I was having a short trip to BSB on March 20 - 22, 2015, me and my two friends. "BSB is probably the most quiet place on earth" one traveler tell so😄😄😄and when I was there I can say Yes, he is absolutely right !!! But do not bother with 'quiet' or not, if you put the ASEAN countries on your bucket list, you cannot skip this country, ok ? I've been here and probably I could help you with several tips if you planned to visit this country one day.
1. Accommodation You have to choose the hotel nearby place that you are easily finding the restaurant or place for eating, supermarket or shopping centre / mall, banks, you know why ? because the public transportation and taxi is only operate until 6.30pm everyday so I may suggest two areas at nearby Mall Gadong, or at Jl. Gadong and nearby Yayasan Shopping Mall complex at the city center of Bandar Seri Begawan. Do not expect to find the international chain hotel here as all hotels here are managed by local including the famous big hotel that owned by the brother of Sultan, The Empire Hotel & Country Club in Jerudong.
TIPS:
Traders Inn Hotel is a good choice for budget travelers. The location is at Jl. Gadong and within walking distance with Banks, Resta urants and Supermarket (named Supa Save Supermarket) and the Purple bus number 55 is passing by the road outside the complex, this bus will end up at the bus terminal at BSB (muara), from this terminal you can go everywhere with the bus or just walking to the nearby attraction such as Yayasan Shopping Mall, Masjid Sultan Omar Ali Saiffudin, or walking along the Brunei river and take the water taxi to Kampung Ayer. Bus number #39 will take you to Istana Nurul Iman
2. Local Transportation Since the public transportation is running very limited here probably you must hire a car for a day and it will cost you around B$80, expensive ? Yes but do not worry as long as you are with friends it is still considering cheap, you can share the tariff, am I right ? Taxi is also around but I know it will cost much too. It is better to
TIPS:
You still have a choice for not renting / hiring a car. Try to use Bus as much as you can but you have to have a spare time to wait as the interval between one another could be 30-45 minutes. Bus will cost you only B$1 to all destination far and near per way. Anyway based on my experience Bruneian are very friendly, if you wait at the bus shelter probably someone can stop by and offer a ride to you, to my experience I took it, I was not worry as long as I am with friends and they can offer you similar $1 one each or $5 for 3 people, but never mind we are in a hurry to chase our time as the purple bus is just passing by when we wanted to cross the road it means we have to wait 30-45 mins to another bus, thus worth it to take the ride offered !!
3. Tourist Attractions The most important thing that you have to visit here are: Sultan Ali Saiffudin Mosque (Gold Dome), Sultan Hasanah Bolkiah Mosque (biggest Mosque in town), Istana Nurul Iman, Kampong Ayer / Water Village (Venice of the East hmmm....), Royal Regalia Museum, and some more attraction outside BSB such as National Park or Bukit Patol recreation and many more.
TIPS: You can just walk within walking distance from the Bus terminal at Muara to Yayasan Shopping Mall and go to Ali Saiffudin mosque, then Royal Regalia i just around but at the time I have no time to catch the museum. Walk back to Yayasan and from there just across the car park and the street to take a water taxi to Water Village, it cost only 50 cents per way per person. It is still a good experience then, the river is clean enough. From here you can also take the option to take a water taxi to go seeing around BSB from the river (river cruise) but it is more expensive about $20 per person as I remember being offered by the water taxi driver. Also you have to go to the Modern House in Water Village, do not miss it, it is exactly very good view and interesting place for a sight seeing, ok
4. Culinary The food here is a typically of malay food like the one in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia lah, similar. They sold Nasi like in Warteg lah, and it is all about $3, include rice, vegie, and main dishes, but you have to buy in the afternoon food market, we found one in Gadong area, considering cheap for our lunch. In the restaurant nearby our hotel price for food are vary start from $5 not including the drink. Expensive ? Yes it is but you have to be aware that this is Brunei the Currency is high than our Rupiah, prepared in advance before coming so you have enough cash.
TIPS: Find the cheap food is possible in the afternoon food market and night market at Gadong area, at Food Night market almost everything is sold at $1 ok. They also sold the seafood but I did not visit the seafood night one they are close to each other. If you eat the restaurant there is no tax and try the Excapade Sushi, the location i went is in nearby the Mall complex in Gadong. But shhh...actually We were treated by a friend of my friend who is driving from Miri, Malaysia to meet my friend and she treated our lunch here at Excapade Sushi, very affordable and recommended one of course, I saw the price for food is from $5 okay.
5. Culture This is a moslem country so you cannot find Churches and Temples in the country except there is one old Chinese temple. During Friday prayer every man must to go pray and all shops must be closed 12.00 and will be opened again at 2 pm. There are no alcohol drink serves here except in the certain places. No live music !!! No night clubbing ok and No smoking in a public area, please !
TIPS:
For a dress as long as you are not Bruneian you still can wear the summer clothing BUT because I am Indonesian, I do respect the country rules I do dress up properly. Again I must say that Bruneian people is a very kind one, sometimes they can offer you a ride for free but you must be polite and show your respect and they will do the same for you because they know you are a tourist and they welcome you indeed.
Well, hope the above tips can help you preparing before visiting this country. It is still interesting for travelers who like a culture vulture visit.
Safe Travel everyone and Welcome to Brunei !!
