Brunei
Out of the jungle for a quick day trip to Brunei, a small very oil-rich sultanate. What a change to leave the rainforest for Islamic Brunei, officially the Sultanate of Brunei, has a higher GP per person than the United States. It is located on the coastline of the South China Sea, and completely surrounded by the State of Sarawak. There are two unconnected parts to Brunei and our car had to ferry from one side to the other.
But before the road trip, Jacob, our wonderful guide took us to a shop that had some older items to satisfy my "hunting-gathering" instinct. My purchases? An older bead necklace with a leopard's tooth on it and one of those beaded baby carriers. The natives each create their own baby carrier while pregnant...spending months weaving the bamboo or rattan, designing and handbeading it. (I almost feel this "possession/compulsion" taking hold of me. What did I need a baby carrier for? Even if it is semi-rare.)
Once in Brunei, we walked around with Jacob, looking at the the outside of the mosque, the sultan's museum, mansions galore and the extremely clean, blindingly white country.
After this long day, it was back to Miri for a fast dinner. Jacob took us to a wonderful Chinese restaurant opposite the hotel. Absolutely delicious food. The day wasn't over yet...there was still a flight to Kota Kinabalu in the State of Sabah.
The plane left very late and it was midnight before landing in K.K., as Kota Kinabalu is called. We dragged through the airport and a uniformed man was standing with a sign, our names on it. He led us outside to a .....LIMO....and drove to the Jesselton Hotel. Please explain why we only have a few hours in the best hotels? The Jesselton is a boutique hotel in Kota Kinabalu...a must...if you ever get there. They definitely won the "best pillows" award from me, the service was fantastic, and we spent a whopping five hours enjoying it before taking a 7:00AM flight the next day to Sandakan.
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