Brunei Darussalam
Good things come in small packages. Brunei, a tiny country with a total of 30 taxis (!) was a pleasant surprise considering I added it to my itinerary as an afterthought. Gorgeous architecture. Friendly people who greet you on the street. And the most innocent of tourism industries. Noticing the lack of tourists on my visit, I asked one guy when the tourist season was. "We don't really have a season," he replied. When I asked my hotel reception if it would be OK to check out late because my flight wasn't until the afternoon, he responded, "You can check out whenever you like." Hard to imagine a better start to a nascent tourism industry than that! Darussalam means "abode of peace" and I can say, having been there, that it's a pretty accurate description of the place.
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A Royal Brunei Airlines plane, together with the funky looking control tower at the airport in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei's capital city.
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Say what you will about the troubles in the Islamic world, but they have some things right. If only the US would be so bold...
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Brunei currency is colorful but seeing the same sultan portrait on every note is rather boring. Still, one thing amazed me about their money: it was almost impossible to crease and get dirty. It's as if some natural repellents are built into it to insure the sultan's face is never sullied...
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Brunei's major landmark, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, can be seen from almost anywhere in the capital city.
I arrived there just as the sun was setting, so I saw some beautiful changes in lighting.
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Back to the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, this time during daylight hours.
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The warning sign said "No cameras inside mosque," which helped lessen the guilt I felt about this interior shot taken just inches from outside the central mosque entrance door. One single solitary man can be seen at prayer in the bottom left.
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A few shots from the beautiful park located between my hotel and the mosque.
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The simple rather spartan Royal Palace before oil was discovered.
Needless to say, the sultan moved into a much more lavish palace after the oil money started flowing in.
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A glimpse across the river of the post-oil discovery Royal Palace, much more extravagant than the old digs.
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Royal Palace guards.
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The largest mosque in Brunei, the Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque. Absolutely GORGEOUS building! Unfortunately it's located a ways outside the city and is not that easy to get to, so I had to hire a car & driver to get me there and back. But after laying eyes on it, I can say it was worth the extra effort to get there.
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Steps leading into the mosque interior. You can just get a glimpse of some of the forbidden beauty inside.
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The vision of Heaven in Islam is one of endless trees and free-flowing water (which makes sense, if you think about it, for what else is more lacking in a desert environment?), so it's no coincidence that mosques often feature elaborate gardens and fountains.
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Hiking around the neighborhood of my hotel looking for interesting things to photograph.
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Jalan Pretty = "Pretty Street". The simple quaintness of this sign made me smile.
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Brunei's lively waterfront. There are quite a few people in the country who still live in so-called "water villages," and water taxis are a common way for the locals to travel.
There is a complex intertwined system of wooden walkways for those water village residents who would rather walk across the river rather than take a water taxi.
The exterior of water village houses gives the appearance of poverty, but it didn't go unnoticed that a lot of these dwellings had visible air conditioners and satellite TV dishes.
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The Royal Regalia Museum, from outside and in. The museum had some beautiful collections, but unfortunately photography was prohibited in all areas except the giant entry hall. Cameras had to be put in lockers before entering the main exhibit area, and guards were inside to make sure no one misbehaved. Oh well.
