After some toast in the empty kitchen (I swear there were no other guests) we started the walk to town to see if we could go the the Temborong national park, Brunei's only national park. After walking five minutes, we discovered you could get a speed boat into the city for a couple of dollars (a pound) so happily accepted an offer of a ride. The ride was very uncomfortable. The boat slapped up and down on the water and so we jumped up and down on the wooden benches, my bum being bruised over and over again. Luckily, it was only a five minute boat ride so we jumped off and then looked into getting another speed boat (this one was bigger and more comfy) to a place nearer the national park. We asked the ticket guy about the national park and he seemed very negative, saying we couldn't go there as it was too late (it was before 8am) but then he said we could get on the boat to Bangar (the place near the park). This should have been our first clue as to how accessible the park is but we ignored his advise and got the boat anyway (it was only £3 each).
This speed boat had padded seats and a cover and smoothly sailed through the water making it very luxurious compared to the last. This boat ride ended up being my favourite part of the day. We streamed along the river as it got narrower, trees hanging over the edges of the water, the boat tipping in a satisfying way as we meandered around the bends. It was calming and made me very sleepy. When we arrived in Bangar 40 minutes later we quickly realised there was no transport onto the next place and when we asked a lady about the national park she informed us that trips were only possible when booked with a tour operator. We thought about booking on a tour but they cost £50 just for one day which we decided was just too expensive. This meant we'd had a wasted journey and so got on another boat back to Bandar Seri Begawan.
In the city, we walked through the food market but were quickly out of there as Matt wasn't feeling one hundred percent and the smell of fish wasn't the nicest. Instead, we sat down in a cafe and had an iced coffee before planning our lives all over again. The only draw to Brunei was the national park and as we'd ruled out the pricey tour there wasn't anything else to do. This meant the best thing for us would be to get out of Brunei and into Malaysian Borneo until our return flight to KL. We researched a few places, discovering that all other national parks in Borneo weren't accessible without a guide making them just as pricey. This ruled out all national parks. Matt read up about Kota Kinabalu, a city north east along the coast that sounded quite nice so that was our choice of destination.
To make the most of the rest of the day we set out to explore BSB and see what it had to offer. Without a map (we'd left ours at the hotel thinking we'd be in a national park all day) we managed to find a big mosque that looked like something out of Aladdin. It was more impressive on the outside than the inside (inside it looked a bit 70s) but I did get to wear a big robe and a scarf when I entered the mosque.
From the mosque we started to walk towards where I thought were some hawker stalls. We just ended up walking aimlessly for an hour before stopping for some mediocre food (a weird chicken curry that was cold) and then managing the get a bus back into the centre. When I say bus I don't really mean bus. It was a minibus that runs as a private bus but picks people up if they wait at bus stops. It cost us a dollar each (50p each) so we accepted the lift and instead decided to find out more about buses to Borneo.
We found a travel agent place and were able to ask the lady inside about the best mode of transport. She advised us to get the 8am bus the next morning that would take us straight to KK. Perfect! With that planned we sat down for a glass of ice tea in a food court round the corner before walking along the harbour, trying to pass the time before tea. This proved to be rather boring so instead Matt came up with the idea that we buy food and cook it in the kitchen at the hotel. So we did just that.
After the long walk back I set to work with a kettle and a microwave, creating a masterpiece. It wasn't quite a masterpiece but noodles with a sauce and veg (even sugar snap peas) wasn't a bad meal. I found the sauce too spicy though but managed to eat nearly a full plate. Matt ate at least two plates. We were pretty boring and washed our clothes before going to bed early so we were ready for our bus in the morning. Hopefully Borneo will be better than Brunei.
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