the journey started on the at approximately midnight on the 25th of August 2010, Leaving Brisbane international for Brunei my first stop over.
Bit of info for u all...i thought its was an interesting place:
The Nation of Brunei; the abode of peace: is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. It is the only sovereign state completely on the island of Borneo, with the remainder of the island belonging to Malaysia and Indonesia.
Wiki Brunei
After arriving in Brunei on a relatively short 5 hour flight, i settled into to my 12 hour (ug)stop and tried to get a few hours sleep at the airport. To break to monotony I went on a free tour hour which took a couple of hours (to get out of the airport), and went to see what Brunei had to offer...
you straight away notice that it is a very rich county, well presented and no noticeable smell.. and with its major exports being Oil and Gold it should be.
more info...
the nation is run by the Sultan (His Majesty Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah), he is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers since 1962, from when the state has been under a hypothetical martial law, it is also an Islamic nation which meant no alcohol at the airport or on my flights (Brunei airlines) :(
The currency value was very similar to Australia, and $1 AUD = $1.15 Brunei (approx)
The city was immaculate, with many grand buildings most with gold plated domes / roofs.
Petrol was also noticeably cheap at about 53c per litre.
I enjoyed the tour and took some great photos, and learnt some of the history and culture of the place.
Brunei Pics
In the few hours the tour took the bulk of Brunei was covered and was glad to get out of the Airport!!! which was ballz...note to self don't choose a flight with a 12 hour stop over in Brunei!!
after completing my extended sitting around the airport drinking dodgy coffee, buying overpriced food, using the Internet at a lil cafe there and not being able to drink i was very glad to see my connecting flight finally come in...
Next stop a 7 hour flight to Dubai, for a very brief stop over..
more info.....
Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula....
Wiki Dubai
Upon arrival, i got to walk the extent of the airport just to get back on the same plane....with a quick visit through the smoking room (which was worse than Brunei - and i didn't think possible).
I did buy a pack of smokes in the airport which only came to about $2.50AUD
While waiting to re-board i met a English chap who's parents worked in Brunei, turns out he was friends with one of the Sultans sons (of which there are many as he also has many wives)...apparently the the sultans son receives $10,000 spending money a day!! crazy!! the English chap i met has been out with him in London and would pay a $6000 Pound night out in cash...amazing...
He was also saying to have a good night out in Brunei you would drive out of the country, go get tanked, buy a whole lot more alcohol then come back into Brunei....One time my English friend did this and was out with the Sultans son, on there way back to Brunei, they had to go through a road block...(they don't do RBT's cause u can't drink...but u can get a roadblock...they don't even carry breathalysers, (if they suspect you drunk they have to go back to the station get the breathalyzer then came back again)...
anyways they where all still drunk with the boot full of vodka, and when they got to the police at the roadblock they just pulled up the sultan son's head (in the back seat where he was passed out) and they where allowed through NO questions asked...CrAzY
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| Sunrise over Europe |
Once back on my Royal Brunei airline i settled in for another 8 hour flight to get me to the final destination London...finally
