Our journey to the Sultanate of Brunei began with a four-hour boat ride from Kota Kinabalu, south along the coast to the island of Labuan. Labuan is a duty-free port with lots of shops selling cheap liquor, chocolate and perfume, so I bought a bottle of wine. We hadn’t had any wine since leaving Australia which was a bit ridiculous. After waiting a couple of hours we got on another ferry for the 45 minute ride to Brunei. Off shore we could see some of the oil platforms that serve to extract the country’s vast reserves. It is this oil that makes Brunei one of the riches countries in the world.
On arrival, we had to go through customs whose sole intent seemed to determine if we had any alcohol. Brunei takes its Islamic obligations quite seriously. No alcohol for sale anywhere! As a visitor I was allowed to import my precious bottle of wine but first I had to sign a declaration saying that I am a non-Muslim and would drink it in private. A final short bus ride took us into the main city – Bandar Seri Begawan.
That night we walked a short way toward the river to look for a place to eat. The town was unbelievably quiet. Big wide streets, sparkling black SUVs, and over-sized buildings all exhibiting the country’s wealth. Citizens of Brunei pay no tax, have free schooling including university, free medical and get cheap trips to Mecca. Their purchase of cars and housing is heavily subsidized and gas is only 40 cents a litre. All this under the benevolent rule of the Sultan whose lineage and position date back over 600 years. No democracy here – just a monarchical autocracy. We got our first glimpse of the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, built by and named after the 28th Sultan in 1958, the father of the present Sultan. It’s a huge building – one of Asia’s largest mosques – with brilliant white minarets and a golden dome that glowed under the night lights.
First thing the next morning we headed out on a tour to Ulu Temerong National Park. We began with a 45 minute speedboat ride from Bandar out to the coast and then back inland to the town of Bangar, weaving upstream through mangrove channels. The area that includes the park has never been settled or logged. There are no roads; access is by traditional (motorized) longboat up river to the park headquarters. It was a fun ride ploughing through rapids, surrounded by huge trees and lush jungle. We chose to go to the park because it is the last remaining area of primary lowland rainforest in Borneo. All the rest has been logged. The species diversity is mind-boggling. One scientist identified 400 species of beetle on a single tree. There are more tree species in a single hectare of this rainforest than in all of North America. Walking through the forest was prehistoric with its bigger, dense vegetation.
The big attraction of the park is the 50 metre tall canopy walk, suspended in sections from aluminum towers. To get up there you have to climb up a seemingly endless set of (enclosed) ladders. I was able to outwit my terror of heights by not looking down- a trick I learned climbing Kilimanjaro. The view from the top out over the tree tops to the surrounding hills was well worth the climb. Barney was rewarded by a sighting of a rhinoceros hornbill which I missed by being too busy not looking down. We followed up the very hot and muggy climb with a soak in a forest pool complete with waterfall and tiny fish nibbling at our toes.
Magellan’s voyage took his ship into Brunei in 1521. Across the river from the present Bangar Seri Begawan they found the settlement of Kampong Ayer which at the time was home to over 1000,000 people. The Chinese had been trading here since the 9th century. The community still exists although its population is currently about 30,000. It is a town perched on stilts above the river, stretching 3 km along the banks. We hired a boatman to give us a tour. It is entirely self-sufficient with mosques, schools, shops, clinics, fire stations, police and floating gas stations. The houses are connected to a sewer and water system. Our boat driver repeatedly commented that it was a very good place to live. “No crocodiles, no snakes, no mosquitoes”, followed by a slightly demonic laugh. People were fishing and setting crab and prawn traps off their front porches. Small vegetable gardens thrived in flower boxes.
Our last night we took a taxi to the ‘suburb’ of Gadong where we heard there was a good night market. The place was hopping with a big shopping mall, hotels and shops. This was obviously where the local people spend their evenings – not in the downtown area by the river. The night market was primarily a food market. The air was filled with charcoal smoke and delicious smells. We bought some roasted corn, wandered around and finally settled on a main course. I had stir-fried chicken with noodles in black pepper sauce. It’s not possible to describe how good it was.
Pictures from Brunei...
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| Brunei |
Video - upriver longboat ride
Video - My dinner
Video - canopy walk
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