Blogs from Brunei, Asia

Da es ziemlich einfach ist, nach Brunei zu reisen, hab ich mich spontan dazu entschieden, mit der Fähre von Malaysia (Kota Kinabalu) nach Brunei zu fahren. Ganz ehrlich… ich hatte vorher keine Ahnung, wo Brunei liegt oder wusste überhaupt etwas über das kleine Land. Aber das machte es ja so spannend. Brunei zählt zu den reichsten Ländern der Welt, auch wenn man davon nur bedingt etwas merkt, da das meiste Vermögen einer Person, nämlich dem Sultan gehört. Aber der Unterschied zu Malaysia ist doch sichtbar. Brunei ist ein kleiner wohlhabender und weit entwickelter Staat, bestehend aus 2 voneinander getrennten Landesteilen. Hier sind die reichsten Ölvorkommen in Südostasien zu finden. Durch das Öl wurden auch keine Regenwaldflächen für Palmenplantagen zur Palmölgewinnung genutzt. Die Natur ist hier also noch größtenteils unberührt und intakt. Und der Liter Diesel kostet ... read more

V tejto krajine som pobudol len dve noci a aj to len v hlavnom meste tak sa mi to tazko hodnoti. Ale aspon som si odskrtol dalsiu krajinu zo zoznamu. Ludia tu boli dost priatelsky, jedlo ok aj cenovo, len problem ho bolo jest vonku, bo bol prave ramadan. Cakal som vsak lepsi stav ciest a luxusne mhd busy, co sa nenaplnilo. BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN V tomto meste by som si vedel predstavit este jednu noc a dat si mensiu turu na blizky kopec. Mesto je v pohode zdolatelne pesi. Mesita pekna, obydlia na rieke tiez fajn ale inak nic zaujimave. Ludi v meste minimum. Mozno kvoli ramadanu Ubytko Joy rest house - singel, ac, share sprcha, ranajky. Lobby fajn, len moc vyklimovane, wifi fungovala iba v lobby, majitelia v pohode. Ranajky slabucke, izba by bola ... read more

Ubytko opustam okolo 7.30, na recepcii este nikto, klucik nechavam na stole. Nevim z coho ale mam sracku, zeby si telo odvyklo od alkoholu? Vonku na chodniku rozlozeny predavaci roznych starych veci. Moj roti clovek na parkovisku este nefungoval tak zapadam k indom na vajcove roti. Po jedle na bus stanicu puduray central. Ta sa oproti minulajsku pouziva skoro len na odchody busov na lestiko. Prve podlazie je plne prazdnych obchodikov. V prizemi su opustene nastupiska. Mne to ide z nastupista cislo 4. Okolo 8.35 smer letisko. Cestou zaujali kostoliky medzi vyskovymi budovami. Premavka v pohode, cca za hodinu vystupujem na druhej zastavke klia. Hej leti mi to z klia2 ale spravil som osudovu chybu. Pytal som sa cestujuceho ci prva zastavka je klia 2 international, on, ze nie a kam letim. Brunei, on tiez. Len ... read more

The large island of Borneo is home to two very diverse countries. While Brunei is one of the wealthiest in the world and one of the most religiously conservative, Sabah as part of the Federation of Malaysia, is a secular country with a much lower GNP than its rich neighbor. The Sultan of Brunei rules his tiny kingdom quite strictly and has recently enacted Sharia Law. Elaborate mosques and glistening palaces abound and the roads and other infrastructure are first rate. We arrived at the port of Maura and took the shuttle into Bandar Seri Begawan the main city of Brunei. We always like to hire a boat and tour the stilt villages that line the river. Suzanne, Rose Anne and Bernadette joined us on the boat ride. The stilt life is one that we totally ... read more

The plane to Brunie from Manila was not even half full. Just goes to show how few Filipinos go there. We arrived late at night and were hoping to be able to walk to our hotel. The immigration officer asked for return tickets which I didn’t have since we were taking the ferry to Malaysia with no prior reservation. I showed him my ticket for Manila from Kota Kinabalu and I was relieved that that was enough. We walked out of the airport only to go back after aimlessly wandering because there was no walkway for pedestrians. We had no choice but to take the expensive taxi. We paid about $16 for a ten minute ride. Strange that we didn’t find any ATM there. Good thing we brought US dollars. Our room was too expensive for ... read more