Australia Travel Guide

After the rigors of traveling through Sarawak, Brunei might seem as a bit of a relief on the path. Brunei is more than just a city state like Singapore and if you want to cross between Sabah and Sarawak by land, you have to spend some time in the Sultanate and may likely have to overnight in the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.

Brunei actually consists of two parts. The western part of the country is more urbanized and contains many of the major towns such as Kuala Belait, Seria, Tutong and Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB). It is in this coastal area where most of the country’s oil reserves are found, and it is more densely populated. Still, there are not many actual kampung areas in Brunei and a vast majority of the population lives in these major towns. As such, you might find nothing but trees on most of the 120km road from the Malaysian border to BSB. The eastern territory of Brunei, Temburong District, is much more forested and is mostly notable for its wide national parks which are rarely visited and a tad more difficult to access. Usually, you’ll need to book a tour in order to see this latter area.

Brunei’s local population is primarily Malay with a few Chinese and Indians scattered in. More prominent among minority groups is that of expatriates who occupy both managerial and manual labor positions in the oil companies. Brunei’s population is only about 300,000 but a large chunk have come from India, Thailand and Europe to work in the country. The reasons for such an expat explosion are pretty simple, lack of labor, and good pay opportunities. For the most part, local Bruneians are notable in the government sectors and government-controlled ventures which form a big part of the economy. The amount of private sector activity not connected to the family of the Sultan or the oil companies is very limited.

Because of the vast oil wealth and the small population, the people of Brunei generally enjoy a very high standard of living. The roads tend to be in excellent shape, water is potable, health facilities are not only good but free and most people have a car (likely a 4-wheel-drive vehicle) and a house. In fact, per capita income is as high as in most Western countries. For the budget traveler, Brunei is an interesting stopover. BSB has a lot of attractions and grand monuments and pretty much all are free. Any matter of import that you might have been craving in Malaysia can be found in Brunei and to see the size of some of the monuments is pretty impressive. Brunei is a quiet place and nightlife is pretty much non-existent but it’s not a hard place to spend a night or two.

Tags: Brunei

For the most part, you can easily get Malay food in Brunei as well as a sprinkling of Indian and Chinese food. Western food is freely available in the town areas and you won’t have too much trouble finding a KFC or Pizza Hut in downtown BSB. There are no real specialties in Brunei and the food is not quite as nice as Malaysia but still quite ok.

Roti Prata – A kind of fried bread served with dahl and sambal or fish/chicken curry. Can also be ordered with egg inside (Roti Telur)

Nasi Lemak – coconut rice served with anchovy sambal (spicy sauce), peanuts, eggs and cucumbers.

Lontong – Cubes of rice served with sayur lodeh, a vegetable curry made with coconut milk and tumeric.

Mee Goreng – Fried noodles. Different in Singapore than other countries since tumeric powder is used to give the dish a nice orange color.

Nasi Goreng – Fried Rice

Soto – A thick soup usually consisting of chicken or beef

Tags: Brunei

By Plane: Follow the same directions as in the Getting There section. Buying plane tickets in Brunei is a bit expensive compared to neighboring Malaysia.

To Miri, Limbang, Sarawak: To get to Miri or Limbang, take a bus to Seria from the BSB station (B$5) every hour. These take a couple of hours and then you can transfer to Kuala Belait (B$1, 1 hour). From Kuala Belait, there are buses to Limbang and Sungei Tujuh on the road to Miri (B$5.50, 30 minutes). Buy your bus tickets only to the Malaysian border as buses are cheaper once you cross the border.

To Labuan and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: To get to Sabah and/or Labuan, you will need to take a morning ferry from the terminal in Muara. Take bus #33 or 38 and allow yourself 90 minutes. The last morning boat to Labuan is at 8:30 a.m. so get there very early, perhaps 30 minutes prior so you can clear immigration. There are also ferries around 1:00 that will get you to Labuan in time to make a connection to Sabah. The fare to Labuan is B$15 and you need to pay B$1 exit tax. The ride to Labuan takes about 90 minutes where you will have to clear Malaysian immigration. To proceed to Kota Kinabalu, exit out the international departures, turn to the left and walk to the end of the same building. The fare to KK is RM28 and that ride takes about 2-2.5 hours.

Tags: Brunei

Hooo-Whee!!!… Was that a party or was that a PARTY??!! Alright, boys and girls, we want to say thanks to all of you who took part in our Volleyball Tournament, or helped out, or made up part of the cheering section (Thanks, Mom…).

The champs of our first ever volleyball tournament were Rikard Konig, Michael Stenstrom and Panya Phromcharoen, whose team beat out 45 other players to win the Grand Prize of US$100! And let us just say how pleased we were to see that those vying for the trophy (alright, the three bottles of beer) came in all colours, shapes and sizes, from all corners of the world. Rikard and Michael are from Sweden, and Panya is a homeboy, Thai born and bred.

