Brunei

 

Brunei

 

 

 

It was and adventure to get Brunei , overland from Kota Kinabalu . I did hitchhiking from Malasya . Its very easy , you dont need to wait more than 5 minutes to get a ride  . Roads are quite good . But the problem , there are 8 border check points !! I ve never got so many stamps in one day , 8 stamps !! I was almost run out of pages !!

 

 

 

Kota Kinabalu is in Sabah . Its Malasya , but there are border check points between Sabah and Sarawak  , in Malasya . The thing , if you go overland from Sabah to Brunei . You go inside Brunei and on the way to the capital  , Bandar Seri Begawan . You need to go out Brunie and going inside Sarawak again to finally go inside Brunei . Anyway , it was fun and easy to ask for a ride in the borders .

 

 

 

 

 

After this amazing , day trip . I got  Bandar Seri Begawan  , the  capital of  Brunei . Its a smal city . Aproximately ,  200 000 people . Its very quiet !  I took a  bus until  Ravi´s home , my host .  Just got there and I felt so comfortable . Ravi is very nice guy . He offered me a cold beer after my long trip and we had a good chat  .

 

 

 

Ravi was working in a Hospital for Cancer  . He got Brunei a few months ago . His home was really big and nice . Ravi is very fun , always joking , and very humble . He made many plans for me . His family was out of the country at that time Its a pity I couldnt meet them .

 

 

 

Luckily for me . That weekend was Hari Raya , a muslim festival after Ramadan . People cook too much food at home and they open their doors for visitors . Two days getting full my stomach . Everything very tasty ! We were visiting his friends . All the people were very hospitable .

 

 

 

Brunei is very religious country . People dont drink , dont smoke , its not allowed … You cant see anybody walking around . Its really warm . Houses are very luxury , with air acondition . The Sultan of Brunei , dont charge for taxes . He helps people . There is a very  low rate for the mortgage and also low prices to buy a house . Brunei stand of living is high , if I compare to South East Asia . Prices for traveling ,  its  expensive , if I compare countries around Brunei  . You cant see street food . Petrol is very cheap , around 20 cents of euro a litre . Thats why everybody go by car . Distances are big , but public transportation is very bad .

 

 

 

I was enjoying gastronomy and meeting new people in Hari Raya . I spent 3 days . Ravi was very hospitable and he was going around with me . We were visiting the floating village . Its very interesting . There are school , police ofice inside the floating village .

 

 

 

Last day I was visiting the beach . My friend Flo was driving me around , while Ravi was working . The most interesting thing  in downtown , it was a Mosque . It was very big and nice . I was lucky I could go inside . At prayer time , you arent allowed to go inside .

 

 

 

The beaches were small , but very nice . I saw one , which was inside 7 Stars Hotel , everything was very luxury . Swimming pools inside the restaurants …  In the afternoon , we went for the sunset to another beach   .

 

 

 

Brunei was an amazing experience for visiting  . But from my point of view . Its the most bored country I ´ve ever visited , if I need to live  . I cant say which one is the second one … But for me Brunei its difficult to beat . Streets are empty . Many foreign people , were working with petrol business . Easy life , good money and quite life . High stand of living for a few years and good education school for their children . Thats why , there are many foreigners living …

 

 

 

At that time , was Sultan´s birthday . He received people the whole day , during his birthday … Id like to see Sultan´s  life , how is it ? If we compare with the rest of the population in Brunei …  In Brunei , if you are muslim . Just with the goverment helps ,  your life is solved . You just need to pray …