Brunei is one of the smallest and least-known countries I visited in Southeast Asia. Located on the island of Borneo, the country is surrounded by Malaysia and split into two separate sections, with the eastern district of Temburong separated from the rest of Brunei by Malaysian territory.
What makes Brunei especially unusual is its enormous oil and gas wealth. For such a tiny country, I found impressive mosques, palaces, modern infrastructure, and signs of wealth everywhere. At the same time, much of the country remains covered in tropical rainforest, especially in the more remote eastern half.
That combination made Brunei much more interesting than I expected. In a relatively short visit I could explore extravagant architecture in the capital, wander through a nearly deserted amusement park, and then head into the rainforests of Borneo.
Explore Bandar Seri Begawan
Bandar Seri Begawan is Brunei’s capital and the best place to see how the country’s oil wealth has shaped its development. The city has enormous mosques, elaborate government buildings, luxury hotels, and the royal palace of the Sultan.
It isn’t a large or especially hectic capital, which makes the scale of some of its buildings feel even more unusual. One minute I could be walking through a quiet tropical city, and the next I was standing in front of a mosque that looked like it belonged in a much larger and wealthier metropolis.
Explore Jerudong Park
Jerudong Park was one of the stranger places I visited in Brunei. Built during the country’s era of enormous oil wealth, the amusement park was originally opened as a major attraction for Brunei’s residents and visitors.
By the time I visited, much of the park felt almost abandoned. Large rides sat silent, sections were dark, and the lack of crowds gave the entire place a strange ghost-town atmosphere. Seeing such an ambitious project operating at only a fraction of what it had once been made Jerudong one of the most memorable stops in the country.
Explore Temburong
Temburong showed me a completely different side of Brunei. Separated from the country’s main population centers, this eastern district is far more rural and contains some of Brunei’s best-preserved rainforest.
This was where I went to experience the natural side of Borneo, with rivers, dense tropical forest, wildlife, and small communities surrounded by wilderness. After the mosques, palaces, and displays of wealth around the capital, Temburong was a reminder that much of Brunei is still defined by the rainforest it was built around.
