Brunei

Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) — a small, immaculate capital of 100,000 people, built on the proceeds of one of the world’s largest per-capita oil incomes — is centered on the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque (1958, Italian marble, Venetian glass mosaics, a golden dome reflected in a man-made lagoon, the most impressive mosque in Southeast Asia). Admission is free; dress modestly.

Brunei ranks in the top five nations globally by GDP per capita (approximately US$65,000–70,000) entirely from oil and gas revenues. All education, healthcare and housing are subsidised or free for Bruneian citizens; there is no income tax. Petrol costs BND 0.53/litre (approximately €0.35) — the cheapest in Southeast Asia.

The Royal Regalia Museum (1992, the finest collection of royal regalia in Southeast Asia — gold and silver ceremonial objects, carriages, jewellery and the ceremonial costume of the Sultan displayed in a gold-domed building, free admission) and Kampong Ayer (“Water Village” — a floating village of 30,000 people on the Brunei River, the largest water village in the world, with mosques, schools and a fire station all on stilts).

Kampong Ayer has been continuously inhabited for at least 1,000 years — Portuguese explorers in the 16th century described it as the “Venice of the East.” It has no roads; all movement is by water taxi. Approximately 30,000 people live in houses on stilts connected by 36km of raised wooden walkways.

1h30 by speedboat through mangroves to the Temburong district. Ulu Temburong National Park (50,000 hectares of primary Bornean rainforest, accessible only by water taxi and longboat — no road access) — the Canopy Walkway (45m above the rainforest floor, with proboscis monkeys, hornbills and gibbons in the canopy) and the most biodiverse primary forest in Southeast Asia.

Ulu Temburong is accessible only by a combination of speedboat, motorised longboat, and on foot — there is no road connection to the main Brunei territory. This isolation has preserved primary lowland dipterocarp rainforest in better condition than anywhere in Borneo outside the most protected areas.

A full day in the park — river trekking in the Temburong River (wading through clear mountain water between limestone boulders, with flying lizards, river kingfishers and the great biodiversity of intact Bornean forest). A night walk (torchlit, with a guide spotting flying squirrels, stick insects, Asian horned frog and slow loris).

Brunei’s primary forests are among the least-disturbed in Borneo — unlike Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo, Brunei banned commercial logging in 1997 and the country has retained 70% forest cover. The consequence is one of the highest densities of endemic Bornean species in any accessible area on the island.

A full day on the water — Kampong Ayer by water taxi (the 20-cent BND ride across the river) and walking the boardwalk network past stilted mosques, school children in boats and the daily rhythms of a community that has lived on water for a millennium. The Jame’Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque (1992, the largest mosque in Brunei, gold-domed, with 29 golden cupolas representing the Sultan’s position as the 29th ruler of Brunei).

The Jame’Asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque was built to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sultan’s reign in 1992 — 29 golden cupolas representing each sultan in the dynasty, four minarets, Italian marble and capacity for 5,000 worshippers. The exterior is best seen from the Brunei River at dawn from a water taxi.

1h from BSB. Seria — the heart of Brunei’s oil industry, with the Billionth Barrel Monument (commemorating the billionth barrel of oil pumped from the Seria field in 1991), the oil pumps working offshore in the South China Sea, and the Seria Oil Town Museum documenting the discovery of oil in 1929 that transformed Brunei from a poor fishing community into one of the world’s richest states.

Brunei discovered oil at Seria on 5 April 1929 — the first well, drilled by the British Malayan Petroleum Company, changed the country’s trajectory entirely. By the 1950s, the Seria field was one of the largest in the British Empire. The current Sultan (Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan, on the throne since 1967) is one of the wealthiest individuals on earth.

The Jerudong Park Playground — opened in 1994 by the Sultan as a free theme park for all Bruneians, with Michael Jackson performing at the opening concert, featuring full-size rollercoasters and carnival rides that operated free of charge until 2003. Now partially operational with an admission fee. Fly from BSB (BWN).

The Jerudong Park opening concert (1996) was headlined by Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder — flown in by the Sultan as entertainment for the 50th birthday of his brother Prince Jefri. The show was free for all Bruneians. It remains the most extravagant private entertainment event ever staged, at an estimated cost of US$17 million.