March 14, 2024 – We arrive in Brunei today around ten am or so. It was 893 miles from Bali to Brunei. We are booked on a tour.

We first went to the Maritime Museum. It is worth a visit. We saw a sunken ship’s remains along wioth it’s cargo.

We then went to a museum of regalia and saw many interesting clothing items and artifacts.

We went to a water village for refreshments and then to a mosque.

We then drove out to see the offices of the Sultan. He was busy there I suppose as we did not see him looking out of the modern building.

Not much is known about the history of Brunei.

It was heavily influenced by the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism before being converted to an Islamic country in the 15th century.

Some historians believe that the was an ancient trading center existed on the Brunei River back in the 7th or 8th centuries. Interestingly all religious groups seem to coexist here in peace. We have seen problems between Buddhist sects in other countries in our travels.

It is Ramadan here at the moment. Some locations like museums will be closed but on the bright side, the traffic is lighter than usual.

We have a police escort as we travel. This makes sure that we return to the ship in plenty of time and will arrive on time at the ship. It is a weird thing. We also had a police escort in Java. More about that later.

The weather is warm but the rain is behind us at the moment. We saw a very good magician on the ship last night. We had a trio of singers from England the night before. The shows are pretty good so far.

The food is good and in ample supply but I watch what I eat and usually loose five pounds or so on a cruise.

As I mentioned earlier, the room is nice. The shower is a little small, but I am not complaining. At least there are no monkeys watching me as in Africa. They can be quite judgmental if I do say so myself. You may want to keep that in mind when you book a cruise if you are a bigger person than I. Not the monkeys, the size of the shower. I am average size, I suppose, at five feet nine inches tall and around 185 pounds.

This is not a cheap vacation but we have worked hard all our lives and have made some good decisions and can afford to travel. If you are young and still working, take a moment and formulate a plan on how to save money for the future if you haven’t already. Most people plan little in their lives and are blow about by the wind.

We never take anything for granted and understand that being born in America is a great advantage in many ways. We have a large economy and becoming successful is much easier here than in other countries. Having said that, having a good plan does help.

Things don’t always work out the way we plan, but life is better with a plan than without one.

There will be more of “The Bad Seed” soon.