Brunei - Brought to you by Shell

If you are traveling from Sarawak to Sabah or vice versa, you may be tempted to travel over land thru the Kingdom of Brunei. If you are on a tight budget, I'd say you could easily skip this country and fly to KK or Miri for cheaper than trying to travel overland and you wouldn't miss much. The prices are similar to Malaysia except instead of using Ringgit, you are paying in Brunei Dollars which is pegged to the Singapore Dollar and used interchangeably in either country. Brunei will cost you about B$50/ day if you don't do too much. If you were to purchase fuel, it's dirt cheap if you are a local. There's a foreigner tax and you can only get petrol from certain stations. It seems like Shell is sponsoring the country as you see their signs everywhere.

Omar Ali Saifuidden at night

The only things to really see in Brunei is the Mosques and to try to catch a glimpse of the Sultans house. You can't see much of his house from the street as it is gated and far away from the road. If you try to get a look at his place from the river, you will be very disappointed as we were when we hired a boat to cruise down the river. All we saw was a bunch of thick trees and the top of his house. The water village that seems to be the focus of many tourists is equally unimpressive, but for different reasons. You can get right up close to the water village and even go into it, but there is absolutely nothing to see or do in it. It's just a village that happens to be built on the water. I had no idea why C wanted to go there, but I followed along anyway for lack of anything better to do. I mean would you go visit a housing development built on reclaimed land in Miami?

Brought to you by the letter M

The only thing I really wanted to see was the Amusement park that the Sultan built for himself because he likes amusement parks. Apparently no one really goes there during the week and many rides are reported to be closed on weekdays. I don't know because it's far out of town and I couldn't be bothered getting out there and skipping the stuff C wanted to see around town.

The best thing we found in Brunei was the 2nd Mosque, Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkia, just outside of downtown. Architecturally and physically, it just screams the hand of Allah was closely involved in it's design and layout. It's just beautiful on the outside and inside. As you enter the central prayer hall, an overwhelming sense of peace washes over you. As non-Muslims, we were not allowed on the carpeted section of the prayer hall, but even from the side of the dome, you could feel the silent power of the room. I wanted to go into the center focal point of the room, but I thought better of it. If it wasn't against my religion, I would have converted just to be able to stand in the middle of this spiritual room. Instead I sat down at the edge and said a prayer to the one true God, that didn't require a name. I figured if I was right and that all religions of the world are essentially the same, but just colored and flavored by the cultures that they proliferated in, My God would hear me just the same in a temple, mosque, church or synagogue. And if I was wrong, maybe Allah would be merciful to a nonbeliever praying to another god in his house. I WANT TO BELIEVE. Mulder...? The trip here made the stopover in Brunei worthwhile just on it's own merits. So if you are in the area and would like to experience a moment of utter peace (without the need for opium) you should come to visit the new mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Jame' Asr Mosque

Stained Glass Work at Jame

Palm Tree lined Fountain in front of Jame

Top of the Sultan's house

Kampung Air, Water Village

More Water Village shots

C is elated to see the garbage dump