(^60) Tutong – Bandar Seri Begawan - 55km
As said before, Brunei wasn't a big country, and my path soon spat me out in
Bandar Seri Begawan (or simply Bandar), the capital of Brunei. En route, I
stopped to buy a cold drink and wanted to pay, but the owner informed me the
drink was already paid for. It isn't every day a stranger pays for your purchase,
and it's something that only happens in Muslim countries. Bless them!
In Bandar, I hopped on a water taxi to Kampong Ayer, situated across the river
from the city. Boats, known as coffins due to their shape and speed, operate to
and from the city. Not long ago, Kampong Ayer was all there was to Bandar. The
entire village consists of houses on stilts and stretches almost eight kilometres
along the Brunei River. This floating village is considered the most substantial of
its kind in the world, with approximately 30,000 residents. Self-contained, the
village is equipped with schools, police stations, clinics, a fire brigade and
mosques. Houses are connected by a complex web of walkways and bridges, and
walking around was fun.
On returning to the mainland, a short amble took me to the Sultan Omar Ali
Saifuddin Mosque. I understood that the mosque was built in 1958 and featured a
golden dome, an interior of Italian marble walls and an elevator. It, apparently,
has tunnels, which the Sultan uses on journeys through the town. The forty-four-
metre minaret makes the mosque the tallest building in the city, and it’s better not
to try and outdo it. The Islamic Bank of Brunei's building initially exceeded this
height and consequently had to remove its top storey.
By evening, I again used a coffin to glance at the Sultan's residence. I envisioned
snapping a few pics, but it wasn't possible on a boat in darkness. The building was
substantial with one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight rooms, and bigger
than either Buckingham Palace or the Vatican! In addition, the Sultan owns two
Boeings and five thousand cars. (It's not a typing error, it was five thousand cars.)
leana
(Leana)
#1