A Date With a Sultanate

[OZDUCK]

Back on the water.

Bandar boasts the worlds largest Kampong Ayer - water village. It is several centuries old and houses up to 30,0000 people. And I am sure that you are not surprised that we forced a large crocodile to dive as we going through the area.

Some of the older houses -- with a public jetty.



A newer house



The village has all the necessities of modern life.

A linesman for the county



Fire Station



One of the 10 primary schools. They were closed as all the kids had been ferried off to practise for the National Day festivities.



Agricultural production



Down the backstreets



On the pathways. This is obviously an area with newer houses.



An eclectically decorated house. The owner should be a member of this forum.



Schoolgirls waiting to be ferried across to the city for their practice session. They are carrying signs etc.

 

[OZDUCK]

And just to prove that we did go up to meet with my wives relatives - a group photo. She has three male first cousins in the photo. Two are Catholics and one is Muslim. The woman in the front row, next to the older lady holding her great grandchild is another first cousin from Liverpool who had flown out at the same time.

They were really excited to see us and couldn't do enough for us. They had only vaguely knew of our existence until a few years ago. All the locals are at least bilingual and often would switch from English to Malay and back again in a few sentences.

 

[amaroo]

Great photo. Family get togethers like this are special!

 

[OZDUCK]

Our host took us for a day trip out of the city.

This gives an idea of where we drove from Bandar to Kuala Belait - which is the second biggest "city" in Brunei. We were on a 4 lane motorway for most of the trip. You can see how close to Miri we were. Miri is like Los Vegas to the Bruneians, they spend weekends there drinking, gambling etc.



The "Teapot Roundabout" in Kuala Belait



The main street - in its entirety.



The Government of Brunei pays the British Government to station a Battalion of Gurkhas, plus some other troops, near the oil refinery.



For those who have watched B & W British films of WW 2 or listened to The Goon Show, this would be a familiar name. This is the first one I have ever seen. The locals could shop in there but paid 25% more than the Garrison soldiers and dependents. There was also a liquor store attached but it was not open to locals.





There was a large supermarket just outside town. It sold lots of Australian and British products to cater for all the expats working at the refinery. However, you still know you are in Brunei. This was at the rear of the shop and not accessible from inside. So if you want your pork chops this where you go.



There are still a few 'nodding donkey' oil wells around.



My wife's cousin used to work for Shell - which developed the oil industry in Borneo. They are still the only company allowed to operate petrol stations in Brunei - current price is about 60 cents/litre for 98 petrol. He built this house about 12 years ago to be near the refinery. He has now retired and moved up to Bandar to be near his grandchildren. The trouble is he can't sell the house as it is only on a 30 year ground lease from the 'Crown" and it could be resumed without compensation. He is hoping to rent it out. Non-citizens have no legal rights to sell houses etc.

Even though he was born in Brunei he is not a citizen as he wasn't born a Malay Muslim. To become a citizen he has to pass a Malay Language written test. While he speaks perfectly good Malay he has trouble with the written version. When he travels overseas he has to travel on a British Subject Passport.



Closer to Bandar is 'The Empire Hotel & Country Club' a very posh resort. It was originally built as a retreat for the ultra-wealthy by the spendthrift Prince Jefri. After his exile it was turned into a public resort. At least one member here has stayed at this place. It looked to be under-occupied when we there.

Part of the only slightly over the top lobby.



Again, just a part of the swimming pool - lake? There were kayaks moored in the pool to paddle around.

 

[OZDUCK]

The Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in the centre of town.



The structure in the water is a replica of the
16th-century Sultan Bolkiah Mahligai Barge



My wife after visiting the mosque. After her dressing up we went to take the "tourist route" which consisted of entering the door , turning right and walking 6 steps then turning around and coming out. It took more time for the robing etc than for the tour. However, it was very lovely inside.


A minaret of the Jame' Asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque at sunset.



More of this mosque at night.

