Sea Glass Kids: Brunei $$$$ [Joshua Burke]

BRUNEI $$$$...

We arrived at the land of the Sultan and oil, the nation of Brunei. Brunei is a tiny country, only about three times as big as Singapore. You would think the country would have a dense population like Singapore, but the country only has about 400,000 people! The rainforests are still everywhere. As a citizen of Brunei you get free education, government jobs, and lots of benefits, but it is challenging to become a citizen of Brunei. Even if you are born in Brunei it does not ensure you are a citizen. To be a citizen one of your parents must be a citizen. There is another way, you can live in the country for 40 years, then take a Brunei culture test and pass it (one part of the test is about the Sultans and you must remember all the Sultans names in high Malay), and then maybe your kids can be a Brunei citizen. It's tough to become a citizen; just over 400 people were accepted as Brunei citizens last year! Of course you can still live in Brunei and not be a citizen, but you do not get all the free stuff+ fancy mansion and gold Ferrari. (Just joking about the fancy mansion and gold Ferrari, only the Sultan gets those!)

The biggest and most beautiful mosque in BSB.

The modern shopping malls.

Brunei is one of the few countries that is still an absolute monarchy, the Sultan runs the country. The main religion of Brunei is Islam and the main resource of the country is oil and natural gas. The entire country (onshore and offshore) is basically sitting on oil. Brunei was split into two parts when it separated from Malaysia. There is the main Brunei land that consists of the Belait District, the Tutong District, and the Brunei-Muara District, then there is the Temburong District which is separated from the other districts by Malaysia. We stayed at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club that is on the main river near Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB).

The Royal Regalia is a museum that is housing the Sultan's gifts from his coronation and birthdays. Have you ever heard of a Museum that housed expensive stuff all belonging to one guy? The sultan is one of the richest people in the world, thanks to his oil industry. He even owns two private jets (one 747 and one 777) covered with gold on the inside. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos or wear our shoes when we were inside, but entry was free. Inside there was gold bowls, a silver replica of Angkor Watt, mini diamond mosques, expensive rock art, paintings, galore! There was also all of his coronation stuff like his gold throne, ceremonial gold weapons that have been passed down from one Sultan to the next, and his coronation cart that he was carried around in during the coronation. The gold cart was huge and lots of people were needed to push it around.

The water village. All the nice houses are on stilts over the water.

The Ulu Temburong National Park was located in the jungle heart of the Temburong District. To get there you first drove to the main small ferry dock in BSB near the water village. The ferries that you rode on were small and could carry about 20 people max. The ferries would take you from BSB through Malaysian waters to the Temburong District on the other side. It was amazing how the drivers knew exactly where to turn in the mangrove river. Left right left left right, I wouldn't know how to get back. After arriving at the ferry terminal in Temburong, we took a van to the jungle headquarters of the local travel company we were using, Freme's Tours.

We then hopped into a surprisingly shallow draft longboat that could fit about 7 people and headed off. We basically went upstream through the rapids and at a couple points we were in such shallow water that if I stood in the water, the water would only come up to my shins! The scenery was AMAZING, so much vegetation!!! We also saw hornbills, swallows, and kingfishers. The longboats were definately my favorite part of the tour.

On on of the towers.

After getting off the longboat and climbing lots and lots and lots of stairs we arrived at our destination. A giant steel structure that you climbed up to, to get above the mammoth trees. More stairs! Luckily we brought our Chicago caramel popcorn along so we were able to refuel

before climbing again. Many more stairs up and we were above the trees, the view was indescribable. You could see miles and miles of rainforests and mountains. You could hear all the animals talking. The only downside was that it was roasting up there. There was no shade and these Chinese people were ahead of us so we had to wait up there until they were done taking their millionth selfie before getting to go on the highest tower and thereby getting back down to the floor. The steel structure was made out of four towers (with stairs inside them) and three bridges. The towers kept getting higher as you walked along. The rules were that four people on a tower at a time and two on a bridge at a time.