An ostentatious display of wealth but nothing to do when it gets dark


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Asia » Brunei » Bandar Seri Begawan
April 16th 2009
Published: April 22nd 2009
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Day 289: Tuesday 14th April - Arriving in the Sultan’s Kingdom

I make a mental calculation on my journey to Brunei. When I arrive, this will be the 16th country I have set foot in during the last 10 months. Crossing the border into Brunei uses probably the best mode of transport I’ve used yet to do a border crossing....it is by boat. First, I catch a ferry from KK to Labuan Island, three hours from KK. In Labuan, we have a two hour stop over before boarding another boat for the hour crossing to Brunei. The two hours is just enough to get some lunch and then check up on my emails. I’ve been in contact with a tour agency in Miri about doing a tour to Mulu National Park. They can’t do the day I want if I wish to trek to the pinnacles (which I decide I do), only the day before so that will mean I have one day less in Brunei, as I will have to get to Miri on Friday now, not Saturday as I had planned. This will give me just two full days in Brunei, which could be too rushed. It isn’t a big country, no bigger than some of the UK counties, and isn’t exactly packed with tourist attractions but nevertheless two days to see a country is pushing it. I start scouring through my guidebook working out how I can best utilise the remainder of today when I arrive. Usually it takes a few days to figure a country out after you arrive, I am seriously going to have to fast forward that process in Brunei. During the ferry crossing to Brunei, Jackass the Movie is playing and I can’t help thinking what the Malays and people of Brunei (both conservative Muslim states) whom I’m sharing the boat with make of white people doing ridiculously stupid and dangerous things to themselves. I just laugh!

The boat arrives in Muara Ferry Terminal at 2:30pm. Immigration is a straightforward affair, I don’t even know how long I can stay for but I’m sure it is more than 3 days. Customs isn’t as straightforward. With Brunei being a strict Muslim state, there is a ban on the sale of alcohol in the country and you are allowed to bring only 12 cans of beer and 2 bottles of spirits into the country for personal consumption. You have to declare any alcohol you do bring in and failure to do so leads to extremely serious charges. I’m not carrying any but the official still wants to check my bags to make sure. I could have automatic weapons, knives, bomb making equipment etc in my bag but Brunei is more worried that I don’t have alcohol!!! I can’t work that one out!

I have to confess I don’t know much about Brunei as I enter the country. I know that is a fairly wealthy country and that its wealth comes from oil. This fact is confirmed indirectly when I spot the petrol prices at a service station - 52 cents a litre (25 pence), less than a quarter of the price I paid at the pump last time I filled up. I also know that there are no elected officials in Brunei and power is held by the Sultan. Finally the combination of these two things I do know, make the Sultan of Brunei one of the wealthiest people on the planet. That is about the limit of my knowledge on this country, hopefully in three days time I will be able to know more about Brunei.

I get a bus from the ferry terminal to Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) which is 25km away. I have a short walk to Pusat Belia, my hostel. I rang them yesterday to make a reservation as this is the only youth hostel in the city. The other alternatives will be four times the price of the stay here which is only $10 Brunei (£5) per night, so I hope they have a vacancy. Yesterday they intimated that I didn’t need a reservation and that it would be no problem, which leads me to believe that it is far from full at the moment. This proves to be correct when I am led to a dorm which I have to myself. I’m not that surprised because I expected Brunei to be off the tourist radar. Why after all would you come to the country unless you are on business (if you were you wouldn’t stay in a hostel) or passing through from Sabah to Sarawak or vice versa. Brunei hasn’t many tourist attractions, nor does it go out of its way to promote them. There isn’t even a tourist information service in the capital city, BSB.

I drop my bags and start exploring BSB immediately as I have no time to waste. I check out a tour to go to Temburong National Park the day after tomorrow as I’ve read that this is the cheapest way to get there. The agency I try isn’t running a day trip (clearly no demand as there aren’t any tourists), but they send me to a nearby hotel. The literature they hand me describes a pretty lame tour, which costs $150 Brunei (£70) for tea, lunch, transport and a canopy walk. My Mulu tour which I’ve booked on for in a few days time costs approximately double this for 4 days, including flights and all meals. Although Ulu Temburong comes recommended, I am not that keen to do it. I will investigate other ways to get there.

