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Don't really have any input, but it blows my mind that the other thread is 5 years old. I came across that thread in 2006 and a saw a picture someone posted an amazing beach which they said was right outside their 4$ bungalow. I had never even considered going to Thailand and didn't really even know it was a common destination. A few weeks later I found myself landing in Bangkok with little more than a backpack and the names of a few places scratched on a piece of paper. I had the time of my life even though the only planning I did was maybe skimming that thread once or twice. Here's a shot from outside a bungalow I stayed in:  Click here for the full 1200x900 image.
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Jan 29, 2010 20:42
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Actually, I'll write a bit about Brunei as I spent 2 days there on my way back Brunei Recommended minimum budget per day I can't really put a number on it. It's definitely not as cheap as Thailand or anything. I think I took out about 100BND for my 2 day stay and had some left over. Recommended food I am not sure if there are any certain Brunein food. Since it is completely surrounded by Malaysia the food is pretty much Malay and Indonesian. There is also some Chinese and Indian influence as there is a fairly significant number of immigrants from those countries. Useful phrases - Drinking and smoking Brunei is a Sharia country. Alcohol is banned outright from being sold. Foreigners can bring in a small amount. I actually brought in way more than the limit (had like 4 bottles of Sangsom) but they didn't really care, I just told them I was confused by the metric system because I'm American... You are allowed to drink, just not in public. If you're in Brunei and need a drink, what most expats/tourists do is drive out to the border of Malaysia. I guess right over the border there is usually a shanty selling beer and sometimes a basic bar. I heard from a few Brits I ran into they can turn into quite a party some nights. Just about everyone smokes tobacco however, and pretty heavily. Any kind of drugs are probably unheard of there. Beware of Not following etiquette while visit any Muslim site like a Mosque. Don't poke around the place on your own and always ask if it's ok to do anything. You can't take pictures inside Mosques and you also can't walk on the floor directly. They will put down carpets so you can walk around however, but you can't step off. I also had to wear a burka type thing to go inside the Mosques. Not a full one that covered my face, but it was a big black gown with a high collar that comes up your neck. Yes, I am a man. Trip report and pics Brunei is a strange place. I was coming from Thailand so I was expecting the culture to be much different from what I was used to as an American, however this just isn't the case. Brunei has a lot of money and is fairly small so this enables the government to keep the standard of living very high. Everyone has a job and a decent pension from the government, the streets are well maintained and there are even malls exactly like you would see in any western country. I saw no homeless, no crime, no begging and no touting at all. My first impression was that most Brunei people, while very nice, are quite content to sit inside in their air conditioning and watch TV or surf the internet. Seriously, walking in "downtown" of the capital Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) you might not even run in to any one on the street sometimes. Kind of a creepy "where the hell is everyone?" vibe going on. As I was there for only 2 full days I was limited to staying in BSB. In my time I visited the 2 main mosques, a water village, and some night markets. To be honest, you can probably do this all in a day. The buses (well, more like vans) are simple and cheap to use. However, just about every time I tried to get a bus, some British or Australian came by and picked me up in their car. It seemed like most westerners there, who were all pretty much British or Aussies were pretty bored with the place and really happy to show you around just for the chance to talk to someone new. Most were on their gap year to teach english or something and it seemed like they didn't really know what they were getting themselves into by going to Brunei. I think they thought they were signing up for an adventure like it would be in Vietnam or Malaysia and then they got to BSB and realized it's a sleepy little town where you can't even drink. Anyway, the mosques are pretty cool if you are in to that. I had never actually been inside one or really even seen a traditional mosque. Very well made, lots of marble and gold. Just be sure to follow the rules listed above. They also blast the AC inside these things, so it's pretty refreshing when you go in. Really wish I had a picture of myself in that gown type thing they made it me wear. This is the one downtown:  Click here for the full 1024x768 image.  Click here for the full 1024x775 image. This is the largest, built by the Sultan, it's just outside the city:  Click here for the full 1024x768 image. The water village, which is just behind the first mosque above, is how Brunei was settled traditionally. Most of the land is marshy and prone to floods from near by rivers so they built houses on stilts. Kind of a contrast compared to the city which is modern and well maintained. I ate some really good seafood in a small place there, and was also the only tourist I saw. A few people bought me cokes and had a good laugh about it. I think you can take a river tour from here to travel around the main palace of the sultan but I didn't.  Click here for the full 1024x768 image. That gold dome is the first mosque above. Notice all the satellite dishes? Everyone has a TV and dvd player, even in those shanty type houses. At night, I went to a market outside the mall, I believe Gadong was the area. Quite small and not a bustling hive of activity like I saw in Thailand. Lots of good cheap food though. Seemed like each family ran a table, and they each had a specialty. Probably the one place where a number of people didn't speak any english, mainly just because they were older. Also, it definitely does not go all night. Around 9 or 10 most people packed up their stuff into an SUV and drove off. That's pretty much it. Overall, it's not a spot I would recommend unless you happen to be flying through. I was on Royal Brunei airlines, which is amazing btw, which is why I went. I guess there are some really nice nature parks and stuff you can tour, but that's certainly not unique to Brunei, so you'd probably be better off doing that in Malaysia for cheaper. One weird thing I noticed on the way out was in the airport bookstore. They had a number of openly antisemitic books on display, about Zionist conspiracies and such, something I've never seen before. hbf fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Jan 29, 2010 |
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Jan 29, 2010 22:58
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