Driving on the coast road northwards, we passed the town of Miri, the beaches of Sarawak, and soon came to the border of Brunei. Brunei is a mini kingdom on the north-western flank of Borneo, possibly most famous for its Sultan. As Brunei is a Muslim state we covered our shoulders at the border, put out our cigarettes (just kidding Mums, no one's taken up smoking!), and felt super amped as we heard the thud thud of the customs guy stamping our passports and letting us through.
We drove on waterlily-lined roads for an hour or so, spotting less than a handful of people en route. Bry's cousin Abel's description of Brunei was spot on - not many buildings and hardly any people. Until we got to the town of Jerudong for lunch and a coconut.
A beautiful theme park is in Jerudong, which in any other town could be expected to be jam packed at lunch time on a non-school day. The sprawling theme park was absolutely deserted, except for the ticket lady and the men trimming already trimmed hedges. Elaborate sculptures and ornate decorations filled the super-sized theme park, but its rides were empty. Kind of tumble-weedy ghost-town style. Or a life that is saturated with work but not relationships. Or a big bank balance, but no crazy memories with those we love. Like the whakataukī says, the most important thing in life '... is people, it is people, it is people.'
For us on this adventure it has definitely been the people who have made a place beautiful. We're grateful to friends we've rendezvous-ed with, the locals who've shared their stories with us, and for each other's amazing company.
So ... In the end we kept driving past the empty theme park!
The coastline of Brunei is curious. Long stretches of man-made rocky shoreline are suddenly interrupted where resorts and country clubs start. All of a sudden, there are exclusive sandy beaches that have been formed for the pleasure of holiday makers. The beaches were also deserted.
On one beach we spotted some tiny sand bubbling crabs. We'd noticed them in Thailand too, but hadn't taken any pics. The little creatures pop out of their burrow and start sifting through the sand looking for mini organisms that they munch on. With the leftover sand, they form a ball and shove it out behind them. Each little crab spends the whole day doing this, forming what looks like sandball flowers around their burrow. Then the tide comes up and washes them all away. Then incy wincy crab starts all over again. Have you ever noticed how crabs and spiders are cousins?
Spinning in the dry sand on the way out, our borrowed four wheel drive jeep got a bit stranded. A local guy wandered over, taught us how to twist the unlock mechanism on the wheels and the jeep rolled out easily. We were entirely thankful, and started chatting with our rescuer. Abidin was his name - and what a gentleman! Being Bruneian, he had a few insights to share. Brunei has a population of 400 000, most live on the coast. The country is mostly jungle, and oil is the primary economic driver. The Sultan is on all of the money, and the dude generously gave us our very own Brunei dosh. He offered to convoy with us to show us the iconic mosques, what a nice guy! Lynda rightly commented that he restored our faith in humanity. On our way, our new friend Abidin bought us some barbecued corn on the cob, and a refreshingly yum lemon and cucumber drink. What a welcome! In town Abidin arranged a couple of selfies, and was off, no doubt to be amazingly cool to whoever else he bumped in to!
We wandered around the mosque, just as the Friday afternoon prayers started. Men in their traditional gowns slipped off their shoes as they entered the mosque. Many greeted us saying 'welcome to Brunei' or nodded their head in our direction. The world headlines over the past few days have been chocka with news of Parisian sadness caused by a couple of psychopaths claiming to be Muslim, as well as a Muslim police officer who died defending the freedom of his adopted countrymen. In contrast to those Paris scenes, the mosque was beautiful.
The loud-speakered prayers drifted out into the air surrounding the mosque, and we left them to it. Crossing the road, a modern shopping complex was a relief from the heat. And we also found all the local people! Shopping seems to be the most popular time-passer here!
On one souvenir tshirt we found this logo. The irony of combining the word peace and the oil rig symbol was not lost on us.
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