Title: Business Trip to Brunei.
When: December 2013
About The Trip:
Purpose: Business trip to Brunei but managed to check out a few places in the country during the weekends.
Days/Nights: 21 Days 20 Nights
Arrangements: Travel Agent / Self-guided Tour
Route: Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA – Berakas BRUNEI (14 nights) – Temburong BRUNEI – Berakas BRUNEI (6 nights) – Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA
Traveling Method & Time:
Kuala Lumpur – Berakas = aeroplane (≈ 2 hours)
Berakas – Bandar Seri Begawan = rented car (≈ 20 minutes)
Bandar Seri Begawan – Temburong = boat (≈ 45 minutes)
Temburong – Bandar Seri Begawan = boat (≈ 45 minutes)
Bandar Seri Begawan – Berakas = rented car (≈ 20 minutes)
Berakas – Kuala Lumpur = aeroplane (≈ 2 hours)
Details:
I visited Brunei again after 10 years and this time is for business purpose. Since I would be here for 3 consecutive weeks so I planned to filled the weekends with sightseeing activities with fellow colleagues.
Temburong is the small eastern-most district in Brunei. It is an exclave, as it is separated from the rest of Brunei by Malaysia and Brunei Bay. Its capital is Bangar and its main town is called Pekan Bangar. Temburong is also the gateway to Ulu Temburong National Park and attractions like the Iban longhouses and traditional villages.
Brunei’s first national park, the Ulu Temburong National Park, is located south of the Temburong district. It covers 550 square kilometres (212 sq mi) of the Temburong forest and has a scientific research centre facility, the Kuala Belalong Rainforest Field Studies Centre, which is only accessible by boat.
*The boat ride to Pekan Bangar, Temburong from the jetty at Bandar Seri Begawan will cost you about BND60 per person. However to get into the depth of Ulu Temburong National Park, there will be an additional charge of BND150 per person.
If you reach this area very early in the morning, you may have the chance to go home the same day. But if you reach the area in the afternoon, you have to stay overnight there in the jungle as there is no way you can get out of there before darkness falls. But then again, ain’t this the best way one can enjoy the untouched nature? Since time was not on our side, we skipped the exploration and the overnight stay at the depth of the National Park. But we managed to get to the beginning point of the National Park just to have a look at a small suspension footbridge over a small stream. *Admission to the suspension bridge is free but it is compulsory for the visitors to put on the life jackets provided at the management office over their bodies for safety reasons.
The Ibans are a branch of Dayak peoples of Borneo and they are mostly located in Sarawak. Only a small portion of the Ibans live in Sabah and west Malaysia. In ancient times, they were renowned for practising headhunting and tribal/territorial expansion. They were feared by others due to their reputation as a strong and successful warring tribe. The Ibans in the present days are a little bit different as they have gone through the process of modernisation. They no longer wear animal skin cloths to cover their bodies. They even send their kids to public schools nowadays.
A longhouse represent the earliest form of permanent structure in many cultures. Built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America, it is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building. Many of the longhouses were made of timber.
The visit to the Iban longhouses (Longhouse Amo B and Longhouse Amo C) in Temburong gave us the chance to interact with the Iban community and see how they lived. The longhouses they live in nowadays are no longer 100% made of timber. Some parts of the longhouses are made of concrete and bricks. In each of the longhouses, you can find electrical appliances such as TVs complete with DVD players, electric kettles to boil water and even microwaves to heat the food. *Admission is free.
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