Last year I was coming to the end of my working visa in Indonesia, and needed to do a visa run abroad. Not sure where I should go, I searched for the cheapest flights available from Bali Denpasar Airport. The more obvious choices were at the top- Singapore, Kuala Lumpur… but the third or fourth option jumped out at me: Brunei, a country I had only even vaguely heard of and had never remotely considered travelling to. I was instantly intrigued.

*Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei*

Brunei is a tiny country in Borneo, sharing the island with two other countries: Indonesia and Malaysia. Immediately upon landing I was struck by how clean the airport was. This continued as I took a Dart (Brunei’s version of Uber or Gojek) through the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan to my guesthouse. The city reminded me of Singapore- a modern, highly developed, clean and orderly place but still with a tropical feeling, almost like a Southeast Asian Wakanda. Thanks to rich oil reserves, Brunei’s residents enjoy a high quality of life, with the second highest Human Development Index in Southeast Asia (after Singapore). The Sultan of Brunei is one of the world’s wealthiest men, and this prosperity is passed to the population in the form of free healthcare and education, and efficient and cheap public services, without citizens of Brunei paying any taxes whatsoever!

With only a few days to eplore, I wasted no time. After dropping off my stuff at the guesthouse, I went to a nearby park I had found on Google Maps for a walk. Upon arriving, I realised that the park was actually a sizeable hill and I was in for a proper hike in one of the most humid countries I had ever travelled to. 400 steps later I was at the top, dripping in sweat, looking down on the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha Bridge (named after the Sultan’s wife), a beautiful suspension bridge crossing the Brunei river. After scrambling down the other side of the hill, I soon found an absolute hidden gem, a small, picturesque restaurant on stilts jutting into the river called Soto Pabo. The food here was absolutely incredible- I’m still vividly dreaming of the crispy butter chicken that I ordered. Many of Bandar Seri Begawan’s waterfront buildings are built on stilts, in fact the largest stilt village in the world, Kampung Ayer (known as “the Venice of the East”, is within the city, just over the river from where I was sitting. I was told all of this by the extremely friendly and welcoming locals working in Soto Pabo; they told me they don’t get many tourists in Brunei and seemed very happy to have a long chat with me about their home.

The ancient rainforests of Borneo, home to many endemic species, have always fascinated me, so of course my next activity (and the only thing that I booked before coming to Brunei) was a 3-hour safari along the river. Not quite sure what to expect, my first surprise came when my guide picked me up and informed me that there would be one other group of guests on the cruise: the Japanese Ambassador to Brunei and her family! With my exulted fellow guests on board we set off along the river, and the following three hours proceded to absolutely blow my mind. Within 5 minutes, and still well within the city, we had seen several huge saltwater crocodiles, some coming within a metre of our boat! As the cruise went on the wildlife kept coming- eagles, proboscis monkeys, kingfishers, langurs, all kinds of herons, monitor lizards, countless more crocodiles and so much more. In just three hours I saw almost as much wildlife as I would go on to see over four days of river cruises in Sabah (the Malaysian part of Borneo) the following week. A spectacular sunset gave way to night, and our way back to the city was lit by millions of fireflies dancing along the dense mangroves at the banks of the river. It was absolutely magical.

*One of Brunei’s many saltwater puppies doin’ a lurk*

The following day I set out to explore the sights of Bandar. Although Dart cars are very affordable and readily available, I was keen to walk as much of the city as possible to get a feel for it (I’m always doing this when I travel, I’m pretty much the embodiment that meme of “when your friend says ‘we can walk it’s not too far’”). I was keen to visit and photograph a few of Bandar’s famous mosques, so I walked from one to the other under the scorching hot sun, taking in the city. My first stop was the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, a stunning white building next to an artificial lake with beautiful gold-roofed minarets. I waited around for the mosque to open for foreign visitors (as a muslim country, visitors should dress reasonably conservatively when in Brunei anyway, but it’s well worth carrying around some long trousers or a head covering for women so that you can see the inside of the mosques). As I waited, I happened to notice a massive water monitor staring up at me from a drain I had just happened to stop next to to drink some water. Even the city centre was full of wildlife!

