Travelling Haplessly

The downtown of Bandar Seri Begawan can be walked easily in a few hours.  I know this because I walked it easily in a few hours.  Mind you the prevailing humidity will make you feel like you're swimming before you've gone a dozen paces and it's a little difficult to take surreptitious sips from a water bottle (Ramadan) in the middle of town.

Fortunately I am forged from the mould of heroes (at least I'm pretty sure there's mould in there somewhere) and I can handle any kind of mild discomfort.  You know, if I don't have a choice.  Shamelessly hijacking someone else's water taxi I had myself (and the other passenger) dropped at Kianggeh Market.  You know the good thing about this market?   Nobody tries to sell you anything.  They actually wait for you to show an interest in their merchandise.  Since I didn't have any this was ideal.  I'm loving zipping about in water taxis by the way, it's a very cool way to travel.  Seriously, being out on the water is the coolest place in the city unless you like air conditioned malls which I don't.

It being a Friday many things were closed and most of those that were open weren't going to be open for long.  I had been advised to grab some takeaway food before midday if I wanted to eat at all (l did).  Given this my objectives for the day were modest.  Food, a shave and the Regalia Building was all I hoped to achieve today.  I managed two of those which is a pass mark by anyone's standards.

A lot of people have a knickknack shelf; somewhere you can put souvenirs and those little gifts you've received over the years that you have no use for but can't throw away for fear of causing offence.  Well the Sultan of Brunei has such a thing.  It's called the Regalia Building.

As befits it's name the building also houses such of the royal regalia as isn't currently being used by the Sultan.  The centrepiece of the display is two massive chariots which the Sultan was apparently hauled around in on the occasion of his coronation and his silver jubilee respectively. In the galleries around and overlooking this display is a staggering collection of gifts the Sultan has received from heads of state, visiting dignitaries, business figures and loyal subjects.  If the Sultan wasn't already the richest man in the world he could probably become so by holding a garage sale.

Sadly absolutely no photography was permitted inside, neither were shoes but I don't tend to take photos with them.  I did manage to take a photo of my Royal Regalia Building slippers before I went inside.  They're white and rather plain and don't really convey the grandeur of the place terribly well. After that I popped along to the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque where I was able to take a photo of the sign telling me I couldn't go inside.

I have never had such difficulty finding a barber.  Normally if you wander through an Asian or Middle Eastern town for long enough you will find someone with a sharp blade who's prepared to have a go.  However this was Friday and Ramadan into the bargain and the barbers had apparently made themselves scarce.  My host had told me the most likely places to go (back alleys) and intimated that my greatest difficulty would be escaping without an unwanted ear cleaning and massage as well.

Well I tramped through pretty much every back alley the city possesses without success.  I encountered one likely looking prospect (I could actually see people getting their hair cut) but the old man I approached guided out of his shop, down the street and pointed me in the direction of the bus station.  Possibly there was a communication breakdown or possibly he didn't like the look of me, I did look rather scraggy and unshaven.

With the midday hour rapidly approaching I gave up on the shave and focused on food.  With minutes to spare I got some rather tasty fried chicken and rice from a corner takeaway which I took back to my lodgings to eat appropriately indoors.  Along the way I lost my footing getting into a water taxi and wound up flat on my back on the river stairs.  My taxi driver very kindly offered me a reasonably clean cloth when it looked like I was going to bathe my bloody hand in the river (I must have been slightly shocked or, possibly, an idiot).  So I went home for lunch and also to change into clothes that were somewhat cleaner and less bloodstained.