24 hours in the pocket capital

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This was published 11 years ago

24 hours in the pocket capital

Rich colour: Bruneians wave the national flag.

Rich colour: Bruneians wave the national flag.Credit: Reuters

Hugged by Borneo jungle, the compact Bandar Seri Begawan hides a wealth of attractions, writes Steve McKenna.

Traffic congestion. Cloud-piercing skyscrapers. Pesky touts. Pumping nightlife. Expect to find none of these in Bandar Seri Begawan, a capital city that, in many ways, feels like a sleepy country town (albeit one where Malay, English, Chinese, Tamil and Arabic flutter through the steamy tropical air).

Yet while BSB (as it's known) lacks the turbocharged buzz of certain south-east Asian stopovers - think Bangkok or Hong Kong - it offers an absorbing, and rewarding, alternative. Dazzling mosques, flamboyant royal treasures and the world's largest "floating village" are among the draws, and visitors should keep their eyes peeled for two local icons: the proboscis monkey (which lurks on the city's verdant outskirts), and the country's overlord, the Sultan of Brunei (no longer the world's richest man, but still not short of a bob or two).

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque.

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque.

Another great thing about a Bruneian break? You're likely to leave more relaxed than you arrived. The country tends to live up to its moniker: the Abode of Peace.

8.30am

Mellow as it may be, BSB does have a pulse, especially early in the morning at Tamu Kianggeh, the capital's main outdoor market.

A street-food vendor.

A street-food vendor.Credit: Alamy

Join shoppers in the narrow lanes, edged by stalls and mats laden with exotic fruits, vegetables and fish (both wet and dried), and sample local nibbles such as kuih panjaram (crispy savoury biscuits) and produce endemic to Borneo, such as kembayau (creamy olive-like fruit) and membangan (brown-skinned mango). Skipped breakfast? Kianggeh's covered food court serves conventional Bruneian-Malay fare such as nasi goreng ayam (chicken fried rice) and roti canai (flaky flat bread).

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9am

Facing BSB's compact modern centre, Kampong Ayer is a picturesque cluster of pastel-shaded wooden buildings stilted above the murky brown Brunei River.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah salutes his people.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah salutes his people.Credit: Reuters

It's home to about 30,000 people - nearly one-third of the capital's population - and has its own mosques, workshops, fire stations, schools and clinics.

To explore, take a motorised water taxi (it costs one Brunei dollar, or about 75¢ Australian) from the jetty opposite Yayasan Mall and dock at Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery, which details the millennium-long history and customs of this ancient fishing village and trading port.

Afterwards, amble through the inter-connecting neighbourhoods via a series of wooden boardwalks and bridges, and survey the contrasting properties.

Some are old and shack-like. Newer, government-built houses, perched on concrete pillars, flaunt satellite dishes and airconditioning systems. If you're parched or peckish, a few homes serve tea and snacks.

10.30am

From a verandah table at Fratini's (Block H, Yayasan Complex, +673 223 1467), a neat Italian cafe-restaurant by BSB's main jetty, sip espresso-style coffee and admire the fashions of the passengers zipping by in water taxis.

Although Islam grips Bruneian society, the black burqa and niqab are rarely worn and, while Western clothes are popular, bright, traditional Malay-style outfits (such as floral-patterned silk dresses and headscarves) are common and make the wearers highly photogenic.

Fancy an early lunch? The Fratini's menu features pasta dishes, thin-crust pizzas and squid risotto. Its adjoining Portview restaurant offers tasty seafood steamboats.

11am

Behind Yayasan Mall, the exquisite Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque rises from a man-made lagoon and is capped with a golden dome, said to contain more than 3 million fragments of Venetian mosaic tile. Built in 1958, the mosque was named after the previous sultan, who, like his son and successor, is part of a dynasty that claims to be directly descended from the prophet Muhammad.

A marble bridge links the mosque with a replica of a royal barge, and both are illuminated at night to postcard-perfect results.

Even more jaw-dropping is the Jame'Asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque - built in honour of the 29th (and current) sultan. Situated three kilometres north-west of the centre of BSB, it has 29 golden domes, 29 pillars, 29 chandeliers, 29 Carrara marble stairs and numerous Islamic carvings. Non-Muslims are usually free to visit the mosques outside prayer times.

Noon

Just east of Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, the Royal Regalia Building is the most glamorous of Brunei's free museums. It's stuffed with crowns and jewels, plus the gilded chariot that the sultan rode through BSB upon his 1967 coronation.

This is probably the closest you'll get to royalty - unless you visit Brunei during Hari Raya, an annual festival that follows Ramadan, the annual Muslim fasting month.

For three days, the sultan's 1788-room palace (the world's biggest regal residence and three times larger than Buckingham Palace) opens to the public. Guests (Bruneians and foreigners) are fed a complimentary feast before meeting and greeting the royals. Men shake hands with His Majesty and the princes; women are directed to the queen and princesses. The next Hari Raya is August 8, 2013.