There have been dark clouds overhead during the last hour or so that I have been walking around BSB, getting myself orientated. I want to get a water taxi to take me to Kampung Ayer (Water Village) but I don’t want to get drenched in the process. It has spotted briefly and when the skies start to brighten I put my weather forecasting head on and predict that it isn’t going to rain this afternoon. It usually does in the tropics, so that is a brave decision (which proves correct). I flag a taxi down and bargain him down to $15 Brunei (£7) an hour. Kampung Ayer is a sprawling jumple of 30 colourful stilt villages that houses 30,000 people (about 40% of BSB’s population), stretching eight kilometres along the river. This makes it the largest water village in the world. His Majesty's government has provided every modern facility for the residents, including schools, police stations, fire stations, petrol stations and mosques, all on stilts. It is interesting taking the speedboat through the villages, in and amongst the colourful buildings. Next, my driver takes me past the Sultan’s palace, known as the Istana Nurul Iman. It is the largest residential palace in the world with 1788 rooms, and its golden domes, vaulting roof and riverside setting would make it a spectacular subject for photographs if you could get close enough or see over the surrounding trees. My driver asks me if I want to see some Proboscis monkeys. Although I saw them just days ago on the Kinabatangan River I wonder if we can see them closer up, so I agree to let him show me. We do get closer to them, parking the boat directly below a group of about 8 monkeys in the trees above. The light is fading though and it is hard to see them too clearly. The speedboat trip through the mangroves for 10 minutes or so to reach the monkeys was pretty cool though. The final stop of the water taxi ride is in front of Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. This is possibly the most beautiful mosque I have ever seen and a good way to end an enjoyable hour and a half on the Brunei River.

I get the taxi driver to drop me near the mosque and I start to walk towards it. It is almost dark now and the mosque is beautifully illuminated. Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque dominates BSB and being one of the tallest structures in the city, you can see it from most vantage points in BSB. Completed in 1958, it is named after the 28th Sultan, Omar Ali Saifuddien (the father of the current Sultan), who is still referred to as the architect of modern Brunei. The mosque's design reflects the use of the world's most elegant materials, including marble from Italy and granite from Shanghai. Located in a lagoon beside the mosque is a replica of a 16th century mahligai barge, which was used to stage colourful religious ceremonies such as Koran reading competitions during the 1960s and early 70s. The mosque certainly has a wow factor. It is evening prayers when I am there so visitors are not welcome but I will return later after some food. When I do return at 8pm, via a stop at the hostel to ensure I am wearing the appropriate conservative clothing I am informed that the mosque will not open for visitors until 8am tomorrow. There isn’t much else to do now, except return to my hostel. With a ban on alcohol this is hardly a party town, the only cinema in town looks like it has recently closed down and the streets are fairly quiet. Nightlife in BSB is non-existent.

Day 290: Wednesday 15th April - Dinner at the world’s most expensive hotel

With plenty still to see in and around BSB, I get an early start. I walk to the Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque first to look inside. Regal and ornate inside and as impressive as the exterior, only the best materials have been used. The chandeliers and stained glass windows came from Britain, while the carpets were imported from Saudi Arabia and Belgium. After this I get breakfast at an Indian restaurant. I try roti (a light, fluffy pastry) stuffed with beef. I could eat these morning, noon and night, they are that good.

Over breakfast I read a tourism magazine I’ve picked up on Brunei. I educate myself more on this tiny sliver of land in Borneo, which occupies less than 1% of Borneo’s land area. In fact the name Borneo is an ancient derivative of the name Brunei. I learn that it is the smallest non-island country outside Europe, and has a population of just 400,000. The current Sultan is the 29th ascendant in one of the oldest continuously reigning lineages in the world, which dates back to the 14th century. Brunei’s heyday was between the 15th and 16th centuries, when the sultanate extended over all of Borneo as well as parts of the Philippines. In 1838, British adventurer James Brooke helped the Sultan pacify some rogue tribes, and eliminate the feared Borneo pirates. As a result, the Sultan entered into a series of treaties with Great Britain, whittling the country away until it became divided in half, which it remains today. Brunei became a British Protectorate in 1888 and the British remained influential in Brunei’s affairs for almost a century until full independence was granted just quarter of a century ago, in 1984.

