being in kuala lumpur, i couldn’t resist a cheap day trip on airasia to brunei! brunei is a fascinating tiny sovereign sultanate on the north coast of borneo, and for the past few decades has been one of the richest countries in the world on a per capita basis thanks to its vast oil production. the current sultan is one of the richest men in the world, in addition to being one of the world’s great megalomaniacs. the british royal wedding of will and kate was delayed in starting because he was fashionably late. he lives in the world’s largest palace, istana nurul iman, nestled out of sight in the jungle outside the capital. despite his personal excesses he makes sure brunei is ruled according to sharia law, and all press must be favorable to him, or they disappear.
there isn’t much activity at all in the small capital city of bandar seri begawan, but the place has a few interesting sites.
an esoteric tourist site that showcases the sultan’s megalomania is the museum of royal regalia. it is a vast museum filled with gifts he has been given by leaders from around the world – quite fascinating. no pictures allowed in most of it, presumably punishable by up to or including termination. in the atrium are multiple truck-sized human-pulled chariots which the sultan rides on on special occasions. he may also be the man with the longest official name in the world – it is: sultan haji hassanal bolkiah mu-izzaddin waddaulah ibni al-marhum sultan haji omar ‘ali saifuddien sa’adul khairi waddien sultan.
i went to the sufiaddien mosque downtown, which is the only mosque i’ve ever seen with an escalator inside it for the imam to ride to his minbar.
i then took a $1 water taxi across the bay to a floating village called kampong ayer. historically, most of the population of the area lived in stilted dwellings over the water; now just a few thousand remain. there is a very well done interpretive center there about how these people used to live – now the homes have all the modern conveniences but are still over the water which is pretty cool.
a very interesting day in the sultanate of brunei!