1pm

Bruneian cuisine mixes Malay, Indian, Middle Eastern and Chinese flavours. A fine spot for buffet lunch ($15), blending all these influences, is Tarindak d'Seni (Jalan Residency, +673 224 0422), where you can try everything from chicken satay and beef rendang to mee hoon soup and ambuyat. An acquired taste, ambuyat, served with slices of meat or fish, vegetable pickles and sambal tempoyak (a salted durian relish), was a staple during World War II, when Japanese troops seized Brunei's rice fields, forcing locals to mine the trunks of sago trees for food, copying a centuries-old custom of nomadic Borneo tribes. You may find the restaurant's desserts more palatable.

In the same riverside building, Brunei Arts and Handicrafts Training Centre displays and sells woven baskets, songkoks (fez-style hats) and handcrafted brass cannon .

Be warned, though, that on Fridays, almost everything in Brunei (including shops, restaurants and museums) closes between noon and 2pm for prayers.

2pm

East of BSB, the quaint hilltop Bubungan Dua Belas (House of the Twelve Roofs) was the home of British high commissioners during Brunei's time as a British protectorate (1888-1984), and has intriguing photographs of the colonial period.

Further east, the Brunei Museum offers a snapshot of Brunei's history, recalling how European powers chewed into a Bruneian empire that once covered Borneo. It also charts the discovery of black gold in 1929 and how profits from oil and gas exports have made Brunei (which is less than one-tenth the size of Tasmania) one of south-east Asia's most prosperous nations. Bruneians enjoy some of the region's highest standards of living. There's no income tax, healthcare and education are free, highways are top-notch and government-subsidised petrol is about 50¢ a litre.

Close to the Brunei Museum, the absorbing Malay Technology Museum exhibits nipa and bamboo huts, hardwood fishing boats and hunting blowpipes still used by Brunei's inland indigenous tribes.

3.30pm

Famed for their odd, Pinocchio-like noses, proboscis monkeys are native to Borneo and swing on trees around BSB's outskirts, sharing territory with long- and pig-tailed macaques, birds of prey and flying foxes.

See these creatures (and maybe even a few crocodiles) on a monkey-spotting tour along the Brunei River - an experience that may persuade you to extend your stay to explore more of Brunei's jungle-covered interior (about 70 per cent of the country is rainforest).

There are monkey-spotting tours at 7.30am and 3.30pm daily. $73 adults, $55 children; see exploreborneo.com.

5.30pm

While it's no mall-rats' paradise, BSB has decent shopping potential. In the up-market suburb of Kiulap, snazzy boutiques sell bespoke furniture and lacquerware. Shopping central, however, is Gadong, where the multistorey mall has more than 150 stores, some specialising in brocades, porcelain vases and traditional bedspreads. It is alongside another mall, Centrepoint.

While central BSB is quiet after dark, Gadong is much livelier, in part because of its night market, where vendors barbecue everything from seafood to kuih melayu (sweet pancakes) under a bustling marquee.

8pm

Brunei doesn't really do nightlife. There's grapevine talk of clandestine clubs, but, officially, none exist. The sultan banned the sale of alcohol in 1991, but foreigners can bring through customs 12 cans of beer and two bottles of wine or spirits for private consumption.

For a non-alcoholic bar crawl, Gadong's strip of cafes and cosmopolitan eateries attracts a trendy crowd until almost midnight.

Another option is the Empire Hotel & Country Club, a royal-owned melange of marble and crystal by the shores of the South China Sea.

Twenty minutes from BSB by taxi, the Empire Hotel & Country Club has excellent in-house restaurants plus a luxury spa.

Nearby is Jerudong Park. This royal-built amusement park - which once hosted concerts by Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston - has fairground rides and musical fountains and a pleasant family atmosphere, especially on weekend evenings.

Steve McKenna was a guest of Royal Brunei Airlines and Brunei Tourism.

FAST FACTS

Getting there Royal Brunei Airlines flies from Melbourne to BSB daily from $640 return including taxes for the 7hr 10min flight. See bruneiair.com. Sydney passengers pay about $911 and fly Virgin Australia to Melbourne to connect.

Touring there Freme Travel Services offers a variety of Brunei tours, including tailor-made tours of BSB. These are worth considering because BSB's public transport is sparse; see freme.com.

Staying there In central BSB, the Radisson, formerly the Sheraton, has 142 rooms and suites. Advance deals are priced from $Br109 ($83); see radisson.com/brunei.

Facing Tamu Kianggeh, the Brunei Hotel has had a slick makeover and offers 65 rooms priced from $Br145; see thebruneihotel.com.bn.

Rizqun International Hotel neighbours Gadong Mall. It has 168 rooms and suites priced from $Br320; see rizquninternational.com.

The Empire, which also has a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, has 523 rooms and suites. Deals are priced from $Br248; see theempirehotel.com.

More information bruneitourism.travel

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