Sept 9-13
Hi All,
We were up early for our day trip to Brunei from Miri on Saturday Sept 9. It was a long day…..left at 8am and got back after 8pm…..a 12+ hour day!!! We had a good guide named Charlie…..a Chinese Malaysian with pretty good English!! So, how did you like Brunei…..well, it was just ok……hard to say why we were not more impressed but the full spectrum of the very poor to the opulent wealth/Sultan was a bit much to take in. It just had an odd feel to it……while it has a population of ~400k, there really were not that many people around and very few tourists. It is very Muslim and adopted strict Sharia law 3 years ago although it has yet to enforce some of the more strict rules, like cutting off a hand for a significant theft. The country does not sell or serve any alcohol. It is quite common for the Brunei people to travel to Miri on the w/e for entertainment and shopping. The current Sultan is #29 with the 1st Sultan starting back in the early 1300’s!!!
“Brunei is a tiny nation on the island of Borneo, in 2 distinct sections surrounded by Malaysia and the South China Sea. It’s known for its beaches and biodiverse rainforest, much of it protected within reserves. The capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, is home to the opulent Jame’Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque and its 29 golden domes. The capital’s massive Istana Nurul Iman palace is the residence of Brunei’s ruling sultan. At the peak of the Bruneian Empire, Sultan Bolkiah (reigned 1485–1528) is alleged to have had control over most regions of Borneo, including modern-day Sarawak and Sabah, as well as the Sulu Archipelago off the northeast tip of Borneo, Seludong (modern-day Manila), and the islands off the northwest tip of Borneo. The maritime state was visited by Spain’s Magellan Expedition in 1521 and fought against Spain in the 1578 Castilian War.
During the 19th century, the Bruneian Empire began to decline. The Sultanate ceded Sarawak (Kuching) to James Brooke and installed him as the White Rajah, and it ceded Sabah to the British North Borneo Chartered Company. In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate and was assigned a British resident as colonial manager in 1906. After the Japanese occupation during World War II, in 1959 a new constitution was written. In 1962, a small armed rebellion against the monarchy was ended with the help of the British. Brunei gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984. Economic growth during the 1990s and 2000s, with the GDP increasing 56% from 1999 to 2008, transformed Brunei into an industrialised country. It has developed wealth from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields. Brunei has the second-highest Human Development Index among the Southeast Asian nations, after Singapore, and is classified as a “developed country”. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brunei is ranked fifth in the world by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. The IMF estimated in 2011 that Brunei was one of two countries (the other being Libya) with a public debt at 0% of the national GDP. Forbes also ranks Brunei as the fifth-richest nation out of 182, based on its petroleum and natural gas fields.”
We fist started the day with a quick tour of Miri…..a very modern City, lots of Mosques and Chinese Temples…..lots of money from oil & gas. Shell has contracted with Miri and Sarawak for the business as well as in Brunei…..50/50….not too bad for both sides!! From there we entered Brunei through a border crossing…..check out Malaysia then checkin to Brunei…stamp, stamp…..Brunei is now our 84th country we have visited……not quite the 100 country club yet but getting there!!!
From there we visited the oil fields near Kuala Belait and Seria. Shell has an oil museum which we found fascinating. Oil was discovered in Miri in 1910 and in Brunei in 1929……that is when the wealth exploded in Brunei…..mainly for the Sultan and his family although he is very generous with the citizens of Brunei….free eductation, free health, car and housing subsidies, etc!!! Brunei/Shell have over 800 producing wells!! The Sultan net worth is now over $20billion…..yikes!!!!
Jerudong: The Sultan has 3 wives although he divorced wife #2 & 3…..hmmmm wife #1 Rules!!!! But before he did that he built wife #2 an amusement park and another opulent palace. As well, he built 6 immaculate polo fields….he was educated in London and it seems the Sultan et al still hang with the British royalty and love Polo!! Wow…..this place was over the top. We did not get to see the Palace as it was gated and very private but we did see it from the sea when we passed by……whoa….huge!!!! The amusement park had fallen on hard times and was undergoing a renovation. It seems the Sultan’s brother was the manager but got caught in a gambling scandal and has been banished……along with the divorce I guess this place was an embarrassment for a while!!!
Bandar Seri Begawan: This is the capital and where the Sultan lives. Again we did not get to see the Palace as it is gated and hidden from public view……supposedly cost $1.5billion……ODG…..he does open the Palace up for public viewing twice each year……Charlie said it was mind blowing the wealth…….here is a link for pictures:
https://www.google.com/search?q=brunei+sultan+palace&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved
hUKEwj0lY6Isp7WAhXBqI8KHZtPAmoQsAQIJA&biw=1920&bih0#imgrc=tNoOtNKaL1pGrM:
We also saw 2 mosques……Jame’ ‘Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque……it has 29 domes for the 29th Sultan:
Jame’ ‘Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque, named after Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzadin Waddaulah the 29th Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, was built in 1988. It was opened and utilized 5 years after, on 14th July 1994, on the night before His Majesty’s 48th Birthday. It was built to commemorate the monarchy’s silver jubilee rule.
Build on a 20-acre lot situated in Kampong Kiarong some 4 kilometres away from the heart of the city Bandar Seri Begawan, it is one of the most imposing and majestic building in Brunei. Its grand scale means this sacred building can be seen from the downtown Gadong, as well as those who are traversing the highway going to Bandar Seri Begawan. Its overwhelming size also means that it can accomodate up to 4000 worshippers at one time.
