Brunei Darussalam Travel Guide

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, or Bandar as it’s known locally, is the capital of  Brunei Darussalam and the sultanate’s just settlement associated with a real size. Straddling the northern bank of the twist within the Sungei Brunei, the city is seen as a its unlikely juxtaposition of striking modern buildings (the most recent and most impressive being the twin malls of the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah shopping complex) and traditional stilt houses. These stilt houses make up the water village, or Kampung Ayer, Brunei’s original seat of power and still the place to find half the  Brunei Darussalam’s population.

Indeed, even because the middle of the nineteenth century,  Brunei Darussalam’s capital was nothing more than a sleepy water village, but with the discovery of oil came its evolution into the attractive, clean and modern waterfront town of today. Large-scale urbanization happened north of the Sungei Brunei, resulting in housing schemes, shopping centres and, more obviously, the magnificent Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, which dominates the skyline of Bandar. First-time visitors are pleasantly surprised by a feeling of space that’s rare in Southeast Asian cities. However, Bandar isn’t somewhere you’re likely to stay for very long: most of its sights can be seen in a day or two.

You might end up staying much more time if you are using it as being basics to understand more about outlying attractions such as Temburong and Tutong. Tourism in  Brunei Darussalam is still in the infancy and is not yet seen as a moneyspinner, so you’ll find that many sites within the capital don’t have any entrance charge.

Kuala Belait, Brunei Darussalam

Brunei Darussalam is just a little under 85km from Bandar to Brunei’s second biggest town, KUALA BELAIT. There’s nothing very enticing here, but it’s the primary transit point for buses back and forth from Miri in Sarawak. Buses to Sarawak leave in the bus station on the intersection of Jalan Bunga Raya and Jalan McKerron (B$10.20); the fare includes the ferry across Sungei Belait and the connecting Sarawakian bus within the border. The town’s taxi stand is over the road from the bus station: drivers charge around B$100 for a full car to Miri, though you will be able to haggle them down substantially. To get at Kuala Belait from Bandar, you need to go via Seria, 20km east (see “Travel Details”).

Jalan McKerron houses several good restaurants – the very best of which are the Buccaneer Steakhouse at no. 94, whose mid-priced international meals are aimed squarely at the expat market, and also the New Akhbar Restaurant, at no. 99a, with a Malay and North Indian menu.

Raya’s Orchid Room, on Jalan Bunga, does good-value three-course Western set lunches (Mon-Fri; B$6). Next door to the Buccaneer Steakhouse at no. 93, Hotel Sentosa (tel 03/331345; $40-60) offers well-appointed and welcoming rooms. You can change money at the HSBC, diagonally opposite the bus station, and there’s an internet café, Netcom Computer House, on Jalan Pretty – a minute’s walk from the bus terminal. Hope, you can enjoy your  Brunei Darussalam trip.