 

[OZDUCK]

Some last photos of Bandar.

The Royal Regalia Museum has some of the precious objects used for the coronation of the Sultan and gifts from other countries and leaders etc. You are not allowed to take photos in most of the museum but can do so in the foyer.

The "chariot' in which the Sultan is pulled during the coronation festivities.





Some of the shields carried during the ceremony



The waterfront.




We were directed to this pretty little park just outside of town by a very friendly attendant at the small history museum. It has lots of walking trails etc. This was the only time we wished for rain as it would have been nicer with more running water.






People here say that W.A. has become a 'nanny state' - we have nothing on Brunei



Some very small birds - Chestnut Munia - I Think. About the size of a small budgie.

 

[OZDUCK]

After a final family dinner we prepared to leave Brunei.

We booked the hotel shuttle for 07:00. We knew we would only get a small breakfast as most of the hot food was still coming out at that time. However, when we walked into the dining room they presented us with food to takeaway in case we starved in the three hours before we were fed on the plane. As I have said before it was a really friendly hotel.

They gave us sandwiches, garnished chips and two types of noodles. There were serviettes and plastic cutlery in the bag. We could not say no and had to take it with us. We hoped to be able to pass the food onto one of the relatives who wanted to meet us at the Airport. Unfortunately, she was delayed in traffic and missed us. We ate the sandwiches and tried a nibble of the other stuff and then had to throw the rest away.



Brunei Airport



The airport itself is very modern with plenty of comfortable seating, a small food hall and a few shops.



Some visitors



Something I had never seen before. An lyushin Il-96-300 of Russiya (Russian)Airlines



I only found this out by checking the registration number.



It is not exactly an over busy airport. This was the departures board.





The city just after takeoff






Only a few more photos to come.

 

[OZDUCK]

By By Brunei

A very pleasant J check-in area.



I have circled our hotel.



The shaky black line is the approximate route of our trip to Temburong - sliding through all the little mangrove creeks and crossing into and out of Malaysia. You can also see the new bridge that will connect the two halves of Brunei at the top left of the picture.



The Malaysian city of Miri. We spent a couple of nights there about 12 years ago. Curtin University from Perth has a large campus there.



We once again paid for an upgrade to J. For about twice the Y fare it was reasonable. I would not pay the 'normal' J fare at about 4 1/2 times the Y fare. You don't get lounge access but that is not a real problem in Changi and Brunei Airport was also pretty comfortable. Because of Roayal Brunei's odd row numbering we were row 6 but in reality that equated to 1A & 1B.

Breakfast on the flight. Hot breads etc were also served.

 

[OZDUCK]

Last 24 hours.

Because we were on 2 separate tickets I decided on another night in Singapore. Even better I had a "free" night due to me at Holiday Inn Express. So we once again stopped in Katong. The rooms are tiny but perfectly formed and a good breakfast is served plus you get a complimentary handi-phone to use for your stay. It is an ideal spot for a very short stopover and the taxi fare from the airport is only about $14.



The view from our 15th Floor window. It certainly gives you an idea of the population density in Singapore



A couple of nice old buildings on Jalan Besar in Little India


Our final meal in Singapore. Chicken Biryani and Mutton Murtabak at Zam Zam in Kampong Glam. The drinks are Ice Coffee C and Bandung. We did cheat and sit in the air conditioned part upstairs.





The 99% empty QF lounge in Changi at about 1530. For a while I was beginning to think that all the complaints about overcrowding were made up. By about 1725 we decided to leave the lounge and go to the gate early as the crowds and noise was making it a very unpleasant place to be. I will never doubt the word of AFF members again.



A shot of the moon reflected on the Indian Ocean just north of Australia.



And that is that. It was a very enjoyable trip. Brunei was more interesting than I thought it would be. However if we didn't have family to visit 5 nights there would have been plenty.

 

[love_the_life]

Thanks for the great TR. It is somewhere I’d like to visit. Your TR has prodded that desire.

