We must have been to Singapore too much, because when we travelled in the taxi to Kenn & Pla’s apartment on Sentosa Island, we almost felt like we were heading home. We spent our first day wandering around a bit and then had a yummy Asian lunch with chilled lime juice at the Raffles café with Pla. The heat hit us and made us realise how cold we had felt back in the UK. The three of us then went for a, much needed, full body, Balinese massage for one whole hour. Wow! It felt wonderful to finally feel like all my muscles and joints were moving again. Our evening was spent in the Long Island Chinese Seafood Restaurant with Kenn, Pla, little Casse and Rob, a friend of theirs from South Africa.
Thursday started with another taxi back to the airport for a flight to Kuala Lumpur, with only half our luggage, the other half is still under Casse’s bed. Then, after a long wait in a horribly noisy and crowded terminal, we took another flight on to Brunei. It felt like we had spent most of the day lollygagging; this is a very old English word that has fallen out of usage, but I think we need to bring it back because it means ‘spending time aimlessly’ and we have definitely done a lot of that at airports this year. Our friend Ian and his girlfriend, Stephanie, met us at the airport and drove us back to Ian’s house in the Medang Kampong of Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. They took us out to the Royal Brunei Yacht Club (definitely not as posh as it sounds) for a brilliant steak dinner with b.y.o. booze. Brunei is an alcohol-free country, but expats living there are allowed to import a small amount of alcohol and to drink it in their home, or at certain clubs. To make life interesting on the drive home, there are apparently no breathalysers, because there is supposedly no alcohol……?!
Despite not having a particularly late night and having a croaking of a frog outside that sounded more like a donkey, we both slept well in to the morning. When Ian and Stephanie finished work at lunchtime, we threw our bags into the car and Ian drove us 127kms west along the coast road, where we crossed the border to Sarawak and checked in to the Imperial Hotel in Miri. With petrol costing about 26 pence, or 40 cents (Aust) we didn’t run up too much of a fuel bill. Rodney & I had a quick swim in the hotel pool before we all went out for dinner which also involved a lot of drinking for the alcohol starved Brunei residents……. It was a long evening and I was glad to finally nod off to sleep at nearly 2am. After a hotel buffet breakfast, the four of us went for a wander around the three arts and crafts shops in Miri. Ian didn’t buy another mask for his amazing collection, but I did make a purchase. It’s a piece of wood shaped into a rabbit and then cut in half. It is hinged at the base and when you open it up, the flat centre has a number of golf ball sized holes scooped out. Apparently it is for a game called Congkak which is played with small cowrie shells in the holes; I’ll have to check how to play it sometime…..
At the border crossing there is one overstocked shop selling alcohol and cigarettes. Ian was pleased to be able to use us as ‘booze mules’; Rodney and I didn’t need to buy any for ourselves, but Ian is having a party before Christmas and needed some supplies. So with lots of paperwork filled in and stamped, we all helped to stock up his drinks cabinet. On the road back through Brunei we stopped off at Pantai Tutong to paddle in the South China Sea. The water was rather brown and much too warm to feel refreshing, but it’s always nice to wiggle the toes in the sand and I’m always happy at a beach. After a snooze and a shower, we headed over to the Royal Brunei Yacht Club for a buffet dinner and an evening of live bands. Love the fact that the Commodore of the club really is called Jack Sparrow. It was a fun evening and rather nice to sit under a palm tree at the water’s edge when one band was just that bit too loud for my ears. Another late night is now playing havoc on our sleep patterns, but who cares; we’re getting plenty of rest.
We all slept in until quite late on Sunday morning and didn’t get to a Chinese yum cha restaurant in Banda Seri Begawan until midday. A lot of the roads near the river front were blocked off for a big go-kart race, which made it a bit tricky to get to the restaurant. When we left, we stopped beside the track for a while to watch one of the races and it was quite surprising how fast they shot round the hairpin bends.
