Brunei Daressalam

Brunei is the home of the world's richest man; the Sultan of Brunei is an oil billionaire worth well over $30,000,000,000. He treats the people of Brunei well.

The flight from Kuching was uneventful. Instead of being a jet, it was a turboprop plane, and was less than 33% full. A snack was served, with a snack at Kuching airport, this was all my food until dinner. Bandar Seri Begawan airport is small, but efficient. I was out of the airport in less than fifteen minutes from the plane's arrival. I stayed at the Terrace Hotel.

With only 20 hours to visit this small country, I needed to keep moving. I bought my postcards and some gifts for my family, then went out exploring the town. I went to a park, where there was a waterfall, and I photographed that. I then wandered around town, and got lost, looking for the Grand Mosque. I did see some folks playing basketball, and played a little bit. The heat did wear me out quickly.

I was quite frustrated at the hotel, they would not cash a US dollars travelers check on a Sunday! And some neighboring hotels wouldn't touch it since I wasn't a guest at their hotel. I ended up putting my meals on my credit cards, something I wanted to avoid. I didn't find an ATM that worked with Cirrus/Star, either. I was cash poor.

I never found the mosque, but I did wander around downtown. It closed quite early, so I found myself back at the hotel early. I wanted to meet a friend for dinner, but he was called out of the country. I ate in the hotel restaurant, some beef satay and crisp beef. The food was good. I wrote my postcards and went to sleep.

That's about it for my visit to Brunei. I did get a decent breakfast in the morning, and was taken back to the airport for my flight to Singapore.

Continue the Trip!