The Long Way Round Asia 20432 views
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Step 53/60: Brunei - Bandar Seri Beg...

Bandar Seri Begawan photo by Jantine De jong

About Bandar Seri Begawan

It's a very famous, wealthy, little country, because of its oil and a very pretentious sultan. And therefore I thought I should visit it and see its wealth. Well, I saw it all in less then 3 hours (of which I wasted 1 hour at the Palace, waiting for the bus). There is just absolutely nothing to see or do in this place! When we arrived we went to our very overpriced, crappy hostel (they gave us a room with a 'gate' on the outside...they could've locked us up if they wanted to...), dumped our stuff and went out exploring. There was a small market across the road, but it just had spices and fruit. Then we went to see the Palace (which has 1,788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, 5 swimming pools, aircon stables for his ponies and 165 Rolls Royces, airplanes and helicopters). You think he'd be flaunting it...but nope. After getting back to town we visited the mosque and a mall and that was it. There was a watervillage, but it didn't look promising, so we didn't want to waste money. Brunei is expensive!
Car icon
How I got here ?

Price: 15 €

Traveling time: 2 hours

An SUV, booked at the hostel in Miri, brought us across the border to our hostel in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Tips & Tricks

  • Brunei is boring & expensive. If you can, don't stay here. Just stop briefly.

Things to see

Istana Nurul Iman 1 /10
2.5 €
placeholder hotspot

User's opinion
Worst attraction ever! Everybody has heard of this extremely expensive ($400 million) Palace of the Sultan of Brunei. So I took a bus to see it. You get dropped off at the gate and see....Nothing! Just a guard, drive and some bushes. And then it's an hour wait for the bus back to town. What a bummer! Price was the bus to and from the city.
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque 6 /10
- €
Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque photo by Jantine De jong

User's opinion
It looks quite serene on the outside with its white, sleek exterior. On the inside it's not very exciting. Women have to wear a sort of burka to be able to get in. If you walk around the mosque, the pond with the 'boat' looks really nice though.

Practical

K.h.soon resthouse 4/10
Price 15 $
Address

140 Jalan Pemancha, Kiau Lian Building.
Bandar Seri Begawan

User's opinion:

Way too expensive! Big, but bare and dirty rooms. Caught wifi from another hotel. Close to 'center' and bus station, which is nice. Don't stay here unless you have to.