Our Itinerary through Brunei and Malaysian Borneo
Brunei is a quiet Muslim country—extremely safe, if not a bit boring. It’s an interesting place to spend a week, but I wouldn’t recommend staying for longer.
Week 1
Bandar Seri Begawan: The capital city of Bandar has a few good restaurants, a mall, a Dairy Queen, Burger King, some impressive mosques, and a section of the city sat upon stilts that floats above the water. A good place to chill a day or two, visit a street food market and have a meal.
Ulu Temborung National Park: One of the highlights of Brunei, albeit a bit sterile and curated, is a visit to Ulu Temborung National Park. You have to hire a tour operator, and there are 4-5 main ones that operate, with main differences being accommodation and the activities timing (the activities themselves are more or less the same). They will set you up to take a boat/car ride to the National Park; from there, you will cruise in a longboat down river until you get to one of several lodges. Opt to do a 2-day tour instead of 1 day, which will give you the chance to go for a jungle hike, river tube, and a canopy walk above the tree line.
Ulu Ulu Resort is the nicest, but also the only lodge from which you can walk to the canopy walk—making them the only resort that will give you access to the canopy top at sunrise.
