Brunei Attractions

There's real gold on that thar dome

Advantages: Visually satisfying
Disadvantages: none

You cannot miss the Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque in the centre of Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. It is a beautiful white building with a wonderful golden real goldleaf dome. I think this is the nicest mosque I have seen. I was told that the architect was British - I'm not sure if this is true, but maybe he somehow made it more visually accessible to a British eye. It was built in 1958, and named after the present Sultan's father. It is reported ...
...in grounds with an artificial lagoon complete with concrete boat. You cannot go on this but you can walk round the grounds. It is acceptible for visitors to go inside at certain times - visiting is closed or limited on Thursdays and Fridays and you'd need to check out other times - you can't go in during prayer times. All this is if you are non-Muslim. Muslims can go in at any time. The interior is one big airy space with a lot of marble and carpets ...

kittenkong 02.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, Bandar Seri Begawan

Venice of the East?? Er....

Advantages: picturesque
Disadvantages: haggling for cost of boat trip

Kampong Ayer, literally translated, means Water Village. So here you have it - houses and mosques and little shops, and schools, all on stilts, in the Brunei River near Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan. And very picturesque and interesting it is too. The best way to see it is to hire on of the water taxis - open topped speedboats - and get the man to drive you round. It's fun darting through the little narrow alleyways, seeing the washing hanging ...
...puteh' (white people) - if you are in fact white, that is. Ask the water taximan for a 30 minute tour, and remember you can get badly sunburnt in that time - there's no shade on the boat. This is where Brunei's people started, out on the water, before moving onto land when the economy changed over time, and many people still choose to live in the water villages, despite onland housing schemes. But times have changed, and now the houses have mod cons ...

kittenkong 02.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Kampong Ayer - Venice of East, Bandar Seri Begawan

Are we having fun yet?

Advantages: bizarre experience
Disadvantages: the rides shut at prayer-times

...is something of a misnomer. Jerudong Park itself is a very large area beside the South China Sea in Brunei, South East Asia. It contains among other things a royal palace, a private clinic, polo grounds and some leftover horses, golf course, and Jerudong Park Playground. It is the Playground, which would more accurately be called an amusement park, that I think is what is meant by the heading given. Jerudong Park website: http://www.jerudong-park.com/jpp/ ...
...Sunday, 5pm till late. By this time the worst of the day's heat is dissipating and the mosquitoes are coming out to play. You can get a ticket, $3 brunei for children and 5 for adults, which will give you access to all the rides. The Park is very large, and the rides and amusements are well spread out. This means it's a bit of a footslog to get round the place. There is a short train ride over one side, but when the place was built the designers ...

kittenkong 02.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Jerudong Park