After my history and geography lesson on Brunei, I walk up the street to the Royal Regalia museum. Devoted to the coronation of His Majesty, it displays the coronation and Silver Jubilee chariots and other paraphernalia from the coronation day parade. I wonder what the Golden Jubilee chariot will be like if the trend between the Silver Jubilee and Cornonation chariots is followed. The Coronation chariot is impressive enough, but the Silver Jubilee Chariot is larger and decorated in more gold. If he is still the Sultan in 2017, I think the chariot for the Golden Jubilee parade may just bankrupt the country!! The museum also chronicles the Sultan’s life up to the coronation in 1968. My favourite part though is browsing through all the gifts that various heads of states, royal families, government ministers and other dignitaries have presented to the Sultan over the years. It must be difficult trying to think what gift to give a man who has everything but it seems that something to do with the country’s culture, expensively decorated in jewels and gold works!

My next stop is to catch the bus to the Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. This is the largest and most magnificent mosque in Brunei, which was built to commemorate the 25th anniversary of His Majesty's reign. Its gold-topped domes tower over artfully landscaped gardens and fountains. It may be more modern than the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, but I still think I prefer the one in the centre of BSB, it is more elegant and its setting on the lagoon takes some beating. Following a quick look around the mosque I hop back on to the bus to get back to BSB and then take another bus to Brunei Museum which is a few kilometers out of the city. The museum focuses on natural history, Islamic art, Bruneian customs and culture, the alliance of the ASEAN (South-East Asia) nations to which Brunei belongs, oil and Brunei’s history. The section on oil is temporarily closed and whilst the rest is well presented it doesn’t really grab my attention. Indeed, my concentration is on the wane when I reach the history of Brunei section, which is probably the most interesting part of the museum. At this point, I am told that the museum is closed, despite the fact that it is only around 2pm and the museum isn’t supposed to close until 5pm. As I walk through the museum I notice a number of people milling around the temporary exhibit on Japanese Pottery and deduce that there must be some sort of official presentation going on and hence the reason why I am getting turfed out on to the street. It is a good job the museum is free otherwise I wouldn’t be a happy chappy!

I catch the bus back into BSB, grab my laptop from the hostel and find a coffee shop with free Wifi and good western food to enjoy lunch. I read through a number of e-mails from family, friends and people I wasn’t even aware were reading my blog, commiserating about being scammed in KL, and offering kind words. Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to write to me, it is appreciated and don’t worry I’m back to my usual self (not necessarily a good thing mind!!). What is done is done and what matters is the future. For that part, the show is back on the road - destination South Africa June 2010. That sound’s damn good! I realise that the afternoon is ticking away and I want to get to the Empire Hotel before it gets dark so I rush back to my hostel, get showered, changed, dressed in my best clothes and walk down to catch a bus for the umpteenth (well fifth) time today.

The bus journey to the Empire Hotel is a bit like catching the 604 from Newcastle to Prudhoe. It literally goes around the houses, dropping people off at the door. Whilst on the one hand this is frustrating as I want to get to the hotel before darkness descends, it is a good way to see another side of Brunei. Yesterday evening during my visit to Kampung Ayer, I couldn’t help but think that the wealth of this country hasn’t trickled down to the people, but passing through the suburbs confirms that the people of Brunei too are relatively wealthy. I have asked a few Bruneians that I’ve met how they feel about the Sultan, and it is fair to say he is loved and revered. I suppose this is not surprising when the people have access to free healthcare, free education and pay no taxes. What a life!