We then decided to try a bit of speed for ourselves by taking a fast boat up the River Brunei. The long boats are very narrow with a couple of big outboard motors on the back, so they shoot along the river at quite a speed, somehow managing to avoid the occasional tree trunk and slicing through all the garbage in the water. The river gradually narrows and lots of beautiful white egrets could be spotted amongst the mangroves and the crowds of palm trees which grow up through the muddy water. Sometimes the birds stand up tall, creating a beautiful shape and at other times they fold their necks low watching the water for passing fish. Our driver pulled up close to the bank when he spotted some proboscis monkeys in the trees. There were probably about ten of them moving slowly, or just sitting and watching us. They really are comical looking creatures with their long dangly noses. I wish we could have got a photo, but unfortunately our camera wasn’t good enough for the job. We were surprised to hear that proboscis monkeys only eat the buds of new growth on the mangrove trees where they live and will die if they eat bananas!!
On the way back down the river to BSB we travelled around the back of Campong Ayer, the water village. There are rows and rows of rickety houses built on stilts, connected by a maze of bridges and walkways. Amongst the houses there are schools, mosques, a fire station, shops and everyone travels about in long boats. Apparently, everyone used to live in water villages before the city was built on the land and it seems a lot of the residents still do.
We strolled around the lovely gardens containing the tomb of the Sultan Bolkiah, the 5th Sultan of Brunei and we took some photos of the impressive Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque before heading back to the car and driving back to Ian’s house, via the supermarket. A tasty barbecue for dinner and an early night was a good way to end the day as we had to be up early again on Monday.
Ian dropped us at the ferry at 6:40am and we managed to get our name on the list for the 7:30am ferry to Bangar. The long boat carried about 28 passengers all up, seated on flat benches along the two sides and it travels at one helluva speed down the river, powered by two huge outboard motors and a driver with his foot permanently on the floor. It leans right over when taking the sharp bends in the very twisting river and all we could see was either the curve of the waves, or the sky above, depending on which way we were turning. I’ll admit to being a bit scared as it felt a bit like being in a James Bond crazy boat chase, but again we missed all the floating debris and arrived in Bangar in one piece. It would have to be a racing-boat drivers dream job.
We were met on the jetty by Nazir, our guide for the day. He was a wonderfully friendly fellow of only 5 feet tall (my height) and is of Iban heritage, one of the local Borneo tribes (previously head-hunters). He took us to a local restaurant for a roti with curry sauce and tea while we waited for two more tourists to arrive on the next ferry. 8:30am seemed a bit early to be eating curry, but we had a feeling it might be a long time before the next meal.
When Vladmir and Veronica, from the Czech Republic, arrived, we all piled into a tatty old mini bus and Nazir drove us further south in to the Ulu Temburong National Park. When we reached the ‘end of the road’, we transferred to a long boat driven by another tiny chap, much older and with a rather toothless smile. He drove us at great speed far up the river which twisted and turned around pebbly beaches and really narrowed in places amongst the endless jungle. We finally pulled up at a muddy bank and started to walk uphill treading on tree roots to avoid too much mud. We saw some massive ants, bigger than any we have seen in Australia, and a beautiful caterpillar which had four antennae fanned like a crown around its head. We also spotted a fascinating flying lizard, though he didn’t fly for us. And we saw some lovely brown and blue butterflies, which hovered beautifully.
Second shock of the day: we were followed by a large group of Amway representatives on a junket from Korea; phew, we managed to get away without being signed up! We really hadn’t expected to see them in the jungles of Borneo !!!! To burn up some energy, we climbed 500 steps to a height of 900 metres to the base of a canopy walkway. The metal structure comprises of five enormous towers of ladders and a walkway between each tower. Each one gets progressively higher until you reach the fifth tower which you climb down to return to earth. The view from the top looks right out over the canopy of the jungle and you can hear the birds singing and the Amway reps chattering below……
We re-traced our steps back to our long boat and sped back down the river, pulling in at a small beach. Here we donned plastic crocs and waded up a small stream to a very pretty opening with a waterfall and a deep clear pool. Nazir encouraged us to take off our shoes and paddle in the pool and it was very funny seeing Rodney squeal when the tiny fish in there started to nibble his feet. I really jumped and squeaked when a fish nibbled my ankle, I thought they just nibbled the dead skin near the soles, that’s what they tell you in the beauty parlours. We’ve seen them around Asia and also in France, but have never fancied trying it. And having now tried the original, out in the wild, we probably never will again.
