Brunei
For the hell of it, I went to Brunei.
Jeremy and I bought a bottle of liquor from the duty free in Lubuan, Malaysia, and hopped the ferry. (Alcohol has been illegal to sell in Brunei for 20 years, but you can bring in a bottle). We checked into the Empire Hotel, a massive $1.1 billion hotel that hasn't been getting much business. Funny how Brunei hasn't taken off as a tourist destination. We bargained them down and each paid $50 for the fanciest room I have ever stayed in. There was kayaking in the pool, $500,000 crystal camel lamps and a four story lobby with escalators. It had it all, just not that many guests.
It was the king's birthday and the country was having a month-long festival, which, by the way, is right before the month-long festival of Ramadan (do they ever work?). We headed to downtown Bandar Seri Bagawan to see the action and the country's three sites (of which two are large mosques). To our surprise, a fire blazed above the city - part of the water village to be specific. Brunei's 3rd site was on fire. Firefighting boats pumped water up to the blaze as fast as they could as hundreds watched on in shock for some and amusement for others. Tragedy is only entertaining for so long before it becomes awkward, so we moved on.
We hit the festival and were met with nothing but smiles from the locals who clearly didn't get too many visitors to their hermit kingdom. A wave at any given car or any given pedestrian produced an ear-to-ear grin and a frantic wave back. We tried all sorts of weird looking spiny fruits that must have come from an alien planet. Nearly all of them tasted like grapes, the chicken of fruit. Also, I ate fried potato dumplings in at least 64 different ways. It was great food, a lot of walking and nothing really to do. Like any county fair, I guess.
Alas, nothing much more to say about Brunei. Quiet, friendly, and forgotten...
Jeremy and I bought a bottle of liquor from the duty free in Lubuan, Malaysia, and hopped the ferry. (Alcohol has been illegal to sell in Brunei for 20 years, but you can bring in a bottle). We checked into the Empire Hotel, a massive $1.1 billion hotel that hasn't been getting much business. Funny how Brunei hasn't taken off as a tourist destination. We bargained them down and each paid $50 for the fanciest room I have ever stayed in. There was kayaking in the pool, $500,000 crystal camel lamps and a four story lobby with escalators. It had it all, just not that many guests.
It was the king's birthday and the country was having a month-long festival, which, by the way, is right before the month-long festival of Ramadan (do they ever work?). We headed to downtown Bandar Seri Bagawan to see the action and the country's three sites (of which two are large mosques). To our surprise, a fire blazed above the city - part of the water village to be specific. Brunei's 3rd site was on fire. Firefighting boats pumped water up to the blaze as fast as they could as hundreds watched on in shock for some and amusement for others. Tragedy is only entertaining for so long before it becomes awkward, so we moved on.
We hit the festival and were met with nothing but smiles from the locals who clearly didn't get too many visitors to their hermit kingdom. A wave at any given car or any given pedestrian produced an ear-to-ear grin and a frantic wave back. We tried all sorts of weird looking spiny fruits that must have come from an alien planet. Nearly all of them tasted like grapes, the chicken of fruit. Also, I ate fried potato dumplings in at least 64 different ways. It was great food, a lot of walking and nothing really to do. Like any county fair, I guess.
Alas, nothing much more to say about Brunei. Quiet, friendly, and forgotten...
posted by American Dilettante at
2:33 AM
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