Bander Seri Begwan, Brunei - 25th -27th June 2011

If we knew what we know now we would never have gone overland to Brunei. We were picked up in Beaufort still full from our amazing dinner. We were glad to see that our specially reserved front seats were still available. Funnily enough some Malaysian woman looked at us in disgust and pointed to the back off the bus (this tends to be where all white people are seated) we just laughed and went about our business. The bus ride was long and not just that it was on, off, on,off for immigration checkpoints it went a little some thing like this :

Exit Sabah - Enter Sarawak - Exit Sarawak - Enter Brunei - Exit Brunei - Enter Sarawak - Exit Sarawak - Enter Brunei........oh lord. Unfortunately the country of Brunei spreads itself over the Malaysian state of Sarawak so you have to enter and exit more times than we would like to remember.

Finally we arrived and found our accommodation which was recommended in our rough guide (our experience in KK didn't deter us from the recommendations). It was a youth hostel which was available per night to travellers and for just 5 quid a night we couldn't grumble especially as all of the accommodation in Brunei is so expensive! Boys and girls are however completely separated. This was fine but i don't think Amy enjoyed my sleep walking alone!!!

We went to explore the city and found it deserted! Not a large city at all just some high rises. We did find the most spectacular Mosque. A photographers dream. We went to do some exploring inside, donned in our long dresses and cardigans (including Dave) and there was a polite sign outside stating ' Non- Muslim people are not permitted to enter the mosque"......could you imagine a sign for a London Cathedral saying "Non-Christians bugger off" ?? Please discuss quietly amongst yourselves.

There wasn't to much to do and after doing a brief river cruise to see the Sultans Palace (disappointing views from behind a hedge) and some far off monkeys we spent most of our time coffee housing and eating. Even though it's more expensive here it is still much cheaper than England.

2 days was plenty to explore and after a spectacular feed at an amazing Curry house we hopped on yet another bus to Miri (Back into Malaysia, Sarawak). This was a stop off point to continue our long journey to Kuching.

Next stop as above!

To see our photo's from Brunei please click on the link below;
https://picasaweb.google.com/112941139607408893724/Brunei25thTo27thJune2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCNXw1OOq4LjrhwE#