Brunei Hey friends, Here's the first of the 'Guus on the road' updates! The past few days I've quit my University room and started my goodbye tour. left with my friend Yiran very early on Sunday morning. I booked a taxi the evenoing before to pick us up at 4am. Of course, Singaporean procedures delayed the thing (handing in your keys is just not enough, it needs to go with an extensive form, among others indicating the 'reasons for handing in the keys') We left from Johor Bahru Airport just across the border in Malaysia instead of Singapore airport; the atmosphere is very much comparable to that of a deserted Spanish train station where large trains pass through a few moments in the day. The rest of the day, the place is just deserted. Two hours later we landed at a similar airport (one luggage belt, and you could see the workers throw the bags on it). and the journey went on by boat. Destination of that day, the famous and reportedly extremely rich and islamist Brunei. Brunei sure is a muslim country, showing from the following: * In the hospital, male nurses take care of the men, female nurses of women * The youth hospital did not only require boys and girls to sleep in separate dormitories, the premises of the boys' quarters are actually forbidden for girls (and the other way around) On the other hand: * I have never seen so many women doing work, also in high positions (customs official, administrative head of the only hospital) It's also a rich country: healthcare is free for Bruneian citizens. But a lot of operations can not be conducted at the only hospital. The government pays students to study in the UK if they want to become doctors. In the middle of the city there is a 'stilt village', huts standing on in the water on wooden poles. They look old and shaky, but many have airconditioning and satellite tv. Time's running out, I don't have any more coins .. so that'll be it for today's update. Wish all of you the very best! Guus   previous | singapore