 

[drron]

A very interesting TR.We have been to Sarawak and really enjoyed it so Brunei will be considered.

 

[jase05]

Yes it was pretty surprising, but they were very eager for you to wear them. As my wife pointed out all they would do is slow you down so the crocs can catch you more easily. I suppose the problem is a lot of people can't swim because it is most certainly not a good idea to swim in the rivers.

As regards the crocs, I finally got a photo of one. It was the smallest we saw and mostly submerged but at least is a croc. It was swimming about 500 metres from the centre of the city.

View attachment 154960

The last time we visited which was October 2017 there were dozens of kids swimming in the shallow part of the river around Kampong Ayer area.

 

[Janflyer]

Thanks for sharing your TR OzDuck. Very interesting. I think Brunei will need to be added to the bucket list.

 

[OZDUCK]

Jase-05 (The site is playing up for me at present - very slow to open and not letting me quote other replies.)

That is interesting, I never saw anyone swimming around Bandar at all. When we were doing our boat tour of Kampong Ayer the boatman saw a large crocodile dive - admittedly it was in deep water - about 7 metres deep he said.

The local paper did have a front page article about the increase in Crocodile attacks over the last couple of years . And here it is Croc-related incidents on the rise in 2017-18 | Borneo Bulletin Online

 

[OZDUCK]

A very interesting TR.We have been to Sarawak and really enjoyed it so Brunei will be considered.

(Strange, quoting is now working.)

We have been to Sarawak twice and really enjoyed it too - my wife has relatives in Kuching as well. The last time we drove, slowly, part of the Pan-Borneo Highway - Kuching to Miri and return. We stopped in Sarikei, Sibu twice, Niah Caves and Miri. Bandar is appreciably smaller than Kuching and is quieter.

The big advantage that Brunei has is that there are no Palm Oil plantations allowed - as far as I am aware. Plus there seems to be little to no logging. So there is still a lot of virgin rain forest. The strip along the coast from the Sarawak Border near Miri seems to have been the only part that has been cleared to any large extent.

And as I have said the locals we encountered were extremely friendly. Our Royal Brunei flights were very good, not just arriving on time but 15 minutes early for the first flight. We cleared Brunei Airport in under 20 minutes - including buying our visas on arrival.

 

[jase05]

Jase-05 (The site is playing up for me at present - very slow to open and not letting me quote other replies.)

That is interesting, I never saw anyone swimming around Bandar at all. When we were doing our boat tour of Kampong Ayer the boatman saw a large crocodile dive - admittedly it was in deep water - about 7 metres deep he said.

The local paper did have a front page article about the increase in Crocodile attacks over the last couple of years . And here it is Croc-related incidents on the rise in 2017-18 | Borneo Bulletin Online

I admit I was shocked aswell as some of the kids were quite young. They were jumping off the wooden walkways and splashing around. I did query the guide about the how safe was it and he mentioned that crocodile sightings were very rare but this was back in 2017 so things may have changed. One thing the guide did mention is that they only swim around the shallow area as the undercurrent in the river is quite dangerous.

 

[jase05]

Great TR and brings back some fond memories. I must admit Brunei was never high on our list of places to visit but after a few cheap flights with BI including a couple of short transits we finally decided to spend a few days there and was pleasantly surprised by BSB. I hope to one day explore a bit more of the country.
I too have found BI flights to be be pretty good and the airport is a breeze. The BI lounge was being overhauled last visit so wouldn’t mind seeing what the new one is like

 

[carls888]

What a great read, thank you for sharing. Those kueh and cakes made my mouth water....

 

[OZDUCK]

Thnks everyone for your comments. Glad you like the TR. And Brunei was definetly a pleasant surprise.

What a great read, thank you for sharing. Those kueh and cakes made my mouth water....

Thanks the food was nice and just a bit different from what have had previously up that way.

 

[henleybeach]

Great trip report and photos on somewhere different.