A quick stop in Brunei
I'm not quite sure what I expected from Brunei, having heard that it is one of the richest countries in the world due to their oil I kind of imagined it to be a bit like Dubai and UAE. But not at all, there is nothing extravagant or over the top except for maybe everything the Sultan touches. The people there are not the richest people in the world, once again the Sultan is, but not the average person. I had 3.5 days booked there, unfortunately I got the flu which had me in bed for two of those days but I still managed to see and do most of the things I wanted, except for the Ulu Temburong National Park.
Anyhow, my first day I started off with three dives. It wasn't the best diving experience I've had to be completed honest and I wasn't particularly fond of the little speed boat that took us to the dive sites - hello seasickness! But two of the dives were at an old rig site which was pretty cool. The have a total of 50 dive sites, a lot of them are wrecks. I was meant to explore more of them but had to cancel my second day of diving due to the flu.
This morning before heading to the airport the hotel/surf shop organised for my airport transfer to take me around the capital Bandar Seri Bagawan to see the main sights. It took us 1.5h to drive around and stop so I could take sone photos. It's not a very big place and is quick to explore. Our first stop was at the wet market, a local daily market on the river front.
Just around the corner from the market we stopped again to have a view over Kampung Ayer. It is an entire village built on pillars over the river and is part of old Brunei as it was founded over 1000 years ago.
One of the places I looked forward to seeing was the mosque on the water or Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque as the official name is. Personally I thought that the outside was more stunning then the inside despite it the floors and walls being made of the finest Italian marble with stained glass windows and chandeliers handcrafted and flown in from England. I suppose once again that I compared it to, I might remember wrong, the second largest mosque in the world back in Abu Dhabi.
We then headed to the Royal Regalia Museum. Now I am not a museum type of girl at the best of times so for me this was nothing much to write home about. Basically the entire museum consists of two "exhibitions". First there is the life story or time line of the Sultan and then the second part of the museum is a bunch of presents that the Sultan has received over the years, mostly paintings. I found it a bit weird to have an entire museum dedicated to just one man. But if anyone is planning on going I would suggest getting a guide that can explain a bit more about the history and the meaning of certain things because there was very limited information available and barely any at all in English.
Finally we stopped at the newest and also the largest mosque in the country; Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. Unfortunately I was not able to go inside as we arrived just as prayer time was about to start. But even from the outside it looked spectacular.
I would say that three days in Brunei is more than enough time. It's a lovely little relaxed and friendly country where there is very little tourism compared to the rest of Asia. Would I go back? Probably not. Am I glad that I went? Yes!
Anyhow, my first day I started off with three dives. It wasn't the best diving experience I've had to be completed honest and I wasn't particularly fond of the little speed boat that took us to the dive sites - hello seasickness! But two of the dives were at an old rig site which was pretty cool. The have a total of 50 dive sites, a lot of them are wrecks. I was meant to explore more of them but had to cancel my second day of diving due to the flu.
This morning before heading to the airport the hotel/surf shop organised for my airport transfer to take me around the capital Bandar Seri Bagawan to see the main sights. It took us 1.5h to drive around and stop so I could take sone photos. It's not a very big place and is quick to explore. Our first stop was at the wet market, a local daily market on the river front.
Just around the corner from the market we stopped again to have a view over Kampung Ayer. It is an entire village built on pillars over the river and is part of old Brunei as it was founded over 1000 years ago.
One of the places I looked forward to seeing was the mosque on the water or Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque as the official name is. Personally I thought that the outside was more stunning then the inside despite it the floors and walls being made of the finest Italian marble with stained glass windows and chandeliers handcrafted and flown in from England. I suppose once again that I compared it to, I might remember wrong, the second largest mosque in the world back in Abu Dhabi.
We then headed to the Royal Regalia Museum. Now I am not a museum type of girl at the best of times so for me this was nothing much to write home about. Basically the entire museum consists of two "exhibitions". First there is the life story or time line of the Sultan and then the second part of the museum is a bunch of presents that the Sultan has received over the years, mostly paintings. I found it a bit weird to have an entire museum dedicated to just one man. But if anyone is planning on going I would suggest getting a guide that can explain a bit more about the history and the meaning of certain things because there was very limited information available and barely any at all in English.
Finally we stopped at the newest and also the largest mosque in the country; Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque. Unfortunately I was not able to go inside as we arrived just as prayer time was about to start. But even from the outside it looked spectacular.
I would say that three days in Brunei is more than enough time. It's a lovely little relaxed and friendly country where there is very little tourism compared to the rest of Asia. Would I go back? Probably not. Am I glad that I went? Yes!
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