instead. This time a man answered and he gave me directions to the showroom. Once I arrived, the man from the phone came out to greet me. He was most impressed by the vehicle, and asked me to take photos of him, with the Wolf. I asked about the service department, which was located elsewhere. He gave me more directions, and I headed off into the afternoon rush hour traffic.

After another half an hour, I arrived at the servicing dealership. A man came out and exclaimed that he had already read about my vehicle on the net, and that they had had several calls already from people who had seen me driving around KL. I sat down and explained my issues to the service manager, who told me that it was unlikely that I would get sponsorship for the work, but that he would ask. I explained a few benefits, and asked to speak to the MD but to my surprise a man came in and said that they had agreed to cover the costs of the work and a major service. Then the MD came down and we had a brief chat before I left the vehicle with them and gave them my number to call when it was ready. I then walked off down the road to find a taxi.

While I walked my phone rang, and a lady on the other end introduced herself as Aleyna, the club secretary for LROM, I apologised for not having contacted her and told her about the days events. She asked where I was and told me that she was sending a car for me. I returned to the Dealer to wait, and after about 30 minutes a very clean P38 Range Rover pulled up and out jumped a couple of guys who introduced themselves. They took me to a restaurant, where Aleyna was waiting. She was a very nice lady, and not what I had expected at all. She told me that they would not hear of me coming to Malaysia without meeting up with some of their members, and that she wanted to arrange a camping trip this weekend. I was grateful and agreed. She also had a friend with a guest house in KL, and had booked a place in the dormitory for me. I told her that I had obviously stumbled across the Land Rover Mafia, an idea which she found very amusing. Actually, I forgot to mention, that with all the talking that I had done, and all the air-con from flying and hotels, I had almost completely lost my voice by now, and was having to try very hard to be heard, she told me that I sounded like Rod Stewart's lovechild, an idea which I found fairly amusing also! Aleyna made me write a short introduction, and request for people to go camping this weekend for the website, which I did, although I am not sure how it sounded after the beer had been flowing for some time!

After having a few more drinks in the bar next to the restaurant, we said goodbye to the boys, and Aleyna dropped me at the guesthouse in her bright orange 300TDi 110 station wagon, which sat up high on huge jungle mud tyres. I fell asleep straight away in the dorm, despite not having any bedding on the bed and only woke up when the air-con, which was on full blast, was making me shiver in my sleep!

PREVIOUS |  NEXT