The boredom of Brunei
Before heading over for some relaxation in Bali I had decided to take a quick trip to Brunei since it was so close to Kota Kinanbalu.
The kingdom of Brunei is a really small but wealthy (population is about 300K) nation that is stuck pretty much in the middle of the Malaysian Borneo peninsula but very prosperous due to the oil they've got.
Said and done, walked down to the ferry early in the morning and six hours later I put my foot on Brunei soil and took the buss in to Bendar, the main city. The closest thing I can resemble the journey in was that it looks like a well off suburb in England somewhere and I'll let you be the judge if that is nice or not.
Once in the main city I booked myself into a hostel and then proceeded to check out the town. The town itself was quite tarted up since the sultan was about to have his birthday in another two days so there were colorful lights everywhere. I took a boat taxi out to the village on stilts outside of Bandar which was a really cool place. The people were really friendly and as soon as the kids saw me (we're talking regardless of distance) they started shouting "Hello". Soon I was walking down the planks with voices of the kids everywhere and had to turn left right and centre to reply to them all.
After a couple of hours I decided to head back to land and check the the palace and mosques. Big mistake, it had been raining earlier and after I had waived in a water taxi and tried to walk down the slippery stairs to get into it I went flying. Just managed to stop on the last step before going into the water but my spectacles went flying into the water and sank to the bottom of the Brunei waters before I even noticed they were gone. Well, there wasn't much to do than getting back to shore and make the most of it.
The mosques looks fantastic, the palace is grand beyond belief but there's was somethign missing, something didn't feel right. The closest thing I can resemble I to is that the place lacks soul. Everything is clean and in proper order. There's no alcohol or evening entertainments. I ended up sitting in a cafe playing cards in the evening waiting for the hours to pass so I could justify going to bed.
Maybe it was due to the fact that I've been traveling trough chaotic countries that I got that notion but still, my end conclusion was Brunei is incredibly boring. I guess there's a lot going on beneath the surface (in the calmest waters...) but I decided I didn't have time to find out.
Kota Kinabalu was quite calm but in comparison to Brunei it's Vegas.
The kingdom of Brunei is a really small but wealthy (population is about 300K) nation that is stuck pretty much in the middle of the Malaysian Borneo peninsula but very prosperous due to the oil they've got.
Said and done, walked down to the ferry early in the morning and six hours later I put my foot on Brunei soil and took the buss in to Bendar, the main city. The closest thing I can resemble the journey in was that it looks like a well off suburb in England somewhere and I'll let you be the judge if that is nice or not.
Once in the main city I booked myself into a hostel and then proceeded to check out the town. The town itself was quite tarted up since the sultan was about to have his birthday in another two days so there were colorful lights everywhere. I took a boat taxi out to the village on stilts outside of Bandar which was a really cool place. The people were really friendly and as soon as the kids saw me (we're talking regardless of distance) they started shouting "Hello". Soon I was walking down the planks with voices of the kids everywhere and had to turn left right and centre to reply to them all.
After a couple of hours I decided to head back to land and check the the palace and mosques. Big mistake, it had been raining earlier and after I had waived in a water taxi and tried to walk down the slippery stairs to get into it I went flying. Just managed to stop on the last step before going into the water but my spectacles went flying into the water and sank to the bottom of the Brunei waters before I even noticed they were gone. Well, there wasn't much to do than getting back to shore and make the most of it.
The mosques looks fantastic, the palace is grand beyond belief but there's was somethign missing, something didn't feel right. The closest thing I can resemble I to is that the place lacks soul. Everything is clean and in proper order. There's no alcohol or evening entertainments. I ended up sitting in a cafe playing cards in the evening waiting for the hours to pass so I could justify going to bed.
Maybe it was due to the fact that I've been traveling trough chaotic countries that I got that notion but still, my end conclusion was Brunei is incredibly boring. I guess there's a lot going on beneath the surface (in the calmest waters...) but I decided I didn't have time to find out.
Kota Kinabalu was quite calm but in comparison to Brunei it's Vegas.
posted by Tobias | 7:12 pm
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