Stardate: Thursday, June 25, 2009. 1:06 pm - Leaving Brunei Darussalam
Now aboard the Royal Brunei Air 2.5 hour flight from Brunei’s capitol city, Bandar Seri Begawan, to Bangkok. Once onboard, before departure, a Muslim prayer was sung for safe travels. I totally loved that.
Last nite we strolled around Bandar Seri Begawan in the evening...I’d never heard the Muslim Call to Prayer before, and was really, completely, transfixed...so very, very beautiful against the dark and quiet of the small city…
I will not miss the conservatism of my first visit to a (liberal!) Muslim country -- kinda made me want to run around like Joan of Arc…I am strangely relieved to soon disembark in a nice, old-fashioned, hedonistic culture, thankyouverymuch. And I’m looking forward to a deep glass of red wine upon arriving. Brunei is a “dry” country, and though the Empire Hotel was a lovely delight, a glass of wine would have been welcome in watching the crazy-spectacular sunsets. But, having finally discovered the array of available teas, I pretty much kept nice and caffeinated.
We hadn’t really expected to stop in Thailand (had been talking about it)-- we don’t really have an itinerary -- and I’m super exited to see the city.
Not sure if I will maintain my blogging. Before I left, I fancied flexing my travelogue muscles, but find too much pressure in the commitment to post! As we head into Thailand, our activities will surely escalate with the hustle and bustle, leaving less time for writing. However, dealing with photo organizing is a must, regardless of how tired I might be at the end of the day: I still have 10 (of 20) full discs that I have not gone through from our summer trip to France two years ago -- I don’t want to face that, so I’d rather cull and post as we go along.
