When you think of Southeast Asia, what comes to your mind? I’m guessing countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Myself, having already visited these countries, I was eager to visit somewhere new. So, I opened Google Maps and begun swiping and zooming around Southeast Asia and then I remembered a country called Brunei. Most people probably don’t even know this country exists, let alone where it is located.
Not knowing a whole heap about this country, I began doing some research on travelling to Brunei. The general takeaway I got from reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos about Brunei was; that it was a small oil rich country with not much to do and some strict laws created by their wealthy sultan with a long ass name.
The main religion in Brunei is Islam and the country follows Sharia law. A lot has been said in western media about the laws and punishments which seem inhumane for western standards.
Some of These Strict Laws Include:
- Homosexuality is illegal in Brunei, and gay sex can result in the severe punishment of death by stoning.
- Alcohol is banned in Brunei. Both the sale and consumption of alcohol is illegal. However, non-Muslims over 17 years of age are able to bring in 2 liters max and must fill out a customs form. The alcohol must only be consumed in the hotel room or residence of the persons stay.
- Adultery can result in being stoned to death.
- Celebrating Christmas is illegal in Brunei. Christmas decorations can not be put up in public places. This is due to Islam being the major religion in Brunei.
- Eating during Ramadan is illegal, and punishments can include fines of thousands of dollars or a year in jail.
It is important to note that these laws do not apply to tourists the same way as they do Muslims.
First Impressions
Right from the time I checked into my flight, I didn’t feel like a regular tourist. There was basically no one else lining up to check in, and the check in staff seemed pleasantly surprised that some lone white dude in his twenties thought visiting Brunei would be fun. They basically had to confirm I was at the correct gate because yes, Brunei is rarely visited by tourists.
The short 45-minute flight from Kota Kinabalu to the capital Bandar Seri Begawan was pleasant as I had a free seat beside me (the plane was far from full). But what I enjoyed most about this Royal Brunei Airlines flight was seeing both the incredible Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque lit up at night.
After checking in to the Brunei Hotel, I was eager to explore the ‘city’, and was also starving for a feed. It quickly became apparent that Bandar Seri Begawan was a ghost town. Quite the contrast from other cities in Southeast Asia which come to life once the sun goes down. It kind of reminded me of Sydney at night. If you are from Sydney, you’ll know what I mean. Ok, I’m exaggerating a little.
Anyway, there are no impressive skyscrapers or high-rise buildings and I was lucky to see 15 other people during my little night exhibition of the city. Just by walking around I stumbled across the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. Not to sound cliché but it blew me away. This mosque was absolutely incredible especially with the neon green lights illuminating the golden domes.
And then it was time for food . . . I thought I was out of luck as it was just before 10:00 p.m. and everything seemed to be closed. But then I found this Indian restaurant which seemed to have the best nightlife in the entire city, often like kebab shops in Sydney.
Something very strange happened that night while I was walking back to my hotel. A car oddly pulled up about ten meters in front of me. This woman, probably about 50 years old gets out of the car and approaches me. She seems curious as to why I am in Brunei, which is fair enough. She proceeds to ask me questions about who I am with etc. Then out of nowhere she says she needs money and she will give me a blow job. I am in shock. Adultery is a serious crime in Brunei and the punishment is being stoned to death. This was so random and unexpected as I thought Brunei had all these strict laws and everyone over here was well-off.
Anyway, lets talk about what I done in the country often described as ‘boring Brunei’.
So, What Is There to Do In Brunei?
There really isn’t a whole lot to do in Brunei. These are eight of the main things to see and do when in Brunei.
Omar Ali Saiffuddien Mosque – This will likely be the first site you will tick off your list. If you are staying in the Bandar Seri Begawan area it won’t take long before you spot the huge golden domes. This mosque is truly stunning to look at and photograph.
I had no problem entering the mosque. And no, I did not get ‘aggressively’ kicked out like Drew Binsky. I was wearing a regular short sleeve t-shirt and jeans. I went on a Thursday; I have heard it is closed to tourists on Thursdays but that didn’t seem to be the case when I went.
Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque – This is Brunei’s largest mosque and was built to celebrate the current sultan’s 25th year in the reign. The mosque features 29 golden domes, immaculate gardens and a luxurious interior. This mosque is about 3km out of Bandar Seri Begawan so, you’re probably not gonna wanna walk, especially because it’s so f*cking hot all the time. So, the best way to get there is to take the light blue coloured bus numbered – 01, which cost just $1.
Kampong Ayer – This is the largest floating village in the world. Over 30,000 people live in the floating village which is made up of 42 smaller villages. Kampong ayer is a fully functioning village with a police and fire department, hospital, Shell petrol station, schools and mosque. Homes are equipped with the typical utilities such as electricity, air conditioning and Wi-Fi.
It is very easy to get to Kampong Ayer. For just $1 you can take a water taxi from the Bandar Seri Begawan waterfront. Once you arrive at the entrance to Kampong Ayer you enter the Cultural & Tourism Gallery where you must sign in. Here you will find a small museum and souvenir shop. There are many signs for tourists showing where different things worth checking out are located—for example, where they make prawn crackers and boats.
Brunei River Boat Tour – So I actually did this tour twice. No, not because it was so much fun. It was actually because the boat taxi guy said he was picking up some tourists for a river tour, so he offered me a special price (BND$15) to take me on the tour and then drop me off where I wanted to go. This worked out cheaper than taking a taxi, because taxis in Brunei are expensive as f*ck. Anyway, what was I talking about . . . oh yeah, the Brunei river boat tour.
The boat tour will set you back BND $20 – $30. I paid BND $30 and the tour goes for about 1 hour. To do a tour all you need to do is find a water taxi and before you even ask, they will probably tell you about the tour. Basically, you ride up the Brunei River and your driver will point out notable sites along the way. Some of these include: Kampong Ayer, Istana Nurul Iman (royal palace home to the sultan of Brunei), mangrove forest, proboscis monkeys and yes, crocodiles . . . if there are any out.
Gadong Night Market – This is the most popular and well-known night market in Brunei. It opens at 4 p.m. and you can sample a range of foods and drinks such as barbecued meat and fish, Malaysian dishes, noodle and rice dishes, cakes, dessert, fresh juices and shakes—like the corn one I had.
Royal Regalia Museum – Probably the best thing about this museum is that it is free and the air conditioning. There are no phones or cameras allowed in the museum and once you sign in you are given a locker to store your belongings. Basically, from what I gathered, the museum is mainly about the current sultan’s life story, and on display are a range of what seemed to be gifts to Brunei from other countries around the world.
The Empire Hotel – This is the most luxurious hotel in Brunei. The hotel is supposed to be seven stars, some people say it’s six stars, but on the website, it says five stars. Confusing right? The hotel has a room priced at $16,000 per night, which former president Bill Clinton stayed at. The cheapest room starts at around BND $300. Keep in mind, The Empire Hotel is about a 25-minute car ride from the main area of Bandar Seri Begawan.
An alternative to staying here, is to just visit the hotel. The hotel is open for visitors to take a look around what will likely be the most luxurious hotel you have seen.
Istana Nurul Iman – This is the residence of the Sultan of Brunei and the largest palace in the world. The palace was completed in 1984 and cost around $1.4 billion. Some of the many excessive features of the place include: 1788 rooms, a mosque which can accommodate up to 1500 people, banquet hall for up to 5000 people, helipad, 257 bathrooms, airconditioned stable for the sultan’s polo horses and a 110-car garage.
It is actually possible to visit the palace and meet the sultan in person—if you are a male that is. Females will meet his wife. During Hari Raya Aidilfitri, for three days the palace is open to the public. Visitors will have a meal in the banquet hall and receive a small gift from the sultan.
Do I Recommend Going to Brunei?
Probably not . . . Unless you have aspirations like me to one day visit every country in the world. I enjoyed my stay in Brunei but you’re not missing out on much by not visiting.
How Long Should You Stay in Brunei?
If you decide you want to visit Brunei, I’d say three nights is plenty of time. You may want to consider adding an extra day if you want to visit the Ulu Temburong National Park. So, four nights max and two nights minimum in my opinion.
