An early start at Sydney airport on Sunday, destination Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia ! What an experience organized by our partner Malaysia Airlines spending quality time in their golden lounge then boarding first to business. That definitely is helping us to arrive fresh and relaxed, ready to start our busy schedule in Malaysia.
3am… our KTM’s are cleared – Paul and I did our very first kms on overseas soil ! What a feeling riding with australian number plates in Asia. It’s very early in the morning but it’s already almost 35 degrees outside and about 90% humidity. It’ll be challenging to ride in the middle of the day when the temperature will reach its peak.
1st stop for the night is at our hotel partner – Traders Hotel – right in the heart of the CBD of Kuala Lumpur. The hotel is fantastic, direct views on the famous Petronas towers. The team had a short sleep, waking up early so we could get started with our plan for the day : visits of the local area, organizing our stay in K.L. and finalizing details before our hospital visits and press conferences.
My first impression is that locals are not used to see ‘big’ motorbikes. I think just about every car, taxi driver, pedestrian or shop owner has been staring at us riding in the city centre. We met with the local tourist police that ended up escorting us for a large part of the afternoon, clearing the busy roads for us and making the experience just amazing !
We also got a good idea of how interested asian people are when it comes to foreigners in travelling in their country for a cause ; overwhelming ! I can’t wait for tomorrow… a special day ahead starting with a group of fathers, also passionate riders who will pick us up from our hotel and escort us to K.L Children’s Hospital for our interview with the local doctors and patients.
