Bandar Seri Begawan, The Capital of Brunei

Bandar Seri Begawan (or BSB as the locals call it) is the capital of Brunei and also the largest city. However, there is not A LOT going on. You can see all the city has to offer in one day. We were there two full days and a lot of time ended up at the grocery store comparing prices and trying weird brands of food.

Brunei Flag

BSB is worth a visit though, as there are some phenomenal Mosques painted in gold, surrounded by moats. The lavishness of them is quite amazing. They will never amount to the amazing Hagia Sophia, but they still were quite beautiful to see.

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque

at Jame' Asr' Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque

BSB is also home to the world’s oldest standing, largest, water village. Some homes are extremely nice and look like any other suburban home on stilts, whilst others are really worn down without any modern plumbing. The water villages have their own stores, schools, and doctors’ offices due to its enormity.

a water village, the side you don't see

Brunei is also relatively cheap. One Brunei dollar is about $0.80 USD, but things here were cheaper. We went to a hawker and ordered drinks, 3 main dishes (as we couldn’t decide what we wanted) and it only cost B$7.00 (Brunei dollars) which was only about $5.60 USD depending on the exchange rate. It was more expensive than Malaysia, but still you could eat Nasi Katok (rice, fried chicken, and hot sauce) for B$1 ! I had seafood Nasi Goreng for B$3! Always cheap and always delicious!

nasi katok

BSB is worth a visit, but the main reason to come here would be the start of the trip to the Ulu Temburong National Park Resort….. It was SO AMAZING… but that is to come in a different blog post =) 

at Jame' Asr' Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque, its so large it has many of these to put your shoes prior to entering