Brunei forum

Along with Malaysia and Indonesia, Brunei is one of the countries that divide up the island of Borneo. Although it's the smallest of the three, it's the richest thanks to oil and is probably best known for its extravagant Sultan, one of the world's wealthiest people.

The capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan is home to just 140,000 people and is surprisingly down to earth. The main attractions are the gold-domed Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, the Royal Museum and the traditional "Kampong Ayer" (water village on stilts), but the country is small enough to use BSB as a base for trips to Ulu Temburong National Park or scuba-diving the shipwrecks that lie off the coast.

What Brunei isn't known for is partying -- it's a dry country. Foreign visitors are allowed to import a bottle of booze for personal consumption or you can try the bar at the Sheraton.

Bandar Seri Begawan does have an international airport with flights to most Southeast Asian capitals as well as Dubai and London. That said, for most travellers Brunei is not the destination but a transit point for travelling overland between the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah. While it is possible to breeze through in a day, it's worth spending a night in Bandar Seri Begawan, if only for the bragging rights that you've been to this little-known country.

Brunei's currency is the Brunei dollar which is pegged one-to-one with the Singapore dollar. Thankfully travelling in Brunei isn't as expensive as in Singapore, though it is more costly than Malaysia. A private room at one of the city's few budget hotels start from B$30 or a bunk at the youth hostel from B$10. The price of oil is so low that nearly every Bruneian owns a car or two, but there's a network of minivans for public transport at a flat fare of B$1.