Further on down the river, we pulled up again at a small encampment for a lunch break. Nazir pulled out pots of chicken curry, sweet and sour fish curry and a jackfruit curry, plus rice, all of which were very tasty. We followed this with a pile of pulasan fruit, which are the size of a rambutan but very dark red and spiky all over. When you peel them, they look like a lychee or rambutan inside and they do taste just like a rambutan, with an identical stone in the centre. Just as we were eating our fruit and Nazir was suggesting we take a swim in the river, the thunder and lightning grew closer and then the heavens opened. We stayed under a tin roof and watched the curtains of rain and the waterfalls developing on the opposite side of the bank. And while we waited and watched I wrote lots of notes for our blog……… in the middle of the jungle.
We ended up waiting for half an hour and with the rain only easing a little, our driver bailed the water out of the boat so that we could get back in. Even with a hat, sunglasses and a raincoat on, the water was streaming down my face and I had to keep my eyes shut most of the time. I don’t know how that old man managed to steer his long boat down all the rapids, missing all the logs and the stony beaches. At times he drove us right under the overhanging tree branches, occasionally slowing down and then speeding up through the fast flowing white water; I continually wondered what he could spot; what was he avoiding that we couldn’t see. He must know the river so very well. Finally Nazir drove the minibus back to Bangar and he made sure we got the correct ferry back to Banda Seri.
The crazy ride back, with all the bumps, rattles and sharp sliding turns, kept me awake, while most people on the boat, including Rodney, seemed to be rocked to sleep. There were men in smart clothes, ladies in their colourful long dresses and head coverings. There were workers with all their tools and generators, children fast asleep, huge bags of rice, packages wrapped in plastic and tied with brightly coloured string, a Barbie suitcase and wooden boxes of chicks all piled up on top of each other. The journey took thirty minutes and would have taken two to three hours by road. It was certainly very different from the 272 bus from Sydney city to Naremburn…..!
On Tuesday we opted for a lie in and spent time re-packing our bags. We then borrowed Ian’s car and drove out to the Empire Hotel for lunch, but unfortunately the Amway reps had beaten us this time and every café and restaurant was booked for a private function. We drove out to Muara to check out the beach and finally picked Ian up from school. In the evening, the four of us drove to the Pasar Gadong night market for dinner. There are no seats there so you buy whatever takes your fancy and eat it standing up, before moving to another food stall for something else. It was a bit of a hit and miss affair; we had some tasty sticky rice and some very nice satays and vegetable fritters, but I have to say I don’t think I would bother with the ‘chicken’s arse on a stick” again. I remember my Dad was always a little partial to the ‘parsons nose’, but none of us could eat them, so unfortunately, they did end up in a bin.
Another quirky thing we saw in Brunei was in a chemist. All the rows and sections of the rows had a sign above stating what was on those shelves, e.g. haircare, or dental, or deodorants; much like everywhere else in the world. But there was a small section of items which were obviously end of line, on sale, half price, whatever….. and the label above read “Price Abuse Labels”. We’ve never seen that anywhere in the world! Perhaps to the store keeper, it is an abuse to him selling the products at such a cheap price……? Or maybe something was just lost in translation?!
Finally, on Wednesday morning, Ian dropped us at the airport before anything was open and at 9:30am we flew back to Singapore, via a shorter wait at the noisy Kuala Lumpur airport.
