Visiting the Sultan...

I'm in Brunei now--home of the guy who is one of the richest men on earth. Unfortunately he is not looking to adopt a new son...

I ended up having nothing to do late yesterday afternoon, so I decided that I would try to find a better place to crash--and I found one, just a block away. Granted, it was slightly more expensive, I forfeited a night's stay at the dumpy place, the air conditioner was on the fritz, and there was no computer for free internet access, but it was still better than the original place, by far. In general, hostelworld reviews> greater than lonely planet guide, but sometimes these places aren't in either. The place I ended up staying in was not listed on either site (something that should be changed).

Fortunately, I have indeed learned my lesson and arrived in Brunei around 230, and will be arriving in Miri also in the early afternoon--plenty of time to find a new place if necessary.

Most people would start to get a little bit nervous when they see that their cab driver is using a johnnie walker bottle as a standard drink container, but it was fine--the guy clearly wasn't drunk, and it looked like the shock of me telling him how much johnnie walker cost in the U.S. (i underestimated) probably did more to affect his head than the JW.

I took the ferry from KK to Brunei, because it marked the rare instance of a case where this option was both cheaper and more convenient, timewise. Since I already slated as this day to be a travel day, I had no problem getting up early and hopping an 8am ferry that got into Brunei at 230pm--I could have only left via air in the late afternoon.

Ferry wasn't the best looking craft, but it was smaller and the seats were nicer. It was actually a pretty smooth ride on both legs, from KK to Labuan and Labuan to Brunei. There were great views out the window of the Borneo coast and some of the nearby islands. Unfortunately, I was unable to take pictures because I was sitting in an aisle seat, and the cabin was closed--no open air seating/access.

There were three main forms of entertainment on the hop to Labuan--the views, a precocious 3-4 year old little girl sitting with her mom and what appeared to be the nanny right next to me, and various videos shown on the cabin TV.

Have to go, the internet place is closing will update more.