What is Brunei and Should You Visit it?

Last time I posted, I wrote about the gruelling ferry ride from Kota Kinabalu to Brunei. We arrived on Friday to Brunei and left on Sunday after a short two-night stay.

I have to admit, before this trip, I had never even heard of Brunei. When you think of South East Asia travels, you think of Thailand and Vietnam. Even when I mentioned that Danne and I were travelling to Borneo, I had many people ask me: “And where is that?”.

So, if you haven’t heard of Brunei, don’t feel too bad. Brunei is Asia’s least populated country. If you have been to China, then the contrast of the population is like night and day.

Let me tell you about one thing about Brunei: go there! I mean it, go there! Why should you go there? Read on to find out! You can also click on the links below to skip to what you want to read.

• 1-Day Itinerary in Brunei
• Where to Stay in Brunei
• Important Things to Know about Brunei
• How to Get To/From Brunei

1-Day Itinerary in Brunei

Danne and I arrived in Brunei on Friday night and left Sunday afternoon. We managed to do most of our sightseeing on Saturday, and I think it is definitely possible to see the highlights of Brunei in just 1 day!

Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque

I have never been inside a mosque. I really did choose an outstanding mosque for my first visit. The roof of Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque is made of GOLD! I mean that’s some fancy stuff going on.

When you walk to the mosque, locate the front entrance which is designated to tourists. We arrived shortly before the mosque is closed for tourists and were met with a bit sign saying that it was closed for prayer. Damn!

Token tourist photos

But, alas, Bruneians are very friendly and a man called us over to a rack of black robes. I had my long pants on but only a t-shirt, so Danne and I both needed to wear the black robes since you must be completely covered in the mosque. I liked that they provided robes for tourists since we did bring extra clothes with us but I couldn’t imagine putting on a long sleeved shirt in that heat. Although, the robes are not flattering and I felt a bit like I was going to attend Hogwarts. I did not have to wear a hijab which they also had there to loan out. Perhaps since I was a tourist?

There I am in my nice robes and some views from around the mosque

Tourists may enter the mosque 8 am-12 pm, 1:30 pm-3 pm, and 4:30 pm-5:30 pm.

Lunch at Shopping Centre in BSB

I couldn’t find the real name and it pops up on Google Maps just as Shopping Centre.

Here inside this very clean and air-conditioned complex, you will find a food court with a bunch of cuisines that can be found in Asia. We took a mango shake and a pad thai each. Oh boy, was it good! I loved the lady that worked at the Thai food stand too!

Food prices were okay but definitely pricier than the rest of Asia. Our meals were 5 BND (4.7 CAD/32.5 SEK) each. We also split a mango smoothie for 5 BND.

Kampong Ayer

Kampong Ayer literally means “water village” and it is a village built up on stilts. It is so cool!

You can hail any water taxi from the waterfront. If you look like a tourist, they will very easy to get since they will be trying to hunt you down too! It costs 1 BND (1 CAD/6.5 SEK) per person to take the boat to Kampong Ayer South Bank. There is a North Bank as well, which we walked around when we arrived on Friday night. The North Bank’s planks are a bit more rickety and scary.

Ask your water taxi to take you to Kampong Ayer Cultural & Tourism Gallery first so you can read about the culture and the people that live in the stilt village.

We just walked around and took massive amounts of pictures. The houses are really cool and many are decorated in bright colours with many potted plants. So, just walk around and enjoy the views.

There are small shops along the way if you did not bring snacks or water.

Kianggeh Market

Hail any water taxi from Kampong Ayer to take you to Kiaanggeh Market. Here you will find stalls scattered throughout the market. I read in my guidebook that there was a family of 20 macaques that come out near the edge of the market from 6 am-8 am and 2 pm-5 pm.

On Saturday, we just bought a watermelon (that the woman nicely cut up for us) and left monkey-less. Our water taxi driver tipped us that Kianggeh Market is busier on Sundays so we returned the next day before our bus ride to Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia.

This time we were lucky. Not only was the market bustling with folk and we finally found nasi lemak, a dish that was recommended in my guidebook, but when we left, the monkeys were out to play!