Mikkel and Anne told me about the Empire Hotel when I saw them two days ago. They visited it and said it was worth a trip, even though it is relatively expensive. Why the fascination in going? Well, it is the world’s most expensive hotel, costing $1.1 billion to build. Getting there and wandering around is cheap enough - only $1 for the bus. The hotel is palatial from the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course to the soaring height of the 53 metre, lavish Atrium. The swimming pool is lagoon-esque, artificial beaches have been created and the hotel looks out on to the South China Sea. Apparently it took a team of 200 architects, interior designers, engineers and draftsmen to design the hotel. It may lack subtlety, nor have the colonial charm of Raffles in Singapore, but I like it. It is definitely the most lavish hotel I’ve ever seen, mind you I haven’t been to Vegas yet. I enjoy a spectacular sunset over the South China Sea before the expensive part of the evening kicks in. Having come to the world’s most expensive hotel it seems a shame to leave without enjoying a meal and a drink (strictly non-alcoholic though), so I have a splurge. It isn’t actually that badly priced considering it is a 6 star hotel, only $38 Brunei (£17) for a main and a fruit cocktail, probably less than you would pay back in the UK to eat in a decent restaurant. The rooms aren’t as extortionate as I thought either, from the equivalent of £100/night. I don’t know how they expect to recoup the billion dollar investment but I do know if I ever come back to Brunei (unlikely but you never know) this is where I’m staying. It is still only 8pm so I have a look at the cinema next door to the hotel to see if there’s anything good on….. only Fast and Furious 4. I’ve seen the first two and whilst they were good, it is another movie series that has had its time, so I give it a miss and catch a taxi home as there are no more buses at this time in the evening. It has been good to escape the life of a backpacker for a few hours and see how the other half live!

Day 291: Thursday 16th April - A speedboat ride to Bangar

I decided not to book on to a tour to the Ulu Temburong national park. I didn’t think the money was worth it. Instead, I will try and wing it when I get to Bangar. Getting to Bangar is fun in itself. You catch a speedboat from BSB which tears through the mangrove-lined waterways, taking 45 minutes to reach Bangar, which is situated in the other half of Brunei. You wonder at times how they manage not to get lost in this watery maze. Whilst I am waiting to get to Bangar, a man approaches me and offers a tour for $60 Brunei to Ulu Temburong. This is more like a fair price.....he tells me his people will look out for me when I arrive in Bangar. In Bangar, I can find no one looking out for my arrival, so I try the tourist information office. This is closed due to renovation (meaning there are no tourist information offices in the whole of Brunei!!!), so I wander back to where we docked and ask around. I find a guide who will do the trip for $70 Brunei excluding food/drink. I tell him I will think about it. With light rain falling and not feeling the most energetic this morning I’m struggling to get enthusiastic about it. I will have other opportunities to walk in the rainforest canopy in Malaysia, in the Mulu and Taman Negara national parks over the coming weeks. In Mulu, within the week I will have the same opportunity for a fraction of the cost and I also know there is a longboat trip included as well which is one of the other things included in this tour. So, weighing things up I opt to hold on to my money and return on the next speedboat to BSB.

Back in BSB, the skies have cleared and it is very hot. Having effectively seen all the main tourist attractions in Brunei in two days, I am now at a loose end. I hide from the blazing sun, drinking cappuccino in a coffee bar catching up on what is happening back home. United have won in the champions league so that automatically puts me in a good mood. After spending half a day in a coffee bar I decide I had better move on and go and indulge in a bit of retail therapy. I need to replace the usual items (toiletries, sunscreen, insect repellent) as well as the two items I seem to have the most problem with on my trip either losing or breaking them - my cap and my earphones. It is of little consequence as long as it’s not my passport, wallet or mind I am losing, although you could argue I lost the latter for an afternoon in KL a few weeks back!!!!!!! I also buy a stash of cheap DVD’s for those long bus journeys ahead of me in South East Asia. One thing I do know by now is that Brunei has no evening entertainment. I had better make my own.

