Thailand to the Philippines

http://picasaweb.google.com/pdullock/Brunei?authkey=n24us40fJ0c#

So after the disappointing news from United I decided to do the easiest trip, and that was to Brunei. This would require me flying to Kuala Lumpur, then to Brunei, back to Kuala Lumpur then to the Philippines. This seems convoluted and out of the way but it was actually 100 USD cheaper than flying from Thailand to Brunei round trip then to the Philippines.

I left Thailand on the 23rd, early in the morning to get to the Bangkok airport, i flew Air Asia (great looking stewardesses) to KL, with a few hour layover, and headed to Brunei, it was a taxing day as i didn't get much sleep from the night before, and spending time in airports isn't actually the time of your life. The only odd thing that happened was after clearing immigration the customers agent wanted to have an in depth conversation about 9/11. Now I'm all about random conversations but this topic was not one that i wanted to have with a customs agent in a Muslim country. It felt like he was setting me up to say something bad either about the US or Islam, and either way i just answered his questions with a lot happened and has happened since then, avoiding giving him a personal opinion which he was pushing for. The flight to Brunei was good, i met a couple from New Zealand (actually he was from New Zealand, she was from London, and they both were living in Australia) who were transiting through Brunei to explore Borneo, they had some interesting stories and were getting anxious as their trip was coming to a close as well and they were both excited to go home and see their families.

Landing in Brunei and clearing immigration was a breeze, i thought i would be issued a visa on arrival, but it was much more simplistic and a stamp in the passport and I was off. After exiting the airport, the couple I had met and I decided to share a taxi into the city, as the taxi's didn't use meters and we were heading toward the same area. (the capital city isn't that big, and it takes about 20 minutes to drive from one side to the other and just a little more time to traverse the country). As we went to the Taxi stand line and stood their alone we did notice one odd thing, their were no taxis. We asked an airport employee if we were in the right queue, and she said yes, but that their were a minimum number of taxi's and they didn't always come to the airport, or even go out. She told us she would call the taxi company and send some out to the airport, and we thanked her. The taxi driver was a nice guy, his name was Ossie, and he spoke great english and had quite a decorated past. He served in the Brunei Army, and then on the Sultans personal detail on his private plane. I got the impression that he was retired and driving a taxi for something to do. We dropped the new zealand couple off at their hotel first, then to my hotel. I got Ossies contact information and asked him how much he would charge to hire him for the day for sight seeing, he quoted me $75 for the day (8 hours total), this was a bargain, and less than it cost to hire the taxi in Batam.

The next day i slept in, the bed at the hotel i stayed was probably one of the softest i had slept in at any point on the trip, i had breakfast and hung out at the hotel lounging until around 11 and then checked out. I had the receptionist contact ossie to pick me up to see the sights. She asked me how much i was paying for the day, and when i told her she seemed shocked and amazed as most of the taxi drivers apparently charge from 25-35 dollars an hour to do sightseeing.

The trip around the capital city was nice. We started at the National Museum and took around 2.5 hours to go through it. The collections included the sulatans private peices detailing the history of Islam, the oil and gas industry in Brunei, daily life, indigenous plants and animals and then a section on the sultans of Brunei (which has the longest hereditary monarchy in history). One interesting thing was that the museum did not allow any photography outside of the main lobby so i had to lock my camera in the lockers provided. In fact i think i was the only visitor to the museum, and was suprised that after around 15 minutes in the museum Ossie the taxi driver had joined me, he asked if I minded him going through the museum with me as he had not been their since it opened. I didn't mind, and he was able to explain some of the items related to the history of Brunei which was just like having a tour guide.

After the Museum we headed out to the coast to see the fish market and see the beaches, which were vacant, not a single customer, or beach goer, this didn't suprise me as we were in the middle of Ramadan. After the beach we headed to the Sultans residence, i was a bit disappointed that more could not be seen from the street but what could be seen was still impressive. The archway along the drive way was huge, and at the end of it in front of the house you could see a large fountain, and above the tree line you could see a gold dome. The house itself cost around 3 billion to build, and is opened to the public during a festival in October, and by opened, residents of Brunei can go meet the Sultan and are given complete access to the house, you could actually go to the fridge and help yourself to whatever leftovers might be available!

After the sultans house we headed to the national mosque, it was quite impressive and reminded me of the national mosque in KL. From their is was to the National Mausoleum where the sultans are buried. Just like in Cambodia I was shocked by the lack of personal space with the dead. the Mausoleum was built right on top of the graves of those that were their before, in fact their were breaks in the foundation where grave markers were. The other interesting point with the NM was that in addition to the Sultans and their spouses, the graveyard also served as the final resting place for the inhabitants of the water village. The next stop was a walk to the end of the parking lot of the NM to view the Water Village itself. This is an impressive set up and really seems a contradiction to Brunei in that it at one point was the wealthiest per capita country in the world, and still remains one of them. The Water village is self sufficient, a Mosque, Apartment Buildings, schools all built right over the river. The government of Brunei is systematically rebuilding the water village starting with the parts that are the most run down. The houses that we could see seemed to be quite decrepit and one even had quite a lean t to it, almost to the point where it looked like it was about to fall over.

Once back in the car, Ossie asked me if I wanted to go to the Malaysian border for a beer, and let me know that their were girls their as well. He suggested the Malaysian border because Brunei is a dry country and you can bring alcohol into the country but not find any when your their. This was only after 4 hours of touring the country. I asked him if their was anything else to see, he quickly responded no, we've seen it all. We drove around for a while longer before heading back to the airport at 5. This was three hours before my flight left, but as it was Ramadan, I felt guilty asking him to take me somewhere to eat and having to eat in front of him so I settled on Chicken Tocino at the Jollibee in the Brunei airport. This would mark the only time that i would eat at a Jollibee throughout my entire trip.

Once back in KL i made the genius decision to sleep at the airport. My flight landed at 11, and after clearing immigration it was close to 11:30, and my flight to the Philippines left at 7:30 the next morning. This meant i had 6 hours, and to get a hotel would only leave me with approximately 3 hours to sleep, not a sound investment, and as I had yet to sleep in an airport on the trip, i was up for the experience. The Low Cost Terminal for those interested is very uncomfortable, they are redoing the main roadway in front of the terminal and had cordoned off the section at the terminal with corrugated steel walls in effect expanding the "lobby" area in front of the terminal. Several benches had been sporadically placed around where this new road had been poured as well as on the sidewalk, people were sleeping everywhere, benches, luggage trolleys, on the ground, it was like the pictures you see of the airports in the US when massive amounts of flights are canceled during the holidays. Apparently i wasn't the only one with the idea of sleeping in the airport to ensure catching an early morning flight.

Once i was checked in for the flight i met an interesting Filipino women named Ilene (she had her name written in large block letters on her soduko puzzle book) who was very interested in me meeting her 18 year old niece. Almost to the point of being adamant, like having her meet us at the airport when the plane landed. As politely as I could i declined her offer, and almost suggested she go into selling used cars.

Back in the Philippines.