After a quick visit to the serene and peaceful interior of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, I had a quick bite to eat at another local restaurant and set off for another mosque a few km outside the other side of the city. The long walk there took me all the way past governmental buildings, over bridges (where I saw yet more crocodiles), past schools and parks, and as I walked there I was struck again by how calm, clean and peaceful the city was, and how friendly and happy to see me everyone that I met on the way was. When I finally made it to the Jame’ Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque it was late afternoon, and my mind was once again blown by the amazing building in front of me. Huge minaret towers and 29 golden domes rose up from a grand, palatial white mosque surrounded by palm trees and shrubbery, giving a real impression of a magnificent temple in a jungle- definitely my favourite mosque that I have ever visited. Most amazingly, the grounds were completely empty, and as I wondered around the pristine gardens I only encountered one or two other people. I ended up staying in the gardens for hours, getting some lovely photos as the sun set, and once or twice I was so taken aback by the complete lack of other people there that I wondered if I wasn’t supposed to be there (each time I went and checked and the gates were still wide open). It was an astoundingly peaceful experience to just hang around in the beautiful gardens by myself taking pictures.

I then headed further out of town to a local night market, where I’d been told I could try all sorts of food. The market did not disappoint, with hundreds of stalls selling local delicacies from barbequed meats to pandan balls (sweet balls made of glutinous rice filled with coconut and palm sugar and covered in dessicated coconut) to fresh fruit smoothies (no alcohol- Brunei is a dry country). I tried as much as I could (including a mysterious kebab that I then learned from the vendor was a stick of chicken anuses- I’m not going to lie, this was not my favourite culinary experience). After eating my fill (carefully avoiding any more unusual animal body parts) I took a Dart across the city back to my guesthouse and immediately fell asleep.

The next day I had planned to visit Kampung Ayer, the huge stilt village known as “the Venice of the East”. I stopped by Soto Pabo for some advice on how to get there, and one of the guys (Abo) insisted on giving me a free tour of the village on his boat! We drove around the stilts for around an hour, taking in several more unique mosques, an overwater school and fire station, as well as going for a quick view of the Sultan’s giant, golden palace on a nearby hill. I was told that over the past few decades, as Brunei has modernised, many of Kampung Ayer’s residents have moved into the main city, leaving many of the buildings in the stilt village abandoned and empty. The atmosphere was unique and a little eerie, with distinct undertones of piratey vibes. My guide Abo refused to take any payment for the tour, again showing the kindness and generosity of the people in Brunei and how proud they are to show their country to foreigners.

*Assorted mystery meats at Gadong Night Market*

Afterwards I visited the Royal Regalia Museum, a collection of all of the various gifts that the Sultan has received from ambassadors over the course of many years of diplomatic visits. It was interesting to see the range of gifts that different countries around the world had chosen to present to the Sultan, and I liked that handcarved items given by communities and tribes throughout Brunei were displayed in pride of place right alongside ornate sculptures and trophies given by many of the world’s wealthiest countries. The museum also contained exhibitions on the Sultan’s coronation and jubilee, including golden chariots, ceremonial weapons and armour, crowns and thrones. After leaving the museum, I just had time to stop for one more final meal at Soto Pabo (cry), before it was time for me to head to the airport to catch my flight.

Overall I had a thoroughly amazing time in Brunei. From the jawdropping nature right outside (and inside) its capital city, to the majesty and serenity of its beautiful mosques, the (mostly) mouthwatering food, the quiet, laid-back nature of Bandar Seri Begawan and most of all the incredibly welcoming people everywhere. It’s a place with a completely unique and calm albeit sometimes bizarre energy (I’m still not quite over the sticks of chicken anuses or the casual way in which the locals talk about how many people get eaten by crocodiles in Brunei). I’d encourage anyone who loves travelling to the less visited corners of the world to go and experience it for themselves, and I’d go back in a heartbeat.

A quick note: Before travelling to Brunei, I took the time to educate myself on the country. Brunei attracts its fair share of controversy, with strict Sharia penal law which theoretically imposes strong punishments (as extreme as death by stoning) on communities such as homosexuals. Having tentatively spoken to a few locals about the topic, it seems that many of them do not believe that such extreme punishments would actually ever be enforced, and said that they feel that the culture in Brunei is actually quickly becoming more progressive. Whilst I think that this article would not be a balanced account without me mentioning all this, the perspective I got from my own experience in Brunei was of a stunningly beautiful country with some of the friendliest, kindest, most outgoing locals I have encountered anywhere in the world.

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