Miri and visit to Brunei

Our tourist visas were about to expire and we needed to take a trip out of the country to get another 90 days. Brunei is right next door to Miri and we had met a couple at the marina who had invited us to stay with them for a couple of days—how could we resist such a generous invitation. We caught the bus with Will and Margaret who also needed to cross the border for the 4hour trip which included the two border crossings. Armed with my new NZ passport and the old one which had expired but had all of the stamps I presented them first at the Malay border and then the Brunei border. As all of the stamps were in the old one which had an expiry date of October neither agent was willing to stamp the new one---how will I start to use it if no one will put in the first stamp?? We arrived in Bandar Seri Bagawan, the capital city and our new friends Michael and Brunni picked us up. He is a keen sailor and has been commodore of the local yacht club for many years. Brunei has a population of a 500,000 and half of these people live in the capital which is along the river bank. It is a city of contrasts with massive mansions, ornate mosques and the original stilt villages. The huge wealth is from oil with current reserves for 30 years. It is ruled by the Sultan who is a benevolent dictator. Although he is one of the richest men in the world—he claims a personal wealth but says that he does not lay claim to the country’s wealth. No one can personally own the riches of the country below the ground and six feet above the ground but it appears that he actually personally controls and dictates where it goes so am not sure where the line is drawn. Given such a small population he is able to offer the people enough to make them feel that they are living well which will probably prevent an uprising as long as the money lasts. There are no taxes, health and education are free even to the extent of paying for university education in Australia or England with the proviso that the student must return and work for the government for 5 years after graduating. Government workers, of which there appear to be many, get free housing and numerous holidays and bonuses. Every citizen gets a plot of land but unless you have influence this may be away from the city. You cannot sell the land it gets passed through your family. Loans to buy or build a house are interest free. Generous pensions are paid to all. He did try and relocate and rehouse the inhabitants of the stilt houses but they refused to move preferring their airy waterfront location. It is a strict Muslim country although other religions are tolerated. Alcohol is banned and each person arriving in the country can bring in 2 bottles and a case of beer for their private use—the proximity to Malaysia allows easy access. They will accept no immigrants although readily provide work visas for the foreign nationals who work for Shell and the Pilipino workers who provide cheap labour. As soon as any of these people do not have a job they have to leave. Some of the Shell workers work their whole working lives in Brunei but are forced to return “home” when they retire. Michael took us for a drive around the sprawling city which had huge photos and signs everywhere celebrating the Sultan’s 66th birthday. The city is almost impossible to get around without a car. Buses are almost nonexistent as everyone has a car and they all seem to be driving at all times, the traffic was appalling. Grandiose buildings and many shopping malls are near the centre of the city. We took a boat on the river to see the stilt villages with their schools and mosques. Also the massive golden mosque and the Sultan’s palace with it 1800 bedrooms—lots of room for visitors!! Our next stop was to have a drink at one of the two yacht clubs where, as we had not bought our own alcohol was fresh juice—the only pop available was tonic and ginger ale which they are used to serving with the gin you bring yourself!! Michael and Brunni’s home is a lovely condo which they have semi-retired to after spending most of their adult lives at the beach close to Shell operations. They are both Brunei nationals, he had a Chinese father and Malay mother and she is pure Chinese. Their parents were also born in Brunei. The Olympics are were in full swing and luckily for us they are avid sports fans so we had our much missed “fix” on their large screen TV. Dinner was at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club which seems to be an “expat” hang out as much as anything. We brought our own wine which was openly poured and had a delicious dinner—I had lamb shanks and Ken liver and onion—rare treats!!! Next day was to tour the lovely natural park which is a large area of botanical gardens. As it is frequented by the Sultan as well as many local the paths and upkeep are immaculate. We then went to the famed Empire Hotel. This was built by the Sultan’s brother Jefri at a cost of US$1.1 billion to house the royal family’s guests—who stays in the palace’s 1800 bedrooms??? It is a magnificent hotel built on a large area of land which houses a polo field, golf course, salt water and fresh water swimming pools and an enclosed beach. The setting is idyllic and fountains play at the front. Inside