BRUNEI    DIARY  2

               From Diary 1.
6/6. I wakeup at one, and don’t really know what to do. Well, I gut the quilt, as it is three times at thick as the one I use at wintertime at home, and this room is above 30C. I turn on the air-con, set it to 28C, and that feels better.

Never the less, I wake up numerous times, as it feels like here is no oxygen in the room. And then it is suddenly eight in the morning! I was going to do the long drive, but shift around two days around. I start with Indian breakfast next door. Quite good for €2,50, although it was not what I ordered.

Then I find Tamu Kianggeh fruit market. It is huge, located in some rather new halls. Besides from fruits and vegetable, here are live squirrels, hens, ducklings and rabbits. Another section have fresh fish, and nearby are the dried ones. Some sell homemade tools, other old coins, toys, art and homemade cloths, mainly dresses.

I chat with several of the real pleasant shopkeepers, of which all are actually native Bruneians. I passed the real colourful Teng Yun Temple, the oldest Chinese temple in Brunei. But besides from the astonishing rock carvings and paintings, it is just too well maintained to have true charm.

I walk on, pass the real nice looking national stadium. It have quite an orchid collection in front. Then I reach the truly impressive and beautiful Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. It is closed, but I do a walk around. A concrete ship is the most odd I stumble over.

It is real hot in the real calm city, and I head out in the countryside to find the Lugu lake. It is not really big or beautiful, but a few stilt huts are found near the road.
I find a little narrow footpath, and head into the rainforest. Lianas, bamboo, giant ferns and plants, known from the florist, way back. It is a steep climb up the ridge, but nice. I see a calotes and a giant spider, hear some birds and monkeys.

I should differently have brought water. My eyesight start to act up, when I turn around after an hour. I have a bit of water in the car, start it and turn on the air-con for once. Then I pass three closed mini-marts and reach a supermarket. It is completely packed with cars, and I realise that is due to a mosque in nearby. It is Friday, and the country is closed down. A man heading for the mosque tell me; they will open in three hours.

I am forced to drive home an use the water cooler/heater at home. Then I walk to a garden, the GPS know. It is just the gardens of some huge mansions. I pass a lot of huge road-trees, all covered in smaller plants. Mainly figs, ferns from tiny to meter sized birds-nest ferns, orchids and I see some pitcher plants too.

A thunder shower starts, just as I reach the huge mall. Here are everything from Cartier and Rolex over Pandora, to some dollar shops. The basement is the biggest supermarket I can remember ever seeing. So many brands of everything

Back for great supper at my favourite Indian diner. Their menu-card is waste, and I would like to try all the vegetarian courses. I actually think, every third shop around the country is a diner, restaurant or café. That have an impact on the prices: I eat for a quarter of a haircut.

It darkens at six, and at seven, I walk to the Gadong Night Market. It is just on the other side of the river, behind the mall. Another huge concrete covered area, mainly with fried meat, but also cakes, radio cars and fresh vegetables and fruits. A thick smoke from the many grills covers the area, and I’m back at Ganges and the many funeral pyre. I end up with a bag of cookie samples from a single shop and some blurry photos.
As in the mall, I bump into familiar faces. And I actually remember them too. So far, I have seen one westerner, the pleasant New Yorker, living in South Korea, who just moved in, next to my room. No wonder many ask me, from where I am. I'm home at eight, and devote the evening to the office.
 Day's highlights   All the better photos of the day

7/6. I get an early start, and everything but the mosques are closed. It been raining during the night, and still drizzle a bit. I am heading all the way out west to Kaula Belait, just to see that area. I combine the highway with minor roads. Some are being reclaimed by the jungle. No farming, just jungle, brownish rivers and a bit of scattered settlement.

All cars are piled up around the mosques, parking on the highway, roundabouts and where-ever. One should have thought that planning a mosque would also involve a sufficient parking-lot.

After 75 kilometres, I reach oil-land. Huge tanks, huge buildings and processing plants. I do see a few small oil-pumps, but they might just be historical. The towns reminds me of military towns, neat and clean, all build at the same time. The sky opens, and my planned beach visit must wait. I reach the coastal Kampong Mumong, and find an open Indian diner.

Then I head into the last little bit of the country, to the Malaysian border. It is still through light rain an a forest to match it, and I returns without stopping.
Kuala Belait looks like a town on the maps, but it is only scattered houses in the jungle. As it still keep raining, I head back.

Within long, I turn inland – though more rainforest. It is minor but good roads, and the 70 kilometres to Luagan Lalak Recreation Park feels short. I stop a single time at a river, and the air is full of the voices of exotic bird.
Within the last kilometres, the rain stops, and I’m ready for crocks along endless boardwalks. It is a large shallow lake, but I don’t get to see any crocks. I see some water-hens, swallows and bicoloured nuns. The pavilions are used by sports fishermen, and here are so quiet.

My next planned sight was Labi rainforest, but after 30 kilometres, I reach a washed-away gravel-road. I can’t be bothered doing two times 25 kilometres for a rainforest, considering; that is what I drive through all the time.

Next up is Tasek Merimbun lake. Here, it is only 13 kilometres of where the road use to be. I find a nice spot, and actually see a crocodile jumping. I follow a little footpath within the rainforest, along the six kilometre long lake. Well, part of it. Here are a vide variety of plants from giant trees over lianas to tiny epiphytes.

While I'm out here in nowhere, I might as well see the Rambai area. Well, the road is a challenge with huge lakes. The rainforest quite familiar.
I am running low on gas, and head back to bigger roads. A beautiful leaf gecko drops on the car, and get a hike to the gas station. The gas is around €0,33. Wished Denmark had oil and gas (oh, we do, but still happily pay six times as much).

I find a patchwork of inland roads home. Here are less jungle, and a huge area is used for rice farming.
I'm home at four, and have to enjoy a cup of coffee at the Chinese restaurant, as my Indian friends apparently have the Saturday off.

A short pit-stop, and I’m restless. I find, what they call the old town next to the river-mouth. Not that old, but here are shops in two story buildings among the huge ones. I see the stilt-village across the river, and a giant bridge. I will get close one of these days.

I find an open Indian diner with 50 interesting dishes. I have to settle with one: Ladyfingers, and it is awesome. Just tofu, been-sprouts, tasty sauce and great rice. I do another loop in “the old town”, and head home at dusk. I have had a head-start in tomorrow, and find a few other sights in the narrow central part of Brunei.
 Day's highlights   All the better photos of the day
                                      Then I continue in Diary 3.