Blogs from Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, Asia - page 6

Brunei, maybe one of the smallest countries that we have visited but it is also one of the richest, in fact you can see the oil wells at the side of the road busily collecting black gold. We paid a flying visit and checked out the Royal Regalia Musuem, which is home to all the gifts that the Sultan of Brunei has been given by foreign dignatories. To prove that this is a man that has everything the Sultan's solid gold chin rest is on display. In the shape of an arm, the hand cushions your chin. (Look carefully at the flag if you don't believe me!) I suspect the museum was built in order to solve some of those awkward 'what an awful present moments - what on earth am I going to do that?' ... read more

Wir wussten so gar nicht, was uns in Brunei erwartet. In den Reiseführern wird man nur vom strengen Glauben gewarnt, den Todesstrafen bei Alkoholimport und den konservativen Menschen. Unsere Busfahrt von Miri direkt bis Bandar Seri Begawan war problemlos und zügig. Schnell fanden wir mit Hilfe des freundlichen Bus-Assistenten unser Hotel. Ja, eines stimmt: Brunei ist sauteuer. Aber für 2 Nächte wollten wir in die so fremde Kultur hier eintauchen. Noch nie wurden wir auf unseren vielen Reisen so freundlich empfangen. Rundum wurden wir direkt informiert. Brunei hat nämlich ein Problem: es gibt nur einen in den Kinderschuhen steckenden öffentlichen Verkehr. Dies macht das individuelle Reisen fast unmöglich, es sei denn, man schliesst sich sehr teuren lokalen Touren an. Da wir dies nicht wollten, waren wir sehr dankbar für jede Hilfe. Einen Tag lang zogen wir ... read more

The country of Brunei is a tiny little Muslim country on the island of Borneo, sandwiched between parts of Malaysia. There's really no tourist draw or anything that we even wanted to see...but the plane tickets were about $20 and the flight only 20 minutes. We figured, when were we ever going to be able to visit Brunei again? So we booked an overnight trip to Bandar Seri Begawan on our way to Kuala Lumpur. There were only about four hotels in BSB, so I randomly picked the Jubilee Hotel because they offered to pick us up from the airport. When we walked into our suite, we were transported back to 1970. It was so retro, which turned into a theme throughout our brief time in Brunei. We set out on the streets, using the two ... read more

We arrived at Bandar Seri Begawan and rolled up at the KK Soon Hostel with its GIANT bedrooms and truly horrendous bathrooms. After a little wander and having a delicious vegetable roti we came across the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, all lit up in the darkness. It's an amazing sight. Almost all materials for the mosque were imported so it boasts marble from Italy, granite from Shanghai, crystal chandeliers from England and carpets from Saudi Arabia. The dome of the mosque is also covered in pure gold. Spectacular. On our one-and-only day in BSB we visited the Royal Regalia Museum which featured the history and life of the Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah, the chariots he travelled in during his coronation and many MANY gifts sent to him from other countries. What do you buy the man ... read more

Day 1 - 17/7/10 Off again - ah what adventures lie in wait for us this time... Here we go again flying Royal Brunei (a Muslim alcohol free airline) and true to form we brought out a bottle of Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc and requested that it be chilled to have with our dinner. The flight attendants were extremely helpful and brought it out nicely chilled when dinner arrived - in our section we were the only ones drinking wine for dinner - how uncivilised were the rest? Landed at Bandar after an uneventful flight and stayed at the Radisson as guests of Royal Brunei as they had initially stuffed up our booking - so here we are in Brunei - where they're celebrating the Sultan of Brunei's 64th birthday celebrations. We went for a ... read more