We made an early start today to explore Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. Hardly a capital in terms of size but certainly in terms of opulent buildings testifying to the wealth of this tiny country. Bruneians enjoy one of the highest GDP in the world and do not pay any income tax.
The area is famous for the world's largest water villages, home to around 30,000 people, where all buildings are built on wooden stilts out into the Brunei river and known as Kampung Ayer. Water taxis, small long speedboats, are the main method of transport around the water villages. One member of the Travellin' Smithies is not too keen on water related activities unless there is an abundance of life jackets, flares and radar. However he was up for a trip on a water taxi. So we zipped along the river heading towards the Sultan's palace which was well secluded by trees and only the gold dome was visible. Next stop was the opposite river bank where proboscis monkeys live in the rainforest. We hadn't expected to see any but there they were - there were numerous plastic bags hanging from the trees so we assumed the local boatmen had gone out earlier with food for them so as to ensure a better tip from their passengers when sighting the monkeys! However they were pretty camera and outboard motor shy. Our guide did a pretty good impression of monkey talk which made a couple of them look round, but generally they were not interested. The reptile phobic amongst us was relieved to be in the boat and not on the river bank when a VERY large lizard was pointed out - why did he have to do that? It was perfectly camouflaged and I would not have noticed it!!
Following the wildlife bit we were whisked away to the water villages proper, hundreds of houses on stilts in various stages of dilapidation, mostly with corrugated iron roofs, but all with air conditioning units and satellite dishes. The schools were modern buildings on stilts, as was the police station and several mosques. It hadn't occurred to us how the water taxis refuelled. I suppose there was an assumption that the owners had a can of 2 stroke under the small bench across the boat. Oh no; much of Brunei's wealth comes from oil, Shell being the main investor. So off we sped (Oriana's average speed is about 20mph and it certainly felt that we were exceeding that in this tiny boat), to the Shell petrol station - on stilts, of course! The petrol hose is lowered down to the boat, which is refuelled. Up goes the hose and down comes the bucket to put your money in - no Clubcard points here! A thoroughly enjoyable hour and another chance to sample yet another different culture.
At the other end of the scale we visited the mosque, closed to non Muslims on Thursday and Friday unfortunately, another stunning piece of architecture with no expense spared in it's construction from pure white marble transported from Italy and surrounded by a small shallow lagoon. It was a stone's throw from another water village, and a complete contrast, where a house owner was standing knee deep in smelly mud, replacing the rotten wooden stilts supporting his home. Again, you will be relieved that this is not a scratch and sniff edition!
By midday the temperature and humidity were 35c and 85% respectively and the sun was blazing down. There is not a great deal to do in Bandar, a couple of museums and some interesting buildings but tourism seems to be pretty low key.
We couldn't leave without trying the local food, which is a mixture of Chinese and Indonesian. We enjoyed roast chicken and rice and fried rice with several accompaniments, 2 of which we recognised as soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce - delicious, and such a bargain too. P & O had laid on shuttle buses to the city as the ship was berthed half an hour away and it was a relief to escape the heat and humidity.
Back at the ship we found the cruise terminal heaving with people clutching every conceivable wifi device, including many of the crew - you were right, Len - always follow the crew if you want to use free wifi- thanks for that handy tip. We were able to write emails and post the blog on Offexploring.
As we write we are enjoying 2 sea days before crossing the Equator around 6am on 11 Feb and reaching Bali on the 12th. Today we have had the first really significant rainfall of the whole journey so far - had expected more in the Tropics really.
The Officer of the Watch has just pointed out that there is a pod of dolphins on the starboard side; the ship lists as everyone on the decks hangs over the railings - who is he kidding? Think he's got a picture of them pasted inside his binoculars 'cos none of us can spot them!
For a change we decided to give the Peninsular restaurant a break on Wednesday evening and try one of the buffet meals - it was Thai and Malaysian, and a pleasant change from more traditional fare (and nice not to have to get dressed up). The choice of food was excellent, various curries, dim sum, plawn clackers( we hear you say, Claire), coconut and jasmine rice, fried rice, several types of noodles and excellent raspberry creme brûlée. There were more of the crew dining than passengers and none of the usual bunfight/stack your plate as high as you can before rushing back for seconds mentality we have witnessed at lunchtimes. However the advantage of the more formal restaurant is the portion control which is essential when there is so much food on offer.
Later on today we spotted a whale, again too far away to photograph.