According to topschoolsintheusa, the capital of Bandar Seri Begawan is a clean modern city with wide roads and high-rise buildings, numerous mosques and markets.
Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is one of the most beautiful modern mosques in the East. Built in 1958 and named after the twenty-eighth Sultan of Brunei, Omar Ali Safuddin. This gigantic golden-domed mosque sits close to the river in its own artificial lagoon. The interiors of this mosque are luxurious: the walls are decorated with marble and Italian mosaics, and soft carpets are laid on the floors.
Magnificent Sultan’s Palace– Istana Nurul Iman is open to the public only at the end of the month of Ramadan and strikes the imagination with its unusual architectural forms, the luxurious Harem building and the world’s largest private collection of cars, among which there are not just rare, but unique specimens, many of which are created by the world’s best manufacturers specially commissioned by the Sultan and exist in a single copy.
Royal Ceremonial Hall (Lapau, Dewan Majilis) – the coronation of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah took place here on August 1, 1968.
Museum of Royal Regalia– the best museum in Brunei. The museum building was built in 1992, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiyah in power. It contains luxurious items used in the ceremonies of the ruling dynasty. The most important exhibit of the museum is a luxurious royal chariot. The same museum houses the Sultan’s crown, which is taken from storage only on special occasions, such as a coronation. You can get acquainted with the history of the development and formation of the country. In a rather large hall of the museum, located under the dome, there is a ceremonial chariot, on which the Sultan rides through the streets of the capital on national holidays.
Village on the water, a water taxi and a European nose monkey, called this settlement the Venice of the East. To this day, Kampong Aer (Malay. village on the water) seek to visit both tourists and locals. In the village you will see not only residential buildings, but also schools, police stations and even a fire station. On the way back we will visit the house on the water and drink tea. And if you go further along the narrow river channels into the mangroves, then go further along. To get to this amazing place, you need to go on a Water Safari through the mangroves, you can hear and see the birds and animals that live here. A bit of luck, and timid proboscis monkeys that live only in Borneo (Kalimantan Island) will come out to you.
Mosque Jame Asr them. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah– this sacred architectural monument impresses with its magnificence and size (this is the largest mosque in Brunei). The Jame Asr (or “Kiarong Mosque” as it is sometimes called) was built to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the reign of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
Brunei Museum – located 6.5 km from the city center and stands out for its special architecture among other buildings along the Brunei River. Most of the museum exhibits are unique: they are priceless examples of Islamic art.
The Brunei Museum and the Malay Technology Museum present numerous exhibitions. Especially popular are the expositions dedicated to the traditional piled village architecture of the Dayaks.
Temburong
East Districtis the main ecological zone of the country, saturated with moist evergreen forests, rivers and swamps, providing shelter to millions of living beings. The area’s main attractions are the superb Ulu Teburong National Park, the Bukit Patoi Nature Trail, as well as colorful ethnic villages, the habitat of the Iban, Malay and Murut peoples.
Ulu Teburong National Park is located within the huge Batu Apoi rainforest, covering an area of approximately 50,000 hectares. Due to its relatively remote location, rugged topography, and thanks to the efforts of the state, it has been possible to preserve the natural environment here with a wide variety of plants and animals.
Ulu Temburong National Park is of great value to explorers. This place is not intended for mass tourism. A day trip is only a brief immersion in the amazing world, but it is an excellent opportunity for those who are limited by time limits. This is your chance to see virgin rainforests being preserved for the sake of all mankind. The journey will begin on board a water taxi, which departs from the capital Bandar Seri Begawan and moves along the network of rivers and canals that stretch along the Brunei Bay. You will sail past islets covered with mangroves and perhaps see the inhabitants of these thickets enjoying the rays of the rising sun.
The next stage of the tour is the transfer from the capital of Temburong Bangar to Batang Duri (where the road ends). After morning tea, you will be taken up the Temburong River in traditional long boats to the national park. Climbing up the tree-height cable car, you will enjoy the view of the rainforest. Next, you are invited to enjoy lunch on the banks of the river, during which local dishes will be served. You can relax and swim before heading back down the river in a long boat or an inflatable boat to a “jungle house” for tea and refreshment. From here you will begin your journey back to Bangar, where you will board a water taxi that will take you to Bandar Seri Begawan.
Jerudong Park– a huge sports complex, under the personal patronage of the Sultan, with a polo stadium (the favorite sport of the Sultan), a luxurious lawn and golf course and excellent conditions and facilities for croquet. Unfortunately, tourist access to Jerudong Park is only allowed if you have been officially invited by one of the club members. Not far from the playgrounds of Jerudong Park is a beautiful new amusement park with a huge range of entertainment. Next to the park is Jerudong Beach, one of the few modern and well-equipped beaches in the country. The beach is adorned with picturesque cliffs. Not far from it there are malls where you can buy fresh fish and other seafood delicacies.
Hassan Bolkia National Stadium– one of the best sports facilities in Southeast Asia. It was built to Olympic standards and includes an athletics and field complex, a tennis center, squash courts and a swimming pool. Golf enthusiasts will be able to enjoy an international standard course at the Mentiri Club and a large golf complex near the capital’s airport.
