Only having 1 day in Brunei, I wouldn't really call ourselves an expert on Brunei, but I think we did manage to cover most of the major sights and get a pretty good feel for the country.
We crossed overland from Miri in Sarawak via a minivan organised from our guesthouse in Miri for 60MYR each (approx $20) and went through a "drive-through" border crossing - we literally did not have to leave the car!
As we entered Brunei and started driving towards Bandar Seri Bagwan (BSB) we asked our driver what there was to do in Brunei and he couldn't really give us much inspiration.
What we did notice was that we drove through pretty much, only jungle and maybe 1 other town. With the discovery of Gas and oil in Brunei, the country is already so rich that the government has had no need to sell off its forests leaving them mostly in pristine condition! Trekking is apparently pretty awesome but also, pretty difficult to organise - not to mention costly.
After researching for days looking for cheap accommodation, the only place we found for under A$20 per night was dorm beds in Pusat Belia Youth hostel for B$10 (A$7) each.
We crossed overland from Miri in Sarawak via a minivan organised from our guesthouse in Miri for 60MYR each (approx $20) and went through a "drive-through" border crossing - we literally did not have to leave the car!
As we entered Brunei and started driving towards Bandar Seri Bagwan (BSB) we asked our driver what there was to do in Brunei and he couldn't really give us much inspiration.
What we did notice was that we drove through pretty much, only jungle and maybe 1 other town. With the discovery of Gas and oil in Brunei, the country is already so rich that the government has had no need to sell off its forests leaving them mostly in pristine condition! Trekking is apparently pretty awesome but also, pretty difficult to organise - not to mention costly.
After researching for days looking for cheap accommodation, the only place we found for under A$20 per night was dorm beds in Pusat Belia Youth hostel for B$10 (A$7) each.
After checking into our separate boy and girl dorm rooms we set out to explore. As luck would have it, the day we were there was a festival to celebrate the opening of the new riverfront area so we were lucky to see some amazing traditional dancing and singing, marching and lots and lots of people!
We visited the main mosque, walked around the water villages, and were amazed and slightly confused by the quite obvious difference in wealth.
It is estimated that more than 32000 Brunei-ins live in rickety houses on stilts in the bay. Paths link the houses and communities together and there are even floating schools!! Apparently alot of the wealthy chose to live in these villages aswell because they dont need to pay rent or rates. In a way, it is awesome that this means that land hasnt had to have been cleared for housing. But on the opposite extreme, there is sooooo much pollution in the water around the villages that it cant be good for the environment.
For dinner we visited a local night market and chatted to some locals about the festival.
A lovely local who we met, offered to drive us to the wharf the following morning and we left the hostel at around 6.30am in order to get the 8am boat to Pulau Labuan - that was subsequently cancelled and we got the 9am instead.
Overall we found Brunei to be interesting. I think, being such a rich country, and so expensive to travel in, we had expected it to be more like Dubai. But instead what we found was that yes, there are super expensive shopping centres, and eating out is quite expensive, BUT there are also alot of people living very simply and obviously not wealthy lives. Also, BSB and in fact Brunei in general, is really really quiet. You just dont see people out and about. There are no bars, (well no alcohol at all!) and really, just not very much to do. As a tourist we really struggled to fill in 3/4 day with things to do, and that is with a festival to visit. Even without the festival, I dare say we would have finished everything that interests us with the day.
But that being said, the people were super lovely and helpful, and to see a country that still has so much primary forest left in such a pristine condition was amazing to see and I am glad we went.
We visited the main mosque, walked around the water villages, and were amazed and slightly confused by the quite obvious difference in wealth.
It is estimated that more than 32000 Brunei-ins live in rickety houses on stilts in the bay. Paths link the houses and communities together and there are even floating schools!! Apparently alot of the wealthy chose to live in these villages aswell because they dont need to pay rent or rates. In a way, it is awesome that this means that land hasnt had to have been cleared for housing. But on the opposite extreme, there is sooooo much pollution in the water around the villages that it cant be good for the environment.
For dinner we visited a local night market and chatted to some locals about the festival.
A lovely local who we met, offered to drive us to the wharf the following morning and we left the hostel at around 6.30am in order to get the 8am boat to Pulau Labuan - that was subsequently cancelled and we got the 9am instead.
Overall we found Brunei to be interesting. I think, being such a rich country, and so expensive to travel in, we had expected it to be more like Dubai. But instead what we found was that yes, there are super expensive shopping centres, and eating out is quite expensive, BUT there are also alot of people living very simply and obviously not wealthy lives. Also, BSB and in fact Brunei in general, is really really quiet. You just dont see people out and about. There are no bars, (well no alcohol at all!) and really, just not very much to do. As a tourist we really struggled to fill in 3/4 day with things to do, and that is with a festival to visit. Even without the festival, I dare say we would have finished everything that interests us with the day.
But that being said, the people were super lovely and helpful, and to see a country that still has so much primary forest left in such a pristine condition was amazing to see and I am glad we went.