Walking back to my hostel, I am intent on sitting back and watching one of the DVD’s I’ve bought. This is before I meet Abdul a few metres before my room. (Don’t worry readers this isn’t another scam story, but is a bit wierd nevertheless.) He asks me about my visit, gives me some useful information about getting to Miri tomorrow, and asks what I’ve paid for various things whilst in Brunei. He tells me he could have sorted out a longer and better tour of Kampung Ayer for less than I paid, would have driven me back from the Empire for a fraction less, reckons the $70 price to Temburong National Park I turned down today was fair but agrees with my thought process that I can do the same and better at Mulu National Park. I wish I’d met him a bit earlier, I could have done with some of this information, and in the absence of a tourist information office and a hostel which is unmanned 99% of the time you don’t really know who to ask. Abdul tells me he is here to meet a friend as we talk outside my room. He tells me he practices reflexology and one of the several ways he makes his money is to give reflexology massages to tourists/visiting businessmen, particularly those who have just climbed Mount Kinabalu. I tell him I could have done with him a few days ago when I could barely walk. We laugh together as he says everyone who climbs the mountain is in the same predicament for up to a week after. He says that he will show me some of his techniques after he has seen his friend.

A few minutes later there is a knock on my door. Abdul comes in and then proceeds to demonstrate reflexology. I know next to nothing about it, and I am more than a bit wary with a stranger in my room, but decide to go along with it for the time being. He asks if I am tired, which I am, and he responds that he can tell by the temperature of my hands. He tells me it is to do with the blood flow and then starts to show me on my arm and toes how he would identify where a client is suffering pain and how he would relieve it. This must last about 10 minutes or so before he has to meet his friend for dinner. He says he will come back and give me a refexology massage using oils, so that I am feeling full of energy ahead of my visit to Mulu national park. He also seems to want to show me some Bruneian hospitality so that I leave with a positive impression of the country. I watch the first half hour of the latest Bond film before there is another knock on my door. Abdul has returned and then for the next hour he gives me a massage. At times I feel a bit uncomfortable, wondering where this is going, but mostly I enjoy having a free massage. No twist in the story, nothing bad happens, but after he leaves and I return to watching the DVD (one of the weaker Bond films of recent times) I can’t help thinking that the whole episode was more than a bit bizarre.

Day 292: Friday 17th April - The end of a short stay in Brunei

Well Abdul mate; I still feel knackered! He told me to get to the bus station before 8am to ensure I got to Miri early and as quickly as possible. I leave the hostel at 7:30am, have to go to the ATM first as I haven’t enough money to get over the border and then rock up at the bus station at a quarter to eight. The next bus leaves at 8:25am. The rest of the journey is just as Abdul described it. First, a two hour bus west to Seria, then change buses for the 10 mile journey to Kuala Belait, the last town before the border. As we get nearer to Kulia Belait, I see my first evidence of Brunei’s main industry, petroleum. On my arrival at Kuala Belait, I am told the next bus doesn’t leave until 1:30pm, so I have more than two hours to wait. Abdul warned of this too. I’ve nothing to get to Miri in a rush for, save paying for my Mulu tour but I will still get there in the mid-afternoon, so no worries.

At 3pm we roll in to Miri. Over 7 hours after I left my hostel in BSB for a journey which is not even 100 miles - it is one which you need a lot of patience. The border crossing is straightforward it is just the bus connections that are a bit frustrating. My first job after finding a hostel in Miri is to find the travel agency I’ve booked my tour with to Mulu and pay for it. This is no problem but I also want to see if they offer any tours which incorporate a longhouse stay. After 10 months travelling you need to search longer and harder for that new experience. A longhouse stay is unique to Borneo and is certainly something different so it is something I am really excited about. I don’t want to stay in any old longhouse though. I am looking for something which is less touristy and more traditional. Richard, who I deal with in the agency is most helpful. He presents me with 4 options: 1) Extending my stay in Mulu national park for one day to stay in a longhouse 2) A stay in the Kuching area 3) A 3 day trek including two days stay in a longhouse in the Kelabit Highlands including a school visit 4) Going up the Batang Rejang river and staying two nights in a longhouse fishing and hunting in Kapit. Options 3 & 4 appeal most. They certainly offer a unique experience which is what I am looking for. The idea of going up river to Kapit really appeals but in the end I plump for a tour to the Kelabit Highlands as Richard says the longhouse stay is more traditional and closer to what I am looking for. There is not much difference is cost between options 3 & 4 so there is no real incentive for him to mislead. He is actually really helpful and knowledgeable and he says he will help me with the rest of my Malaysia trip. I know where I want to go and have a plan but if he can save me money or give me any insight into what things there are to see and do that I may have overlooked then I am more than happy for his input. I also now have the concern about being on a tight time schedule. When I arrived in Malaysia from Singapore I had a 90 day visa but exiting to Brunei and re-entering in the semi-autonomous state of Sarawak has meant that I have started a new visa period. Instead of 90 days I have 30 days (the standard for entering in Sarawak) so I now must ensure I leave Malaysia by mid-May not the start of July as before. I think my plan is just about manageable in a month but I don’t have much flexibility to stay longer in places or go to somewhere else that may be mentioned in conversation with a fellow traveller that sounds cool. Maybe Richard can save me some time somewhere? Whatever, it is slightly annoying to be under a bit of time pressure due to my visa expiry.