Is It Safe?
Yeah, I felt completely safe at all times while In Brunei. With harsh punishments such as amputation of arms for robbery and being stoned to death, it’s no wonder crime rates are so low.
Things to Know
- The Singapore dollar is commonly used in Brunei and is the same rate as the Brunei dollar, so no conversions needed.
- It is hot as f*ck – After spending a week in Taiwan during December and coming to Brunei, I was reminded what Southeast Asian heat is like.
- There is zero nightlife. Yep, zero bars and clubs because as mentioned before, Brunei has strict laws on the consumption and selling of alcohol.
- There were probably only like 100 tourists in the whole country, not even exaggerating. Or at least this is what it felt like. I wouldn’t be surprised if this estimate is pretty accurate. The lack of tourists is kind of nice. You feel like you are an advanced traveller or something.
- The Sultan (king of Brunei) is one very wealthy man, like really really rich. Aside from his 1788 room palace; the sultan with an estimated net worth of about $28 billion, is known to spend crazy amounts of money on everything from: paying Michael Jackson $25.8 million to perform three concerts, flying his favourite barber from England to cut his hair—in total costing about $21,000, over 7000 high performance cars most of which are custom, and private planes with gold and crystal interiors. You could say the sultan is well off.
Food
If I had to describe the food in Brunei I would do so like this. Very Malaysian, a bit Singaporean, Indonesian and Indian. Oh, and Jollibee of course. The fried chicken restaurant I fell in love with in the Philippines, but was pleasantly surprised to see in Brunei.
Brunei has all your western fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King etc.
Two notable dishes worth trying in Brunei include:
Ambuyat – this dish comes from the insides of the sago palm tree. It looks kind of like Vaseline or glue and you use these weird V-shaped chopsticks, which foreigners have no idea how to use. It is dipped in a sour/spicy dip called cacah.
Nasi Katok – basically rice, fried chicken and sambal sauce. This simple staple typically costs BND $1.
I did not try any of these dishes myself as every restaurant I went to didn’t seem to sell these dishes. So, I basically ate nasi ayam (chicken rice) for every meal.
Transport
Public transport is pretty bad in Brunei. Thankfully most of Brunei’s main attractions are within walking distance from the Bandar Seri Begawan area. The sites you will need some form of transport are the: Gadong Night Market, Empire Hotel and the Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque.
You have four main options when it comes to transport in Brunei:
Dart – This is Brunei’s ride sharing app equivalent to Grab or Uber. I personally did not use it because I was having trouble registering for an account. This did seem to be a more affordable and efficient alternative to taxis.
Taxi – I have heard there are only something like 40 taxis in the whole Bandar Seri Begawan area, so good luck finding a taxi. Taxis in Brunei are very expensive. A ride from the airport into town will cost you BND $25, which is about 9km. I have heard stories of tourists who have been driven to their hotel by the immigration officer at the airport as there were no taxis around. I had to wait 20 minutes for a taxi to pick me up from my hotel to take me to the airport.
Bus – This is probably going to be your best option for transportation in Brunei. I used the light blue bus numbered 01 to take me to the Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque, this also passes through Gadong. The good thing about the buses are they cost just BND $1. If you are tight for time, I probably wouldn’t recommend going by bus. This is because the buses don’t really arrive and depart on a strict schedule. It’s not hard to find the main bus station in Bandar Seri Begawan. Most buses are mini buses and coloured, with a number for which route they travel.
Boat Taxi – This can be a fun way to around different parts of the city. Boat taxis can be found just about anywhere, usually they will call out to you seeing as you are a tourist. Fares should be negotiated before leaving. It cost me BND $10 to go from Gadong to the Bandar Seri Begawan waterfront.
Brunei probably isn’t on your bucket list, and it really shouldn’t be. In saying this, I quite enjoyed exploring a lesser known country without the herds of tourists in other Southeast Asian countries. Maybe this blog post has inspired you to travel to Brunei? Maybe it has reassured you that you don’t need to come here? For those like me who feel the need to visit every country in the world, this small oil rich nation on the island of Borneo is another one to tick off the list.
