Muara, Brunei - October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween to all.
Brunei is run by Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiak, the 29th Sultan of Brunei. There are no taxes, almost free Health Care ($1.00 charge), ongoing gifts to its citizens through many subsidies (your rent could be subsidized by up to 75%), lets see what else, oh yes, free education right through university etc. etc. etc. The people here love their leader, he along with his family run the entire country. Yes there are citizens on the various boards to listen to the people and very often the Sultan will side with the people to maintain a harmonious life. And of course gas, a pricey 51 cents a litre.

We had our first organized HAL cruise sponsored tour today and right off the bat I will say that this tour was excellent, well organized, great bus with an exceptional guide, Sandra really knew her information well and could deliver it with a great smile and humour - well done to HAL and to Sandra. We began with a drive by picture op at the Omar Ali Salfuddien Mosque, a mosque that looks like it is built on a lake, incredible. Next was a visit to the Royal Regalia Building. This impressive Armory houses the jeweled crowns used in official ceremonies, the Royal Chariot and a collection of the Sultan's official gold and silver articles. I believe the words of our guide were "that if it is not expensive Brunei doesn't want it". The gold threaded outfits with diamond buttons are amazing, sorry no cameras allowed. We then walked through the Kianggeh local market, great photo opportunities with some very interesting products for sale. A very nice buffet lunch was served at the Raddisson hotel followed by us transferring to a long boat for a tour up the river and to the mangroves, wow - we were able to stop very close to shore to see the local Borneo monkeys at play. The weather was perfect.

After our visit through the mangroves we headed to Kampong Ayer water village and as our write up today says, few places capture visitors' imagination quite like a water village. As in other Southeast Asian communities, stilts accommodate the nearly constant threats of monsoon and flooding. Kampong Ayer, the world's largest stilted town, is not just a single community, but 28 separate villages that have all grown together. Groups of wooden homes, schools, mosques and shop are all clustered together in sections. Its 30,000 residents represent half of the total population of Bandar Seri Begawan. Our tour included visiting a local resident's home for tea and home made treats - very nice.

Back on the bus and on our way to have a photo stop in front of the Sultan's palace, amazing, I believe with some 1200 rooms and 200 plus bathrooms. At the gate we were allowed to take pictures and then the guard indicated that his royal highness was coming by in about 20 minutes - our guide ask us if we wanted to wait, ah yah, so we did, now that is what I call value added. There are two close up pictures in our upload, we believe as it could not be 100% confirmed that the first close up is of one of His Majesty's daughters and the other could very well be His Majesty. One more stop at the St. James Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque as the sun had just set - the pictures of this solid gold with the back drop of the blue sky are in my opinion, incredible. Judge for yourself. Back to the ship for our 8:00 dinner and then off to the Halloween Party - a very full day. Three picture uploads today - just so many...