Brunei

It was with great excitement that we were finally on our way to Brunei for Chinese New Year. We were not sure what we were going to see and do and had booked ourselves into Brunei Hotel. This was in a great location but it was a bit tired looking. It did provide a comfortable bed after a day of walking for what seemed like miles. And we did enjoy the g & t's for our night cap.

Across the road was the river which housed this delightful market. They are always a great place to visit and are an eyeful of wonderful colour and unusual products. These piles are dried fish, I know what they want with these but am sure I will never buy any!
On our walk we found the mosque that was built by the present day Sultan's father, 50 years ago. We were able to go inside and were absolutely amazed and stunned with the beauty and serenity of this building.
One of the views from a water taxi ride showed the contrast between the local peoples. this building stood out from many different places along the river.
We did notice on our ride that many of the houses seemed to have been burnt down. Our driver confirmed that this is what happens often. Above is one of the many fire stations along the river. He went on to tell us that the population on the river is more than what actually lives in the town. He was very proud of the All Black sticker he had on his boat and knew that we say 'kia ora' when greeting.
There are 17 primary schools on the water, almost as many Islamic schools and a number of high schools. The children get rides in school bus boats like the one above. It seems that the teacher also gets a ride in one of these too.
To get a taxi boat, you stand on one of these taxi stands and one will come racing over to you. We didn't try this but did get one from the riverfront near our hotel.
Shell Petrol Stations abound on the river and the price for a litre is 54.7c (Singapore). Everyone seemed to own a car or a boat. There didn't appear to be any boat rules...they taxi boat driver told us it was first there that has right of way. They all seemed to be going at a fast pace to get to the next stop or drop.
A typical taxi stand. They see a white face and raise a finger twirling it to ask if you want a ride. All prices are negotiable.
While down taking photos of the white mosque we were approached by a local asking if we want him to act as a tour guide..he wanted to take us to the big mosque (above) and to see the Sultan's palace for $12. We were brave and took him up on his offer and were we ever pleased we had done this. The big Mosque as the locals call it was beautifully stunning. It has 29 turrets which corresponds to the fact that he is the 29th Sultan of Brunei.
It didn't seem to matter from which angle you were there was always a photo opportunity and we made the most of it.
He dropped us off back down by the older mosque in town. The wind had dropped and the man made lake was still and great for reflections.
Even during the day it was picturesque. We were then picked up by a guide from MegaBorneo and were treated to two days in the Temburong National Park. We were taken on a ferry across to Bangar where we were met by our tour guides people and driven to the base of Bukit Patai, which was a steep walk up the hill to magnificent views.
One of the highlights on the way up was the wall here of layered rock wall. We were fascinated by it but our guide just wanted to walk on and on.
We found a rock that was encased in tree roots. It must have have been there for a very long time.
And finally we got to see the view. Wayne is talking with our guide about where we are in the world...what is which way and what is the other way. I was only interested in what I could see around and the views beyond. Then it was down the hill to the waiting van. After our walk we had the most enjoyable drink that I can remember - believe it or not - it was a can of cold coke.
Dinner that night was cooked in bamboo...sweet and sour fish, chicken and a fern along with rice and beef. We helped prepare the meal by putting it inside the bamboo. The hardest part was putting the pandang into the end to create a steam seal.
Not sure whether I was starving after our walk or that the food really did taste that great but we polished off most of the meal.
Around Trandie Marina (our homestay) were many different orchids. Above is a tiger orchid. Many of these orchid are attached to a tree and we were told that they find the plants floating down the river after floods and they catch them and create a show of them for the visitors that stay.
After a lovely sleep we were back up at 6.30 for breakfast and up the river at 7 by longboat and making our way to the beginning of the canopy walk. This was going to be a 1350 step climb to get to it. I was not looking forward to this but am so pleased that I did do it. It has been the best canopy walk we have done. It was not an easy walk but it wasn't too hard.
Here is Wayne on the first flight of staircases...it was like climbing stairs but they were like aluminium ladders that zig zagged up to the first level of the canopy walk. We climbed up about 12 of these ladders (following a tree all the way up) to reach the first walk of 60 metres and then it was another climb of a bout 8 ladders to the next 60 metre walk. After this walk we climbed the last 8 ladders to reach the top level. I wasn't game to climb any higher for the view but Wayne did.

you can see that I really did climb this. I must admit, it did take me a long time to climb down!
In the corner of this photo is Wayne looking up the climbing down tower. I guess we were about 60 to 80 metres off the ground.
On the way back to our homestay we stopped off to visit a waterfall. The walk was lovely and you could have been in any part of New Zealand with this walk. Unfortunately there was not much water flowing but Wayne was able to have a fish passage on his ankles and hands...no he didn't let them near his feet.
Finally we were back in Bandar Seri Bewagan where we had a short wander around and found a cafe that serves both local and western food.
For a few nights and days we certainly packed in many things but would love to go back again.