Unexpected often comes – we arrive in Brunei with mixed expectations. But the surprises and amazement were not long in coming!
The small kingdom on the island of Borneo is definitely one of the places we have almost never heard of before. Sometimes the Sultan was negative in the headlines, because he punished homosexual couples violently or in case of theft hands were amputated. Nevertheless, we decide to visit the small, for us unknown, kingdom, because sometimes you have to have a look around in order to form your own opinion.
At 3 o’clock the alarm rings and we set off for the airport in Kuala Lumpur. Our curiosity has won as so often already and we are on our way to the island Borneo, more precisely to the capital Bruneis which bears the melodic name Bandar Seri Begawan. A modern airport welcomes us and we use the local Uber variant Dart to get to the hostel. Our taxi driver is very friendly and welcomes us immediately in Brunei. We can’t wait any longer and start a conversation to reflect on the things we’ve already heard. In the small kingdom everything is designed for the car, because the company Shell has helped the Sultan to great oil wealth. Buses are rare and if they are, then they are only very small and old models. A litre of fuel costs about 30 cents.
The taxi driver also likes to talk about the Sultan: „The Sultan is a very good man. He is very rational and professional. After Ramadan he invites all citizens of Bruneis to the palace. There you can shake your hand and get free food.“ Before we can ask any more questions, the trip is already over. The distances in Brunei are manageable.
We start our day with a walk towards the city’s most famous mosque.
Taxi boats operate in the capital. These are cheap, but there is no timetable – a boat sails when it sails.
We wait half an hour at the jetty before we decide to walk the way. We already make the first acquaintance with the animal inhabitants of the city.
As we walk, we quickly notice that there is no particular focus on the development of pedestrian paths or other infrastructure related to them. For example, we are standing at a traffic light that doesn’t want to show green after several passes. As a pedestrian in Brunei, you unfortunately often have to walk over red – otherwise we would still be standing at the same spot today. This is true for most pedestrian ramps in the capital. But also the quality of the paths is rather low. But you don’t really have to wonder about the fuel prices. After we fought our way into the centre under the most humid conditions, we notice that we didn’t meet any other pedestrian on our way.
In the centre, one building stands out: the Sultan Omar ‚Ali Saifuddien Mosque!
The domes of the mosque are made of real gold and therefore have a very high monetary value. But even here there are hardly any people on the way, which may be due to the time of day – meanwhile it is afternoon and unbearably humid. Around the mosque a small park has been created, where people are warned about real dangers and where bizarre prohibitions are communicated:
You can still have fun there!
In front of the mosque we are approached by a man who offers us a boat tour. We absolutely want to do this, but from experience we are skeptical. Nevertheless we agree at the end and go first to the water village Kampong Ayer.
The village is the former centre of the capital and was for many years the capital itself. The people there live in houses that stand on stilts and can be reached by boat at high tide. The houses are connected by footbridges, which are passed by gas and water pipes. There are many fishermen and even a few households keeping chickens.
Nowadays many families live in Kampong Ayer due to the low rents. Compared to other places in the world, the rents in Brunei are very low anyway.
Besides some schools there is even a police and a fire station. Due to the high penalties for theft and the like, the police will have relatively little to do here.
Our boat driver even gives us an insight into his home, which is also located on stilts in the water village. There our view falls on a painting of the Sultan and his wife. Thereupon we are told that every inhabitant of Bruneis gets such a painting for hanging, only the frame has to be chosen by himself.
We say goodbye to the Kampong Ayer and continue our journey towards the southwest.
The destination of our trip is the rainforest that surrounds the capital. There are endangered proboscis monkeys, which you can see with a little luck. But first we meet other river dwellers, of whom we have already been warned.
We continue our journey and soon reach areas that seem very remote, although we are barely 10 minutes away from the capital by boat. Soon we can see the first macaques.
Shortly afterwards we are also successful with our actual goal and can see a few proboscis monkeys from a distance – and above all hear!
On the way we see even more monkeys – even in unfamiliar territory.
On the way back we can enjoy the landscape of the rainforest!
After a short drive the capital emerged from the forest again:
Of course, one landmark is the most eye-catching feature:
Back at the hostel, the whole group sets out to eat together. The owner of the hostel takes us to a barbecue shop offering very good food and All You Can Eat. This is of course just the right thing after a long day. The special thing about barbecue in Brunei is that there is a pot with soup in the middle of the grill plate.
Full of food we take an evening walk to the biggest mosque of the country, which is close to the hostel.
The mosque in golden colour rises above the palm trees and against the dark night sky.
But we want to see the center again at night and take a Dart into the „city center“. The taxi driver asks if we like football and tells us that many people in Brunei like the BVB from Dortmund. „Maybe it’s the colour of the jersey“ he philosophises at the end.
We decide to take the taxi boat back. We share the boat with a couple from Kampong Ayer and the taxi boat driver drives in the dark only with a small flashlight armed but a breakneck speed skillfully through the stilts of the water village. When we dropped them off and find ourselves back on more relaxed paths, he even starts singing English love songs.
In order to get to know the local cuisine best, we decided to go to the night market. This is simple, but very tasty and above all very cheap. You can try the local cuisine crosswise.
On the day of departure we drive again by Dart and with two Dutch (Jorick and Laura) whom we got to know in the hostel, to the ferry port. Our driver is a very emancipated woman who is the only motocross driver in Bruneis. She tells us a lot about the mood in the country, the role of the woman and complains that almost all business is in Chinese hands.
A prayer video is played on the ferry before departure. Interestingly, there is an English translation and the prayer asks for a safe crossing without complications. The journey goes past the bottom of the wealth of the small kingdom.
Our trip leads back to Malaysia and after 3 interesting days we say goodbye to Brunei.
Just Geography Things 