the marble interiors are magnificent and most fixtures and fittings—including light switches are all of gold. It is a massive open plan building with towering marble pillars with gold bands with several floors and many restaurants inside. Every room has an ocean view and a balcony. In the foyer a small crystal camel light with gold fittings is valued at US$500,000—I took a photo but the crystal did not contrast well enough with the light to show. There is apparently another one in the Emperor Suite which you too can stay in if you wish to spend $22,000 a night. Mind you your suite has the world’s most opulent swimming pool so perhaps should be considered!! If you cannot spend that much we found that you could stay for US$149 for a regular room—what a deal, if we ever get back to Brunei we would do it just for the experience. We now drove past the defunct Jeredong Park which was to be a Disneyland park for the royals. Sadly Jefri who had been appointed finance minister had bought hotels, boats, cars around the world and managed to squander US$16 billion before he was arrested and bought back to Brunei and placed under house arrest at the Sultan’s palace—tough sentence!! He has been released and I assume that he is living on an allowance?? One hopes that oil will keep flowing if spending patterns of the royals is to continue. Dinner was at an Italian restaurant but this time as the restaurant is public we had our own room which meant our wine could be served so as long as it is discreet it is OK. We had homemade fresh pasta which was delicious. We watched more Olympics that night and went for Dim Sum in the morning before Brunni and Michael dropped us off at the bus to return. What a wonderful hospitable couple!! The Brunei customs agent once again would only stamp my old passport but I was smart enough to hand only the new one to the Malay customs and she scanned it before she panicked realizing there were no stamps in it. When I showed her the stamps in the old one and used the much used Malaysian word “finish” she had no option other than to stamp it with my new 90 day visa. Back to life in Miri at the marina---Ken resumed his treatment for his shoulder which is healing slowly. He needs to be careful as we cannot afford to have him need an operation which would bring a quick halt to our plans. We cast around to try and find crew but we are in such a remote location and it is short notice for most. Sadly Marcie and Don—our beloved hitchhikers from the US did try and coordinate it but the cost was exorbitant. Our time is critical as if we do not leave shortly we cannot make the crossing to Australia before the southern hemisphere cyclones will hit. Michel and Brunni have agreed to come here and crew with us for a week to Kota Kinabalu. This will be lovely as we enjoyed their company immensely and would like to reciprocate the hospitality. It will give Ken’s shoulder one more week to heal. Ken’s chiropractor/doctor is going to fly into KK when they leave and sail another week. We intend going around the NE corner of Borneo and spend a few days up a river where apparently proboscis monkeys abound and if you are lucky you may spot a pygmy elephant. We had hoped to go up longer but need to go quickly and try and catch the other boats heading into Indonesia to Morotai and then down to Australia. Out time in Miri has been well spent having our outside seats recovered at a minimal cost. We have been frustrated by not being able to have a mechanic look at our compressor for our freezer—it appears the clutch is not engaging but they are not hungry enough in this part of the world to bother dealing with it. Many hours have been spent at Ming’s Bar with Will and Margaret as we line ourselves in front of the three large TV screens with three different Olympic sports on. We have no sound and so interpret the events ourselves. Will and Margaret are proud Brits who have enjoyed watching them on their home turf. They are enjoying Britain’s medal success. Sadly Canada has not had the showing one would have hoped for but NZ with a population of only 4,000,000 has done well so I have been a proud NZer. There are a number of boats here for a while—the town is nice and the marina is secure so a lot of cruisers leave their boats here as they travel. It means Friday night is happy hour on the dock and there are belly dancing classes and a kind of yoga/pilates class also. I should have gone to them—my belly could do with tuning and my body would be grateful with the yoga but the Olympics have taken the time. I packaged up a couple of large boxes with souvenirs we have accumulated over the last while and want to get off the boat—postage is cheap here so will take advantage. Ken had his first ever shave with his haircut for $5 and I had a wonderful haircut after a 20 minute head massage and treatment for less than $20. When we spend our time at Ming’s watching the Olympics and eating lunch or dinner with a beer it costs $20-$25 for us both—no wonder yachties hang around this area for a while. We are leaving on Monday and will check out today and top up with groceries and pork—did find some REAL homemade sausages the other day so will be well stocked to leave. More tonic and beer and we are ready to go!!