Our late flight landed in Brunei early in the morning. We knew we had a 4 hour lay over at Brunei which sounded really boring, so we decided to take a transit tour. Simeon had taken the same trip a couple of years ago when he headed to Europe and I kn0w he enjoyed it.
My uncle had also been pilot for the Sultan so I was interested in seeing the unique culture.
We took the trip with a group of four older men and two young twenty-somethings. When I asked them why they were travelling to SE Asia, they looked at me sheepishly, um-ed and ah-ed before telling me that they were going for a 'lifestyle' holiday. It was obvious what they were going for, and since part of our trip was to observe the extent of prostitution in Cambodia and Thailand, I struggled to be polite to them.
The trip was enjoyable, most particularly the architecture of the mosques and temples, covered in gold and each one built to honour a particular sultan. The floating village was also fascinating.
I would love to have had longer to explore. There are houses, schools, markets etc all on stilts over the water. Because it is Friday, and it is weekend, children were attending the mosque for lessons.
They look so cute in their pink temple outfits.
The heat is oppressive and takes time to acclimatise. We flew to Bangkok and settled into our motel, had a nap and rested for the day as we had to wait for Rachel to arrive from the UK.
how exciting sue...you're doing it!!! meanwhile, back here in Gladstone I am off to a DR girls' nite tomorrow night where a couple of girls who have just been over to SE asia are reporting back...have to brace myself for the bad and the ugly.
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