Brunei

On the way home we had a long stop over in Brunei, from 8 in the morning to 10 at night.

We took the opportunity to take a tour of Brunei, when we arrived in the airport, there was a free one hour tour which we were advised to take before deciding on a longer tour. We did that and had a good trip around the city, then we headed back into the airport to book our next tour. Only to be told we were only allowed out of the airport once! So with twelve hours still to wait, we were a little dissapointed! Thankfully, the airport seems to be run by a group of very young, eager, twenty-something year olds, who spoke nicely to the customs people and we found ourselves back outside again!

The tours were definitely worth while with some amazing sights and a little propoganda. The Sultan is not only very wealthy but also very generous to his native Bruneians. Gold is everywhere, petrol cheap as chips (50c/L), healthcare is only $1 - regardless of what needs to be done. The Sultan has 7,000 cars and employs people to start them every day. Back in 1972 Queen Elizabeth visted, so the Sultan built her a palace and gifted it to her. So she used it for the visit and to this day there are staff to keep the palace clean & tidy, although it has never been used since. We heard many such stories like this - it was truly a facinating place to visit.

That was the end of our trip. The whole trip was amazing, from one exciting place to the next. We look forward to talking about for the next 20 years of our lives!