The 2nd mosque was Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, Bandar Seri Begawan: This was built in 1958 for Sultan #28. Both mosques were very, very impressive……all the domes are 24 carat gold…..yikes!!!! Unfortunately we could not go inside either mosque:((((
We then went to the Sultan museum where he has displayed all the gifts/souvenirs given to him by the various governments of the world. It described his family from the 1st Sultan in 1323, being raised in Brunei and educated by the military in London, and his coronation following the death of his father…..a very well done museum and good for him to share all the various gifts!!
We also went to the Malay Technology Museum…..contrary to its misleading name, this museum focused not on modern technology but on the traditional lifestyles and practices of Brunei’s ethnic groups…..it was interesting and well done!!
And finally we went to the water village……Kampong Ayer…..is an area of Brunei’s capital city Bandar Seri Begawan that is situated over Brunei Bay. 39,000 people live in the Water Village. This represents roughly ten percent of the nation’s total population. All of the Water Village buildings are constructed on stilts above the Brunei River. We rented a water taxi and did a tour……the sultan provides sewage, water, electricity, schools, fire station, police and mosques and even is building better housing replacing some of the wood fire prone shacks that most people are living in. So why do people live in this water village…..well, they are fisherman…..really, hmmm…….there can’t be that many fish left in the river or ocean to support that many people’s livelihood……very curious indeed!!!
So that was the Chevy Chase tour of Brunei…..all done in 12+ hours…..whoa!!!!
Passage from Miri to Labuan: Hmmm……another forecast that was not so good…..we expected trawler weather and got 10-15G20 kt winds and 2-4′ seas. We left at noon on Sunday, 9/10 and went 50nm to outside Lumut, along the Brunei coastline…..just a roadstead anchorage. The wind and seas were pretty beamy….no way should the seas have been that rough so must have been from squalls somewhere. We anchored on the north side of a large, 3 mile long gas pipeline hoping for some protection…..NOT…..the current held us 45 points off wind and seas…..we deployed the flopper stopper which helped but it still was a very rolly night…..ugh!!! We left at 6:30am the next day…..sunrise…..had again 10-15G20 kts winds but now all from aft so a very smooth ride!!! We made it to the Labuan marina around 1:30pm…….total 110nm, avg speed 8.5 kts…..had a 0.5-1.0 favorable current most of the time. We get tied up and go to hook up 32 amp power……ODG…..none of our multiple shorepower connectors work…..Really……how many different connectors can there be……go to the office to borrow one and a Chinese lady says we don’t have any…..can I buy one……don’t know…..maybe walk 5 blocks to this grocery store and ask someone…..ok, NOT…..go back to Mystic and hook up 16amp socket which we have……that’s good enough to run the AC but not much else so we have to manage power very carefully…..I get it all hooked up and turn the switch and nothing…..ugh…..by this time we are both soaked……from sweat not rain….but wait, here comes the afternoon monsoon…..so now we are really soaked….we wait about 30 min for the rain to subside and I go check the shorepower box…..all looks ok but nothing…..switch shorepower box to one across the dock and viola we have POWER…..start AC…..pop passage beer…..LIG……time 3:30……2 hours to get settled….yep, livin the dream!!!!
But it does get better…..we go to the office and checkin……about 2 blocks away there is a grill…..serves ice cold beer and cheeseburgers……oh yeah…….sweet as!!!!!
Labuan: It’s another duty free island like Langkawi on the west side of Malaysia…..where we last stocked up on duty free liquor. We first had to checkin…..again…..getting tiresome…..2 hours later we are done with port authority, immigration and customs…..in fact we checked in and OUT all at the same time…..we will be leaving in 2 days so they were kind to do that for us!!! Then a quick Google search sent us to One Stop Duty Free……there are maybe 20-30 such stores so hard to choose. Oh, what a find…….the owner loves Rum……we found our favorite Ron Zacapa for $13……and Abuelo and Cruzan and many other Caribe rums…..it was quite fun talking about all these rums with the proprietor……oh, and good tequila, vodka and scotch……but alas Kathy did just ok on the wine….LIG……we are well stocked now for Alaska!!!! I’m very confused on the law supposedly restricting foreigners to 5 liters. When I asked if we could buy above the limit the young man went and got the owner and a brochure……they had a discussion and said normally if you buy more than the 5 liters you pay an extra 3% but we will waive that if you buy enough…..well, they waived the 3% as I guess we bought enough:)))))….but no 10% cash discount as they did in Langkawi!!!!
The third day it was sunny and hot…..so we decided to do a 3 mile hike to the WW II Memorial and the Maritime Museum…..both were well done. The Memorial is where they have buried ~3600 soldiers who fought against the Japaneses and freed Borneo in 1945. The Maritime Museum is really an aquarium which was quite well done and showed all the various sea and reef life around Labuan!!
The Plan: We will leave tomorrow Thursday, Sept 14 for a 40nm passage to P. Tiga…..there is a resort that Omar, the guide in Miri, told us about and he has friends there…..maybe some good diving…we shall see. If we like it we will stay 2 nights then go into Kota Kinabalu on Saturday Sept 16. KK is where we end this year’s cruising season…..but we still have a 4D3N trip up the Kinibatagan River to search for OrangUtans in east Borneo, and then it’s over to Wakatobi (Indonesia) for a well earned dive vacation and then a few nights in Bali!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Labuan Sarawak
PS: Pictures in the galley: http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Brunei-&-Labuan