The Kampung Ayer area is a complex of 28 traditional pile villages built by local residents for centuries on the Brunei River. About 30 thousand people still live in this area, which is a strange combination of modern technology and ancient customs. A visit to Kampung Ayer will surely be the highlight of your trip to Brunei.
Wasai Kandal– the most beautiful natural area of the equatorial forest with dozens of waterfalls and water rapids. This paradise is located about 12 km southwest of Bandar Seri Begawan. A wide paved road leads to the reservoirs and rapids of Air Terjun Tinggi – the most impressive local attractions. Batang Duri, located on the Temburong River, 40 km southeast of the capital, is the starting point to Malaysian Kuala Lumpur and the famous international scientific and educational natural Belalong Field Research Center, which explores equatorial vegetation, wildlife and is engaged in the protection of a unique, practically untouched by the hand of man, wild forest.
There is also a small zoo Taman Batang Duri where rare species of civets, monkeys, otters and birds are bred.
Peradeyan is the most accessible forest area in Brunei. Its wildlife includes many interesting native species – squirrels, tree shrews, primates and the endemic mouse deer – a tiny deer that is actually not much larger than rodents. The only problem is that most of these animals are “nocturnal”, so watching them requires a lot of endurance and attention. On the territory of the reserve are the picturesque peaks of Bukit Patoy and Bukit Peradeyan, which give the local landscape a special charm, and also serve as a habitat for many other living creatures, it is believed that species not yet described by science live here.
Belait District– the center of the country’s oil and gas industry. Oil was discovered in the Seria region in 1929 and commercial production began in 1932. Since then, this has been the main source of income for this small sultanate. Well, in the S-1 area, where oil was first discovered, even the Billion Barrel Monument is built, marking, as the name suggests, the production of a billionth barrel of oil.
Despite this, the government is trying to preserve here the natural environment that was typical for Belait before the start of industrial oil production. In Belait, tourists will be interested in the Sungai Liang Reserve (about 70 km from Bandar Seri Begawan) – one of the few areas of lowland rainforest in Southeast Asia, but in addition to protecting nature, it also serves as a recreational area where you can just relax in the lap of nature.
Not far (25 km from Sungai Liang) are the Sungai Mau and Luagan Lalak nature reserves, which have the same specialization, but protect the floodplain of the Belait River and the system of swampy lakes. In the Waasai Wong Kadir area, under the canopy of a lush forest that covers the slopes of the rocky hills of the same name, many hiking trails have been laid.
Anduki Jubilee Recreation Park lies about 80 km from Bandar Seri Begawan and protects a picturesque blue water lagoon and relic coastal forests.
10 km from Seria there is a beautiful Lumut beach with good infrastructure for recreation. In the capital of the district – Kuala Belait, it is worth visiting the residence of the Sultan of Istan-Mankeled and the Sunday market in the Jalan-Padang area, or visit the Silver Jubilee Park, built in honor of His Majesty’s accession to the throne.
The third largest in the country, the Tutong district is the most sparsely populated region of Brunei. This is the most ethnically diverse territory of Brunei – the Tutong, Kedayan, Dusun, Iban and others live here, which allows you to get acquainted with the original local tribes and their customs. The main attractions here are the Sungai-Basong Recreation Park (it lies almost in the center of the city of Tutong), the Tamu-Tutong-Kampong-Serambagan open market, where you can meet representatives of all local tribal groups, the “serpent lake” Tasek-Merimbun, surrounded by necropolises of the XV century and vibrant swamps, and the cultural village of Ruma-Budaya, which presents the buildings and traditional crafts of five ethnic groups of the area at once.
Pantai Seri Kenangan, also known as Pantai Tutong, is a park and beach with numerous picnic areas and a simple seafood restaurant, located on a small peninsula washed by the waters of the South China Sea on one side and the Tutong River on the other. White sand, a perfectly flat beach and an abundance of greenery make this piece of land probably the best place for a beach holiday in Brunei.
Traditional cuisine
The basis of the diet is, of course, rice. Most often, it is prepared absolutely insipid, only as a side dish, shading and emphasizing the taste of the main dish. Sometimes rice is dyed with various natural dyes directly during cooking, boiled in broth or steamed, fried with spices and vegetables, stewed with water or coconut milk, boiled in coconut milk for desserts and mixed with bananas and other fruits, and rice chips are also made., ketupat rice cakes, rice noodles, a variety of rice flour pastries and rice puddings are simply fried with various ingredients or served with vegetables spiced with plenty of sauce. A pure Brunei dish is considered a mixture of rice and boiled green beans, which is richly flavored with sauces and served with many dishes.
Vegetables, bamboo shoots, soybeans, coconut milk and even fruits are widely used. The natural conditions of Brunei allow growing a wide range of fruits and vegetables here, starting with quite ordinary bananas, papaya or pineapples, and ending with exotic fruits of durian, chempedak, tarap, rambutan, langsar (lancium), beluna, asam-ur-ura and membangan. One of the most characteristic local vegetables is the “long bean” (Vigna sinensis), which is a long (up to 3 m) and thin edible pod that goes into curries and many other dishes. As in other regions of Southeast Asia, cattle meat is used relatively rarely (pork, for obvious reasons, is generally an extremely rare guest on the local table). But on the other hand, fish and seafood, as well as chicken and meat of other birds, are considered one of the basics of cooking here.
