Looking 4 Adventures

The First impressions of Brunei

As many people that follow me along here know, I am on my way to travel to every country in the world. Traveling to every country means visiting places you might not usually consider. It’s not necessarily dangerous places only but also locations that are not known to be very touristy. There is only little to do. There are no interesting sights. The country seems to be, from the outside looking in very boring. Sometimes travel bloggers say in their blog that this and that place is the most boring one in the world. How this assessment was made about Brunei is beyond me as I discovered in a recent trip. Nothing in Brunei has been boring.

But maybe the fact that I came with no expectations made the trip all the better for it! Maybe I am looking for a different kind of experience than your typical famous travel blogger. Maybe a more genuine connection is my go-to travel experience that feels more fulfilling. In a way my neurodivergent brain often looks for the beauty in a much more subtle way than people that look for the thrill of the moment.

Granted Brunei does not seem like much. When I did my research there was very little to do. There’s two dive centers that offer dives around the coastline. At first glance, the National Park doesn’t look like much. You can see the proboscis monkeys (Bas dubbed them ‘promiscuous monkeys’ from the beginning – I don’t actually know how fitting this is!) in other parts of Borneo as well.

I did not care about the mosquitoes or about potential risks of swimming in the river. My brain got a proper reset, and that did not involve any alcohol consumption because Brunei is a dry country.

A Touch of Luxury at The Empire Brunei

But let’s start at the beginning: We landed in Brunei quite late in the evening after having spent a couple of days in Kinabatangan National Park in Malaysia. We saw a lot of wildlife including Orang Utans in the wild. But while this was an amazing experience, we craved a little bit of luxury and found it in The Empire Brunei. This hotel’s price tag is rather steep, but we decided to still go for it because it is one of the only two hotels that have been assessed as having more than 5 stars. The promise of luxury was kept already from the start.

In the morning on the way to breakfast, we entered the main building and it smelled like luxury. You know the smell of a good spa? This was it! There weren’t many people in the hotel and we got the finest spots reserved for us. There was always an offer for a golf cart driving us around the area but we often opted to walk among the trees and lush greenery.

We were sad leaving this behind after two days but we followed the stay up by a city tour through the tiny nation’s capital, and while there is not much to see there, our guide was kind and friendly and explained all the details about the history and the sultan and Islam in Brunei. We learned about the start of the settlements from a water village that still exists today to the settling on the coastline and that the sultan gifted a bridge to his wife. Originally we had planned a dive on this day but due to the weather the dive trip was unfortunately cancelled. But because our tour guide Justin was so engaging and kind, actually learning about the country’s history was a great alternative.

We had lunch together at a wonderful vegetarian place with delicious local food and Chinese tea. Another highlight! The mushrooms in buttermilk were a delight!

Into the Heart of Nature: Ulu Temburong

The real highlight came after, though. We had booked one night nearby the Ulu Temburong National Park. After Friday prayer we were picked up and had a 1.5 hour drive to the Sumbiling Eco Village. We met our guide Fikri and our new friend Mira directly at the entrance of the accommodation where they helped us settle in. Fikri explained the itinerary to us and that today we would mostly be relaxing and swimming in the river. We chatted over snacks and coffee, and it became clear to me, the longer we talked that this was a place I could come back to any time. The hut we stayed in was beautiful as well.

Do you know that places like these feel so rare to me: You have a peaceful surrounding, forest sounds, good company, pretty views, stories to tell and listen to, new games to try out, local traditions to celebrate and the time is moving so quickly that when we sat at lunch the next day after a long canopy walk through the actual National Park, I did not want to leave anymore. That was the moment I realized how quickly our assumptions can rob us of joy. If I had believed the ‘boring’ label, I would have missed this calm, rare connection.

We said our sad goodbyes, promised Mira and Fikri to come back with hugs and handshakes, and were on our way back to the capital with full hearts and memories of a place we would never forget.

Why I’ll Come Back

The moral of the story: Don’t listen to the bloggers! Maybe don’t listen to me either! You might find your happy places in other ways. You might find Brunei as boring as Drew Binsky. But promise me to listen to your own heart! Give any place you are visiting a fair chance to become your favourite place. Maybe it is only yours and the world might disagree but screw the world. These places might be important only for you because you are connecting with them and their magic in your own way. If you give a place a proper look and an open heart, you might find new friends, beautiful memories and a place you want to come back to. And that was Brunei for me!