Port 02 Maura, Brunei

Greetings, once again! Ucapan! (in Malay)

As we approach Brunei the morning of 12 March, we see a city of oil rigs, tankers, and supply ships on our starboard side.

The coast of Brunei comes into view.

I get a look at the beach as we pass the breakwater. Not much here.

We pass a huge structure that that I think is a stadium at first, but it turns out to be a boat hangar.

Then we see the dock that will be our home for the day!

We’re officially in Brunei!

Meet Arthur, our tour guide!

We have a tour to visit the mangrove forest and Water Village.  During the tour we learn a few things about Brunei from Arthur!

• Brunei has its 29^th Sultan in an unbroken dynasty. This is an absolute monarchy. The current King is the longest reigning royal in world, only recently surpassing Queen Elizabeth since she died. The next king to take the throne in Brunei is currently 50 years old.
• Brunei is an Islamic state. Today is 3^rd day of Ramadan for 75% of population. Arthur is Roman Catholic.
• Today there is NO eating or drinking in public! On bus and in a house is OK. We have to be careful.
• 70% of island is covered by rainforest. Note: Brunei is part of the island of Borneo.
• Brunei has a very slow-moving lifestyle – there is no alcohol nor nightclubs in the country!
• Cafes do well because people like to hang out!
• Brunei gets its money from oil and gas as its only export. They import 99% of everything else. 51% of oil revenue goes to the Sultan, 49% to Shell Oil.
• National housing is available to Bruneians who don’t own property. The Sultan builds the homes and develops the infrastucture. He pays the first $100k toward the home and the owner pays the balance, interest-free. Arthur’s house cost $148k, so he has a $48k loan, paying $202 monthly. Nice!
• The dress code is more liberal than we were told. Women can wear shorts, unless they work for the government!

4 things Brunei has that other countries don’t have:

• Brunei has the largest water village in world, and it’s over 1,000 yeas old!
• It has the largest residential palace!
• No cigarettes are sold here, but smoking is allowed 6m from buildings for those who manage to possess cigarettes.
• Everyone in Brunei benefits from free medical coverage, no income tax, and subsidized, inexpensive gas!

Back to the tour…

I am surprised to see a Pizza Hut here!

We spot an interesting set of buildings – Arthur tells us this is La Pau. These are the facilities where all ceremonial events for the Royal family occur.

Next, we see the Brunei Legislative Center. They are currently in session trying to finish the budget!

Two more surprises pop up! Starbucks is actually not that surprising, but Toys R Us really is, especially since it disappeared from the US as standalone stores!

Shell is the only gas company here. Lines at the pumps are always long since gas is very inexpensive. As a result, Bruneians like to drive!

We drive by the Royal Ceremonial Hall. It’s unclear how what happens here is different from what happens at La Pau.

Then we catch a glimpse of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque!

We get our first look at Water Village on our way to the mangrove forest. We’ll be back!

We reach our embarkation area. After a lengthy wait while donning lifejackets, we board our boat!

We cruise by many of the Water Village houses on our way to the mangrove forest.

Peeking over the other side of the Water Village we can see (are you ready for this?) the Masjid Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah! Whew, that’s a mouthful, even for a mosque!

Within the Water Village there are homes in all different states of repair! This is very reminiscent of the Ganvie Stilt Village we visited last year in Africa!

A little further south we see the Sultan’s former Palace on the hill.

And then we get deeper into the mangrove forest. We are watching for proboscis monkeys! These are monkeys with elongated noses. See any in the trees below? No, neither do we.

But then a boat ahead of finds one! We nuzzle up next to them, and people take turns climbing out on the bow to take pictures. It’s very difficult to see – it’s about 20 feet into the mangrove forest. I switch to my long lens and try again.

Voila! A long nose! A Proboscis monkey!

Along the waterway is this gem with no signs. I discover it is the Royal Tomb of Sultan Husin Kamaluddin!

We return to Water Village, this time to visit a home and have a snack!

As we approach the parking lot there is this incredible mural on the side of a building! It shows multiple scenes of Brunei life and in the center is a book proclaiming “Berbahasa Satu, Berbangsa Satu, Bernegara Satu” meaning “One Language, One Nationality, One Nation”.

We take a stroll into Water Village. Many of the walkways are solid, but this one is a bit twitchy! At the far end you can see one man with and artificial leg deciding to not venture out on it.

We are greeted into a lovely large home! Long tables are set with sweet dishes and cups of tea. We all settle in for a lovely snack with some really interesting flavors! Afterward we are allowed to tour the home. It is very stark and old. The floors creak. The kitchen is amazingly small. But the home is large because it is typical for 2 or 3 generations to live together in the same home.

Outside I spot a large bird coop. These beautiful white fan-tailed doves are caged here, but we don’t know why. I don’t believe they are indigenous to Borneo. Perhaps the owner is breeding these for collectors.

As we leave Water Village we get a great view of the Al-Muhtadee Billah Mosque with Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha Bridge in the background! The bridge is the primary route to access Water village.

Back near the bus we see a row of street food vendors cooking up a wonderful array of seafood! This is Bremi. He told us they do this every day, and it is especially important during this month of Ramadan. Muslims come home from work and buy this food for their meals after sundown.

On our way back to the ship we see this end of the Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Bridge! Is it a bridge to nowhere? Not really. It is an incredibly long bridge built quickly, and another road that was supposed to join up with it was never completed!

This brings our Brunei visit to a close. There are a lot of positive reasons to consider living in Brunei! But I like my scotch and wine, so I don’t see myself dragging Joy here anytime soon.

Next stop – Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia! Selamat tinggal (Bye)!