Booze Free in Brunei

When we learned that our time in Singapore was limited, we came up with a list of the places we hadn’t visited yet on this side of the world that we wouldn’t likely travel all the way back for. Sydney, Melbourne – we would venture back for that. Myanmar (Burma), Brunei, Bali, the beaches of the Philippines were a few on a very long list of places that we were much more likely to visit with Singapore as a home base.

After doing some research, the most logical choice for one of our last few weekends left in Singapore was Brunei. It’s a short flight on a Friday night after work and we were able to be back in Singapore by noon on Sunday.

Brunei is a small country with a population of 413,000 which shares the island of Borneo, with Malaysia and Indonesia. According to the BBC, Brunei, which gained independence in 1984, has one of the world's highest standards of living thanks to its bountiful oil and gas reserves. Although you can certainly see the discrepancy between the working class and the upper echelon.

The water village in the shadows of one of the palaces

The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, is one of the world's longest-reigning and few remaining absolute monarchs. He was crowned in August 1968, is one of the world's richest individuals. (And oddly enough has a giant property around the corner from Brother B in Las Vegas. Small world!)

Not a bad "starter" house for a 34 year old prince!

In 2014,  Brunei became the first East Asian country to adopt Islamic sharia law despite widespread international condemnation. In all fairness, I had girlfriends travel to the country alone and the Bruneians are quite welcoming to tourists. These were some of the friendliest people we’ve met in our travels. American and UK passport holders do not need a visa to enter the country.  Just behave yourselves and do not expect to find any beer, ANYWHERE!

The water village

Because the country is under sharia law, smoking is illegal and alcohol is not available/served anywhere. A perfect spot for a post-wedding detox!

Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque

We had a great tour guide Razie and driver Helmi from Borneo Trekker. They were students studying hospitality and tourism at a local trade school. They showed us some of the magnificent mosques, one of the Sultan’s Palaces (from the outside of course), as well as a cruise down the river through the mangroves to see the wildlife such as the proboscis and leaf monkeys and crocodiles. We didn’t have time to venture out to the rainforest which is 3/5th of the country and is supposed to be a great place to explore and stay overnight.  We spent some time in a water village with Razie’s aunt and cousin (everyone called him superman) who was a professional body builder, boat fleet owner/driver, gym owner and all around entrepreneur.

Superman's boat business (he's the guy driving) in the mangroves

One of our favorite parts of every holiday is the food. We went to the big night market where we had kebabs (anyone who knows Raegen is not surprised by this), fried bananas, Sambal Nasi Katok, fresh coconut juice and honey BBQ chicken. Earlier in the day we tried Ambuyat, which is the national dish of Brunei. It’s a starchy dish with a sticky but bland taste. We gave it a try as we were told it was good for our insides. (All in the name of detoxing right?)

We asked Helmi where they were going out to for the evening with their friends. That’s right you guessed it, Starbucks. (Starbucks - bridges all cultures.) 

Jame Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque at night

We were glad to check a new place off our list although the passport stamp isn't quite as cool as it used to be.

Happy trails,

Amy & Raegen