Brunei Darruselem

Brunei had always seemed like an exotic sounding place. In reality it wasn't that different than any other southeast Asian port! We had a private tour for 54, maybe not so private.We were in 2 large buses so there was a lot of room. We ended up waiting almost 45 minutes for the last passengers. I think we should have left without them!  Not nice to make 2 bus loads of people wait that long. 

Our first stop was to take pictures of a large masque right in the downtown area. It was Thurs so the mosques are closed for prayer so we couldn't go in. We then went to a small museum which holds the sultan's collection of Islamic ceramics, old weapons and more. Pictures were not allowed and we had to remove our shoes to enter. A lot of rules. We next went to lunch. We didn't arrive in port until 11 am so it was a late start. Lunch was upstairs in a restaurant overlooking the water and water village. It was a buffet and delicious. There was fried fish, a nice mixture of calamari and vegetables and shrimp in a spicy red sauce. There was also rice, chicken and vegetables. More than enough food. 

After lunch we went to a beautiful museum which had once been a monument to Winston Churchill. The Brits had ruled Malaysia at that time. Now it is a monument to the sultan. We were allowed to take pictures in the enormous lobby but not in the rest of the museum. His coronation chariot was beautiful. 

Inside was another one with the outfits of the foot soldiers who pulled the thing standing in their proper places as well as the outfits of the guards in front of and behind the chariot. There was a replica of the gates to the palace and a miniature of the throne room with tiny chairs for 5000. There were many pictures taken during the sultan's golden jubilee, many with him standing with his 2 wives. He had more at one time but had divorced them. It was a beautiful place and interesting. Too bad we could not take photos. The floor was all marble so very cold on my bare feet. A huge contrast to the extreme heat and humidity outside. There was a small gift shop where we had a feeding frenzy buying Brunei souvenirs. It would be our only shopping opportunity. 

We drove for a bit thru traffic to see the palace. That was quite disappointing since all we really saw were the gates and a quick glimpse of the roof. 

        

I was able to find a postcard of the palace. It looks like a commercial building and houses more than 1,700 rooms. He has space for his 7,000 cars as well as the enormous throne room. There are almost 300 bathrooms. Two hundred state employees work there to keep it spotless. More work on the grounds and stables. He has 300 polo ponies. We were shown the nearby apartment complex where many of the workers live, provided by the state. 

       

 

While Brunei is one of the richest countries in the world, it did not look like other wealthy places like Dubai. There were shacks along with huge, beautiful homes. The state does, however, take good care of it's people. You pay $1 Brunei for a visit to the doctor. If you need surgery which is not available in Brunei you are flown to Singapore along with a family member and stay at a 5 star hotel all paid for. If you get a scholarship to study abroad you are flown to that country business class along with 2 family members and put up in a 5 star hotel! Our guide told us about many other benefits also, it was very interesting. 

We next went to the Sultan's masque. It was beautiful with mosaics and crystal chandeliers. That was on the outside as we were not allowed in. We spent some time on the outside taking pictures from all angles. The best pictures were actually taken from the bus later as then we could get the entire place into our field of vision. 

        

I thought it was especially interesting to see the long outside corridor with shelves on either side for shoes! There were several of these, one on each side of the place. 

                                                   

After the mosque we went back to where we'd had lunch to get in boats to take us to the water village. Over 30,000 people live out there in houses built on stilts! They have schools, stores and more, everything needed in any town. Getting on and especially off the boat was interesting. Not sure how some of the physically challenged did it. We had to step from the bow of the boat to some steep steps leading up to the walk way. The walks themselves were only about 4 feet wide with no railings. We walked about 5 minutes to an elegant home. Inside you would never know you were over water. They had marble floors and crystal chandeliers. We were served some sweets and tea or orange syrup as they called it. Tasted like Tang. 

After tea we had one last stop at the night market. There was an area with fresh fruit and vegetables and one for prepared food. It smelled delicious. I think the people there were as curious about us as we were about them. In a separate building was the fish market. That did not smell as good. 

We were returned to the ship at about 7 pm. It was a long and interesting tour. I think we received a good overview of the country. Nice visit but no need to go back. Since it was Halloween the ship put on a themed BBQ on the Lido deck. A few passengers were in costume and many of the crew. We had missed our regular dinner so had that, the salmon was excellent! It had been a long day and another port was coming up the next day so we retired early.