In anticipation

Well, I'm really excited.

Tomorrow I head off towards Brunei! 10 day trip!

Most times when I've told people this, they've wonder where the heck it is. Well, it's on the Island of Borneo, which also has territory belonging to Indonesia and Malaysia. Brunei is basically split into two distinct sections on that island, so if people want to get from one part to the other, they either have to pass through land borders and Malaysian territory, or take a boat, leaving from one coast, passing in front of the Malaysian coast, and landing back on the coast of the other part of Brunei. Crazy.

Aside from that, there's a lot of other stuff you may not expect about it. It's been ruled over by the same Sultan for over 50 years (Celebrated silver anniversary last year), it's a first world country with a huge amount of its revenue gained from oil exports (something they're trying to move away from), it has large sections of virtually untouched rainforest, and its largely English speaking (they gained independence from the British in 1984). There's other stuff too, such as the Water Village (referred to as Venice of the East centuries ago), the Sultan's palace (utterly massive), and an amusement park built by a Prince (also built Polo club and luxurious hotel), but that's all stuff to discover when I get there.

For now though, I'm excited and only slightly under prepared. I don't need a visa and I've taken the recommended shots! There's only left the small, tiny matter of packing...Read more