BRUNEI
A Unique Kingdom on One of the World's Most Exotic Islands
We were initially drawn to the island of Borneo to see orangutans living in the wild. Upon researching the best places to find orangutans, I was intrigued to notice this small nation encompassing only 1% of the island. (Malaysia and Indonesia share the rest of the territory.) Although orangutans do not inhabit the forests in Brunei, these forests are still teeming with unique wildlife. Furthermore, this country protects most of its forests, unlike its neighbors that share the island. Also, like all of Borneo, Brunei has many unique indigenous cultures and cuisines for tourists looking to experience something very different.
Brunei has come under controversy since 2019 because of new laws established by the sultan. A few members of the Hollywood elite who disapprove of these laws have advocated boycotts. While it is true that Brunei's laws do not conform with Western standards, some faults prevalent in the U.S. do not exist here. For example, the Brunei government ensures that there are no homeless, and we saw no poverty. Also, violent crime is rare. Although the country is Muslim, women are not required to wear a headscarf. During our visit, we felt very welcomed, and all the locals we met were friendly.
We spent our first day on a tour of the Tutong District and the second day in the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan.
Travel Tips:
The national currency is the Brunei dollar. Change money at the airport currency exchange. They offer reasonable exchange rates and reputedly better than at the banks. I unsuccessfully tried to use my U.S. bank cards at the airport ATMs. A local later informed me that the ATM networks do not work reliably with foreign cards. Also note, the Singapore dollar is interchangeable with the Brunei dollar. Businesses in both countries will accept either currency.
Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque
Getting In and Out
The most efficient and inexpensive way to get to Brunei is by flying from Kuala Lumpur on the Malaysian carrier AirAsia. They offer daily flights with one-way fares to Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei's capital) for well below $100. Although several Malaysian cities on Borneo have airports, I only found direct flights from Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Royal Brunei Airlines is the carrier. The flights from these places are less frequent and often more expensive (from Kuching, multiple times more expensive) despite the shorter travel distance. Thus, we flew in on a morning flight from Kuala Lumpur.
After visiting Brunei, we were heading to Sandakan, situated on the northeast coast of Borneo. I searched for flights to either Kota Kinabalu or Sandakan. While I found reasonable fares for our travel date, the flights offered by the search engines were connection flights through Kuala Lumpur, a total waste of time! Searching for alternatives, I found out that there is a daily bus that leaves from Bandar Seri Begawan at 8 AM and arrives in Kota Kinabalu 8-10 hours later. It is an intriguing bus route because it results in eight passport stamps. The bus crosses through the Tembourang District, Brunei's exclave. After exiting Brunei and entering Malaysia once, the bus reenters Brunei and then leaves the country a second time. Believe it or not, the fourth border crossing is within Malaysia. There is a passport control checkpoint at the border between the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah. You will get an entry stamp and an exit stamp from each border crossing, thus totaling eight. Aside from the novelty, spending so much time riding a bus for a 114-mile journey was unappealing. I also rejected a third time-consuming way to travel from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu suggested on an internet website. That route involves traveling to Brunei's coast, catching a ferry to the island of Labuan, and taking another ferry to Malaysian Borneo.
I eventually noticed that there is a small airport by the city of Limbang, Malaysia. Limbang is just on the other side of the border from Bandar Seri Begawan. With a bit of research, I discovered that MASwings offers reasonably-priced flights from Limbang to Kota Kinabalu. You will not find these flights on Google Flights; you need to search directly on the company's website. This route worked great, except for an error in my plan of getting to the airport. We hopped on one of the frequent buses from the center of Bandar Seri Begawan to the Malaysian border. I knew that there are no buses to Limbang from the Brunei-Malaysia border. However, I found an internet website that states: "One can cross the border on foot and catch a taxi into Limbang." That information is hardly accurate! We asked around at the tiny border town, and nobody had any idea how we could get a taxi. Ultimately, a woman at a shop called her husband, who eventually came with his car and drove us to the airport. In hindsight, the better plan would have been to catch the 8 AM bus to Kota Kinabalu and exit at Limbang. We could have eaten a late breakfast there, and afterward, take a taxi from there to the airport.
Tutong District
Borneo has many indigenous fruits, some that you will not find anywhere else, not even nearby on the Malaysian Peninsula. The Thursday morning Tamu Tutong is the best market in Brunei to find these. Some of the more unusual fruits that we bought were: cat's eye fruit (like small longans), white mango (tastes nothing like a mango), and a tarap (smell of durian, but very different, milder flavor.)
We went to a meliponiculture farm, where you can harvest honey from stingless bee nests. The owner set up an exhibition to educate visitors about these insects. The farm has nests of 18 different species, including a few that are rare. Their honey has a slightly sour taste. Several studies claim it has beneficial health effects and a higher nutritional value than regular honey.
Lunch was an unforgettable traditional Dusun meal. It included bamboo chicken, freshwater prawns, blue pea flower rice, and various vegetable dishes. Also displayed in the photo is a pitcher of a very addictive cold beverage made from lemongrass and pandan. Most of the ingredients were either grown in the onsite garden or foraged in the nearby jungle.
After lunch, we headed to two lakes. First, we stopped at Tasek Merimbun (pictured to the right), a blackwater lake that supports a wide variety of wildlife, including crocodiles. We then went to a popular swimming spot at Lugu Lake. It was hard to get the kids to leave!
Kampung Ayer
COMING SOON