Hey fellas, bet that cash came in handy at the Full Moon Party that night, right? And Rikard, the US$100 note WAS real.

The champs and the runner-up team comprising local boys Wattana, Chanarong and Pichend, also won themselves a kewl Backpack Asia T-shirt each, and a Certificate of Appreciation for their efforts. The Thai team also won a free boat trip around the bee-yootiful island of Koh Phangan, with refreshments and snorkeling stops. Unfortunately, they’re also the boatmen.

And the Backpack Asia team, on our… er… market research rounds at the Full Moon Party, were pleased to run into (or stumble over) many of you later that night and waaaay into the next morning. As many a Full Moon connoisseur will acknowledge, the March 19 party was a masterpiece.

None of this would have been possible without the generosity of spirit, of some very beautiful people, who helped out by way of skill, energy and sponsorship of this truly happening event.

So let’s start by thanking Tommy (also known as Noi or Sunisa), of Tommy’s Resort on Haad Rin Nok, who accommodated a million requests and changes by us, and then some; Yaw, of Yaw’s Boat Trips; Ralph Fiennes lookalike and volleyball advisor Frank Krelle; our good friend and Swedish-toasting Dutchman Niels Van Tienen, and referees Jeremy East, Michael Stenstrom, Panya Phromcharoen and Rungthip Panviriyakul.

Special mention must go to the plucky Swedish lass who braved the male-dominated atmosphere to play in the competition, and also to the British volleyball virgins (you know who you are!)

We would also like to thank the Tourism Authority of Thailand for their generous offer to help publicise our upcoming events.

For all of you out there who want another chance to win some prizes or even just to have some fun, join us for our upcoming events around the region. Don’t forget we’ve also got essay and photo contests, with the first prize for the essay contest a cooool US$1,000. Yes, three zeros – count them. So you know that wild story you just told your buddy over a beer last evening? Type it up and send it in!!!

Okay then, people, see y’awll next month!

Tags: Thailand

Welcome, welcome, one and all! The Bangkok Street Launch off Khao Sarn Road was my first ever street party, and it was a fantastic evening for us, meeting all you guys.

Those who were fortunate enough to be in Bangkok during this historic occasion on Jan 16, 2005, and who actually got their butts down to the party, found free beer and food, a couple of ice-breaking (more like ear-popping) contests and a free introduction to our website and services.

To the bunch of brave guys who thought they signed up for a beer-drinking contest and found themselves swigging tom yam, well… good on ya, suckers! It was a good show for the rest of us partiers – maybe we should have had a face-pulling contest at the same time. In future, though, contestants will not be allowed to win by pouring the stuff onto plants. C’mon guys, we’re trying to be environmentally friendly here. Finish your soup!

That contest was certainly one of the high points of the party. Then of course there was the balloon-bursting contest, where you guys had to burst the balloons to find the three straws and win yourselves some prizes. Our poor boss Matthew Mendelsohn was getting ready to cut down the string with the balloons on it, only to have the whole thing dragged down by a stampede of burly backpackers looking for three straws. Admittedly, it was pretty damn funny to see him standing by the sidelines holding up a pair of scissors, but next time, let the man cut.

With all the excitement from the beer, food and free Internet access to serve our site (pretty subtle plug there, wouldn’t you say?), our timid and peace-loving researcher Greg Sutton turned into an MGM Leo to be heard over the party ruckus, even with a mike. But that’s okay, it’s all in the spirit of having a good time.

The evening would not have been the same without the big lady who roared, “This isn’t Backpacker Music, you Bastards! Play some trance!” Ma’am, we’re of the opinion that it was pretty decent pop rock, but your feedback will certainly be taken into consideration for future events.

We would also like to thank the policemen who came to break up the party, for being so very understanding and only holding our marketing manager Darren downtown for a couple of hours.

Credit must go to the fantastic students of the Rajamangala Institute of Technology, who signed up as volunteers for the day but stayed on way beyond the call of duty. Nat, who blew about a million balloons that day, has recently joined the Backpack Asia team and a couple of others are now regular faces helping out at our events in Thailand.

We also got a lot of help from a couple of “midnight warriors”, Henrik and Jacob from the Netherlands, who dispatched with efficiency the tedious task of stringing up Backpack Asia flaglines across Khao Sarn Rd.

(Our apologies to the driver of the cement mixer which got snarled in them the next day.)

Okay guys, thanks to everybody out there for helping to make the evening so fantastic, and hope to see y’awll again at our next party! Till then, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for those balloons…

Tags: Thailand