Brunei may be synonymous with lavish living but it's an affordable place full of natural and man-made wonders, writes BEN LEWILL
NOT ALL Southeast Asian countries are created equal. Take Brunei. While the likes of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia all occupy great swathes of map space and generate brick-thick guidebooks, the mega-rich Islamic state of Brunei can leave you poring over the atlas in search of its whereabouts.
Its location, however – two tiny and adjacent ticks of land on the northwest coast of Borneo (but you knew that) – makes it something of a head-scratcher. Here’s an affordable intercontinental air hub, synonymous with lavish living and surrounded by adventure-rich rainforest, yet few long haul travellers consider it as a stopover en route Down Under. Why?
In search of answers, I found myself in the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, a place beloved by pub quiz compilers but wilfully sidestepped by the average globetrotter. The nation, which once ruled over all of Borneo, depends these days on oil wealth, and on the drive from the airport this affluence was immediately apparent – the streetside clamour usually associated with the region was nonexistent. No marauding tuk-tuks, no music-thudding food stalls, just orderly traffic and well-swept buildings standing prim in tropical sunshine. Add to this the taxi driver’s reassertion that nowhere in the country was permitted to sell alcohol, and suddenly I wasn’t expecting much of a footloose time.
First impressions aren’t always to be trusted. “I wouldn’t live anywhere else,” said my guide, Tom, as he showed me round the unfeasibly opulent complex of the Jame’Asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque, built to honour the current and 29th sultan (he of the incalculable classic car collection) and consequently adorned with 29 gold domes and 29 gleaming chandeliers – a sight worthy of far greater numbers than the few groups of tourists which were rattling around. “People are very happy living here. I promise you you’ll be surprised at what you find.”
He had a point. Within an hour, we’d strolled to the banks of the broad Sungai Brunei river, hailed a water-taxi and made the minute-long crossing to Kampong Ayer, where more than a third of the capital’s 80,000 inhabitants still live in stilted huts above the river.
Linked by a vast mazy web of gangplanks and bridges, it was a remarkable every-which-way warren of washing lines, potted plants and offers of tea. Everywhere were chattering neighbours and hallo-ing toddlers. The water village had its own schools, mosques, restaurants, freshwater pipes and hospitals. “The sultan recently tried to relocate everyone onto land,” said Tom. “They wouldn’t budge. Kampong Ayer is the original city – people have lived here for more than 700 years.”
My time in the city held further treats: a gentle putter upstream to watch proboscis monkeys flinging themselves around mangrove trees, a surprisingly affordable high tea in the marbled mega-lobby of the Empire Hotel, a sunset tour (by Harley Davidson, naturally) to see the Royal Palace and a “nightlife” trip to Gadong, where thick crowds of shoppers trawled the malls and laughter rang out of cafes.
I was initiated, too, into Bruneian food, which combines the best bits of Arab, Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisines to resistance-is-futile effect. (Incidentally, drinkers needn’t panic overly – two bottles of wine or spirits can be legally brought into Brunei per person.)
The down-and-dirty complement to all this came with an overnight trip into the depths of the rainforest. No other Southeast Asian hub can whisk you to pristine jungle within a couple of hours of departing the airport. Ten minutes after leaving the city jetty we’d already spotted three sun-basking crocodiles, and by lunchtime we were ensconced deep in the humid shagginess of the 550km² Ulu Temburong National Park. There was just one resort lodge, the isolated but comfortable Ulu Ulu, perched on the riverside and surrounded by creepers, ferns and sky-high hills. I spent the afternoon hiking to a waterfall, riding river rapids and, finally, flopped in a hammock.
Better was to come. Before daybreak the next morning, I found myself trekking up a steep slope to a deafening cicada soundtrack. It was already warm. After 20 minutes and a final stepladder climb, I reached the resort’s canopy walkway. Laid around me was a horizon full of primary Borneo rainforest, glowing majestically in the first sun. I enjoyed this tingling, blockbuster view with just one other person, which pretty much summed up the appeal of Brunei.
If the essence of a stopover is to give a brief but heady taste of somewhere different or unusual to top or tail a longer holiday, it was mission accomplished. A party destination? Hardly. Somewhere rich in nature, hospitality and history? Absolutely.
“So were you surprised?” asked Tom, when we said goodbye. And in truth, I had been. The pint-sized sultanate is never going to be Bangkok, Hong Kong or Singapore. But really, that’s the point.
Get there
Royal Brunei Airlines flies from London to Perth, Brisbane and Auckland, among other places, and offers deals for those breaking the journey in Brunei. See bruneiair.com.