Day 6 (July 23, 2014): A Country to Bite Off and Chew

Today was our day to get a sense of this tiny country called Brunei Darussalam.  Given the limited bus system here and the cost of taxis, we made an inquiry of Avis last night, to see if there might be a last minute car available.  Just our luck:  the guy pulled some strings and got us one. Mind you, it was old thing -- over 159,000 kms!  I think he might have borrowed his friend's car for us. At the end of the day, it got us where we wanted to go today.

But before we get going with today, let me introduce you to two very important people here in Brunei: His Majesty, the Sultan, and his wife. Their pictures are everywhere, and they are revered.

And now, on with the day!  We were up at 8am, had breakfast at the hotel (nothing pork on the menu, it goes without saying), picked up the car, and started out by 10am. I've driven in Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, and North America, but never in Asia. Asian traffic tends to be insane. Add in driving on the left, and we figured it was not a wise thing to do.  But we must have had a guardian angel today, as all worked out well. 

Brunei has as population of just over 400,000. We were pleased to find an excellent motorway / highway system, which made getting around easy.  First stop was the Technology Museum, where the are good replicas of the structures in the world's largest water village, located next to the capital city.

(We will be visiting the water village tomorrow and will share more then.)  

Then it was on to The Empire Hotel, about 45 minutes outside Bander Seri Begawan. Built at a cost of $1.1 billion US, this is quite the pad!  It features vaulted ceilings so high they almost make your nose bleed,

and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course.  Suites are $22,000 per night.  But the place was empty. And I mean EMPTY. Pam and I walked in like we owned the place and started checking it out.

We spent an hour walking the hotel, grounds and beach.

A stunning place.  But where were all the Aussies, Europeans, Japanese?  Well, the country forbids booze, so I guess that makes it unappealable for most vacationers. And Muslims probably don't want to hang out on a beach in 32C during Ramadan, when they can't so much as consume a glass of water from sun up to sun down. So the place sits empty.

Then it was back to Bander Seri Begawan to start searching out the capital's main sights. On the way into the city, we stopped for iced coffees at Starbucks. (Yes, it is becoming a daily habit.)  When we got our drinks, we sat down and started to drink them - but the server came along and informed us we had to leave!  Out of respect for Ramadan, it is forbidden to drink or eat in public before sunset, even though you can purchase everything. 

Iced coffees in hand, we headed to Tasek Lama Recreational Park. It was supposed to feature an impressive waterfall to make the sweltering walk worthwhile. But the waterfall turned out to be a trickle. 

Building-wise, we started with the largest mosque in the country: Jame'Asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque.

The city boasts some very impressive government buildings, clearly funded by the oil that started flowing out of Brunei in the 1920s.  

On a man-made lagoon in the city centre stands the 1958 Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, named for the 28th Sultan of Brunei. 

At the waterfront, water taxi drivers ply for customers to run across to the water village of Kamping Ayer.  

We turned down many offers for a ride across, and opted instead to leave that til tomorrow and buy take-out to take back to our hotel room.  

We ate dessert in the business lounge, I returned the car to Avis, did a run, and then we watched "The Great Gatsby".  We will finish up Brunei tomorrow and head to Bali (via Kuala Lumpur) in the later afternoon.

And that's a wrap on July 23rd!  Thanks for tuning in.