A short visit to Brunei is probably long enough. This tiny, oil-rich Sultanate has only been fully independent for about 25 years. The supermarket next door to my hotel sells lots of Waitrose products from Britain at reasonable prices.
With my two nights here I decided the way to see all the tourist attractions was to hire a car and driver for a few hours. So today I have been to two mosques, two museums, and seen the palace and the water village.
The Brunei museum houses the Sultan's collection of Islamic art. It is really something to see 14th and 15th Century Iranian and Egyptian Qur'ans, with their beautiful calligraphy. The museum also has an interesting natural history section, and one devoted to the story of oil exploration.
Brunei's currency is tied to that of Singapore, so I have been spending Singaporean dollars. They were easy to get hold of in New Zealand.
I have been watching the flood situation in Bangkok very closely. Don Muang airport is closed now, but the international Suvarnabhumi airport (where I'm due to land tomorrow) is fine. The city centre is fine at the moment, but the northern suburbs are pretty wet. From what I have read, my quick visit there before flying back to NZ should be ok. Just as I dodged volcanic ash earlier in the year to go to Adelaide, I think I will be able to dodge the huge volume of water that has been making its way south for the past month or so. I get the impression that widespread flooding in Bangkok will come, with the high tide on Friday being what tips the balance. It will be very sad, and I hope the projection is wrong.
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