We were at the market around noon on Sunday, so not at the times listed in the guidebook. But as promised, there were about 20 macaques hanging around! I love seeing monkeys just doing their thing!

You can find food at this market for as low as 1 BND (1 CAD/6.5 SEK). We got nasi lemak for that price!

 

Where to Stay in Brunei

I would recommend staying as close to the city centre as possible since most people stay in Brunei for around 2 nights. Who wants to spend all that time dealing with transit?

We stayed at LeGallery Suites which was a 10-15 minute walk to downtown BSB. It was also close to Kampong Ayer North Bank, which was cool since you didn’t need a boat to see these stilt houses.

LeGallery Suites cost about 42 (40 CAD/275 SEK) per night for a standard double room. It was not the cleanest hotel that I have been to, and the bathrooms are very outdated, but it did the job good enough. Accommodation is expensive in Brunei! If you want something nicer then be prepared to pay an arm and a leg for it!

 

Important Things to Know about Brunei

Brunei has a very small population relative to the rest of Asia, so don’t expect a lot of tourists (which we loved!) or a “fun atmosphere”. Brunei is a heavily religious Muslim country where the sale of alcohol is not permitted. If you are a tourist, you are able to bring a certain about of alcohol into the country, but make sure you don’t drink in public. The currency here is the Brunei Dollar, but you also use the Singapore Dollar since the currencies are tied to each other.

So, if Brunei safe?

Yes! Brunei is very, very safe! You will meet the friendliest people here! Everyone was very helpful in telling us when to get off the bus and seriously, every single car stopped for us to allow us to cross the street. You can ask anyone for help or directions and they will help you. Most people speak good English so travelling here is easy peasy.

When taking water taxis across to Kampong Ayer (the Stilt Village), the drivers may try to hassle you into a water tour for 20 BND when you just want to cross the river which costs 1 BND (1 CAD/6.5 SEK) per person. Just be firm and polite and tell them no.

What to Wear in Brunei

Brunei is a Muslim country and much more religious than Malaysia. Be respectful of the culture and try to cover your shoulders and knees. If you are a man, then you can definitely get away with shorts, but I would still recommend wearing a t-shirt instead of a sleeveless shirt.

Ladies, you will sweat like you have never sweat before.

 

How to Get To/From Brunei

If you are coming from Kota Kinabalu, you can read my blog post about the ferry ride from Kota Kinabalu to Brunei. If you are going from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu, then you would take that route but obviously in reverse. Your trip would start in Serasa Terminal in Brunei.

We took a bus on Sunday from BSB to Miri. There is not a lot of information on how to catch a bus from Brunei to Miri.

How to Bus from Brunei to Miri

There is a ticket agency in the building beside the bus station. You can have any local help you point it out. However, the office was closed when we checked! However, Brunei never really has a tourist season, so you can just show up 30 minutes before the bus and buy your ticket from the driver.

Busses leave at 7 am and 1 pm towards Miri. You catch the bus near the waterfront across from Joy Downtown Rest-Station, a hostel. Look for the sign that says Bas Pelancong Sahaja.

The tickets cost 20 BND (19 CAD/130 SEK) per person and the journey takes 4 hours since they have many stops along the way.

You will have to get off the bus twice, once when you have to have your passport stamped leaving Brunei and again when you get a new stamp entering Malaysia. We got issued a full 90 extra days in our passport for Malaysia (mainland and Sarawak)! Not too bad!

 

On Sunday, we arrived in Miri. We just had dinner and watched a movie at our hostel. Then, we headed off to Mulu National Park, which has been awesome. I wrote this blog post before we left Miri, but didn’t get a chance to submit it. Now, I am doing the final touches in the middle of a thunderstorm in an almost internet-free location. It took 2 hours just for the page for me to edit this post to load. That’s travelling for you! I guess you can’t expect functioning wifi in the jungle.

 

Would you like to visit Brunei? If you have been there, is there something important that I missed out on?

 

xx

Jasmine

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