Vacation – Brunei
The last country we visited during spring break was Brunei. We were excited to visit this country since the only cousins from the Philippines that we had not met yet live in Brunei and we were anxious to meet them. Matt booked us a wonderful tour guide through Viator. Esjay was a great fit for our family and easy to work with, and without her I don’t know how we would have gotten around since there are NO taxis in Brunei. We only had 2.5 days in Brunei and at first the kids were done traveling, but they had a wonderful time meeting our cousins and seeing the sites of Brunei.
Day 1
Our flight arrived in Brunei around midnight from Manila
We spent our first afternoon swimming with our cousins at the Radisson Hotel pool
Royal Regalia Museum, where you can see things that the Sultan has used; like this chariot that is about 50 years old
Brunei has proboscis monkeys in the wild; along with other animals that we were fortunate enough to see
We visited a water village that we had to take a “water taxi” to reach. There was a home that was open to tourists and it was interesting to see how people live at this water village
From the water village we took a boat to try to find some wild animals. Our boat driver spotted this crocodile.
We also found these monkeys near the water edge. We also found proboscis monkeys and a lizard, but they were too far for a clear photo.
Esjay, our tour guide, was well prepared and brought along binoculars that Mason loved using
Day 2
We also got to tour around a Mosque that the current Sultan had built. It caught me a bit off guard when the men wouldn’t even acknowledge me or the kids while there.
In order to tour the mosque we had to dress appropriately and remove our shoes
Our tour guide drove us around Brunei and told us how the country/government functions. This is a subsidized government home.
At the Polo Club there is an elephant kept there. We were told that the elephant belongs to the Sultan’s sister.
Our last night we stayed at the Empire Resort and it was spectacular. The kids didn’t want to leave.
Matt took Kalani kayaking for the first time in one of the pools of the Empire while Mason and I hung out at the kids pool/playground.
Our family in Brunei stayed with us at the airport while we waited to board our plane. We LOVED being with them and getting to know them better…Family is what it’s all about!
More photos of Brunei here.