The hostel I am staying at in Miri, the Highlands, is small enough to get to know people very quickly. There must only be about 10 of us staying there. People are travelling in different directions so tips and information is exchanged. I help a Swedish girl out who is on her way to Indonesia, she tells me about the physicality of the Pinnacles trek, a 1200m climb over just 2.5 kilometres....I calculate that is a 50% gradient - that will be tough. In the evening, I go out with four Brits to get a drink and some food. This is about the first time I can recall an exclusively British group, it feels almost like a group of ex-pats meeting up for a social event in their calendar! One of the girls, Katie, from Cumbria guesses that I am from Tynedale after me speaking for only a couple of minutes.....I am well impressed that she can pinpoint my accent that accurately as I don’t think it is particularly strong. She confesses she spent a few years living in Newcastle, but still. Eddie is 30 tomorrow, and the group is completed by Andrew, a Welshman, and Amy, from Bristol. After eating, we walk across town in search of a Karaoke bar. The other four seem mad keen to sing, I am more interested in a one more beer before calling it a night. The others are good company and it is a while since I had a proper night out so I should be up for this but I’m really tired for some reason and I also need to be up early to go to Mulu National Park. I should see the girls again as they are both going to Mulu National Park.

My thoughts on Brunei: It has been a good break from the jungles, trekking and wildlife of Borneo. It is well worth stopping by for a few days (all you need) on the way from Sabah to Sarawak. More than anything I find it hard to categorise Brunei. It lacks the frenzy and disorder of much of the rest of South-East Asia yet hasn’t got the dynamism of Singapore. I see bits of Britain here, especially sitting in the bus driving around the suburbs which feel they could easily belong in my homeland. This shouldn’t be a massive surprise given the British influence on the country over the past century or so. It also has bits of Malaysia as well, the language and cuisine are the same and with Malaysia surrounding it on all sides, again no surprise. But it is neither, it is wealthier than its neighbour due to its sizeable oil fields and has a completely different culture to its once protector. There is a definite feel of the Middle East with its observance to Islam, yet it isn’t the strict Muslim theocracy of some of the Arabic countries. No, Brunei doesn’t fit into one of the stereotypes, rather it belongs in a category of its own, but defined most of all by its monarchy, Islam and Malay culture. Above all, it is relaxed and a quiet, charming part of Borneo, the people enjoying all the material comforts of the current age.

As I said, Brunei is worth a look if you’re in Borneo but probably not if you have to travel half way around the world as it lacks tourist attractions and even a tourist industry. I’ve seen a few visitors milling about but they must be staying at the more upmarket hotels. BSB’s only youth hostel where I have been staying is strangely quiet. I might have been staying a dorm but I’ve had it to myself, which has been good. I’ve enjoyed a quiet three days away from it all and I leave with happy memories of Brunei’s display of ostentatious wealth as seen in its mosques, palace and the Empire hotel, the contrast of the interesting water village, and then the enjoyable speedboat rides. It is good to put this little known about country on the map.

A Footnote: There were technical problems with the website that affected the upload of the photos for my last 4 blogs from Kuala Lumpur onwards. These photos have now been uploaded again, should any of my readers wish to see them.


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