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What a surprise! Brunei is actually a great place to visit. For a fundementalist islamic state run by one of the richest men on the world, the sultan of Brunei, it is quite a relaxed place, more akin to an islamic theme park. There are over the top mosques everywhere, beautiful beaches, decent restaurants and because of the abundance of oil money the jungle has not been chopped down yet. And then there is an amusement park with an awesome rollercoaster that is open at night. It is so empty that when I wanted to take a ride at the rollercoaster, they first had to turn it on! Quite a difference from the crowds at DisneyLand. Islam and Oil There are mosques everywhere. This is the big one in the center... .. and here another one on the river. Because of massive amounts of oil offshore Brunei is one of the richest countries on the planet. You can see beautiful houses everywhere. Due to strict implementation of the islam there is no alcohol, nightlife or any reasonable form of entertainment. Basically the only thing the people of Brunei seem to do is visiting shopping malls and mosques. Praying is done five times a day and during this time life in Brunei comes to a halt. Of course most citizens do not really do work anyway. They have enough money to have workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan do the job. This of course will not last, as having so much money makes most people lazy and corrupt. Already you can see cracks in the economy as a lot of money has been lost on bad investments and outright corruption by some members of the royal family. A beautiful lake in the Western part of the country Fancy your own private rollercoaster? In the jungle of Temburong One of the nice things is that the people in Brunei are very well behaved. There is almost no crime and people treat visitors with respect. Contrary to most other islamic countries visiting women are not harassed at all. We stayed about a week in Brunei and had a wonderful relaxing time. And another huge mosque. All the wood on the beach could make a great bonfire. It comes from neighboring Malaysia, where logging is widespread. Recommendations: Due to the lack in travelers, there are few discount hotels. Choose the Jubilee Hotel over the Terrace Hotel, as it is cleaner and at a more convenient location for the same price. Make sure that you make a reservation, because this will mean they will pick you up from the airport for free. Public transportation is barely available and when we arrived at the airport we could not even find a payphone to call the hotel. The hotel courtesy phones the Lonely Planet travel guide described did not seem to exist when we arrived. Also quite a few websites try to ask more than double the regular rates, so it's probably best to make your reservation direct to the hotel. Their phone number is +673 2 228070. In Brunei it is definitely worth visiting the jungle in Temburong. Renting a car is quite affordable. Most hotels can arrange it for you, so it is easy to take a day trip to the completely deserted beaches in the Western part of the country. In a longboat Beautiful deserted Western beach