It’s late afternoon in late December, as I walk past the Subok lily ponds, over a wooden bridge up into the woods. The incline is steep for a kilometer up to a sandy path running along a ridge. Sometimes enclosed in rainforest and other times open or fringed by fern and pitcher plants, the trail twists, rises and descends. Pink sand rock punctuates the track and there are rain carved gullies. The 360 views of jungle and Bandar Seri Begawan are magnificent. A gentle wind sighs through the trees and cools my flesh. Swifts dart hither and thither their flight paths endless to the Brunei River or the South China Sea. Distant pockets of houses, tall tower Ministries and minarets of Mosques breaks up the dense green. Butterflies and squadrons of mini dragonflies with scarlet fuselages dart around. A scurried rustle indicates a surprised shiny skink fleeing my path. And always the chirrup and whine of cicadas and birds hidden to the eye but loud to the ear. A moment of time to reflect and to look forward.
Brunei, a Walk with a View
