Brunei

Brunei was a real culture shock and not really what I was expecting. I had about 6 hours of tours around the main city including some temples and museums, a visit to a market, the water village (buildings on stilts over the water) and a view of the royal palace.

It was HOT and humid but although parts were very pretty and interesting my lasting impressions will be of a fun-free, Islamic dictatorship and a strange pervading surgical smell. Also the place is pretty small, and I got to see loads (and be lectured at length to by the tour guides) so I am now officially an expert on Brunei. The 10 hours basically went by pretty speedilly. Some Brunei facts:

* Everyone really loves the Sultan, in quite a scary way; he has special escalators which only he can use etc.
* The country is really rich because of oil
* Because it is rich there are no taxes to pay, they have a NHS and benefits and 60% of the poulation are employed by the government.
* You are not allowed to do anything which may be considered enjoyable as it is probably illegal.