To Travel Brunei, you must know the followings:
Official Religion:
The official religion is Islam. However, other religions are also practised.
Official language:
Malay is the official language but English is also widely spoken.
Climate:
Brunei Darussalam has an equatorial climate, a uniform temperature, high humidity and heavy rainfall.
Currency:
The local currency is the Brunei Dollar which is issued at denominations of $10,000; $5,000; $1,000; $500; $100; $50; $25; $20; $10; $5; and $1 notes. Coinage is issued at 50, 20, 10 and 5 cent denominations. It is pegged to the value of the Singapore Dollar and both currencies can be used in Brunei Darussalam and Singapore.
Time:
Brunei Darussalam is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT).
Vegetation:
Seventy eight per cent of the country’s total land area is covered by forests with 40 per cent of the land is gazetted Forests Reserve.
Main industry:
Petroleum and gas has fuelled the nation’s economy for the past 80 years and more. The industry has come a long way from the very fast commercial find in Seria of the Belait District in 1929. A milestone was achieved in 1991 when the Seria field produced its one billionth barrel and a monument was built near the original site of Well No.1 to mark the achievement. The Billionth Barrel Monument was officially opened by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam on July 18, 1991.
National carrier:
Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) is the national carrier established on November 18, 1974. It is an independent corporation wholly owned by the government of Brunei Darussalam. RBA provides scheduled services across Asia, the Middle East, Australasia and the United Kingdom. As an added convenience to its passengers, the airline has codeshare agreements with Thai Airways International, Malaysia Airlines, British Midland, Philippines Airlines and Dragon Air of Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines allowing passengers to coordinate flights for seamless travel to a wider choice of destinations.
RBA now operates a fleet of six Boeing B767-300s, two Airbus A320s and two Airbus A319s. However from May 2010 through its Fleet Renewal Programme, RBA will be leasing six Boeing 777-200ER aircrafts from Singapore Airlines where it will be replacing its Boeing 767-300ER.
Entry Checkpoints:
Airport: Brunei International Airport is the nation’s sole airport. It is located in Berakas, about 10 to 15 minutes away from the capital.
Ferry Services and Immigration Control Post:
Serasa Teminal: Located in Muara Town, about 25 minutes from the capital. You can take ferry services from here to the Malaysian town of Labuan, Sabah. The journey is estimated to take around 45 minutes to an hour.
Kuala Lurah Immigration Control Post: Located in Brunei-Muara District about 25 minutes from the capital. This control post is a gate connecting Brunei Darussalam to the Malaysian town of Limbang, Sarawak.
Labu Immigration Control Post: Located in Temburong District. This control post is a gateway connecting Brunei Darussalam to Malaysia’s Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Sungai Tujoh Immigration Control Post: Located in Belait District. This control post is a gateway connecting Brunei Darussalam to Malaysian town of Miri, Sarawak.
Telecommunications:
There are various telecommunications services offered in Brunei Darussalam by three service providers; Telekom Brunei Berhad (TelBru), DST Communication and B.Mobile communications Sdn. Bhd. Local calls cost 3 cents per minute and national calls cost 20 cents per minute. For local calls, direct dial the local number. For national calls, dial the area codes 2 (for Brunei- Muara District); 3 (for Belait District); 4 (for Belait District) or 5 (for Temburong District) followed by the number. International calls by reverse charge, dial 01.
For direct international calls, dial 00 followed by the country code, area code and the number. A number of economical telephone cards ranging from $5 above are also available. Wi-fi and hotspots are widely available at various dining outlets and commercial areas. Mobile modem and router using a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) or 3G (Third Generation) Mobile Telephony Communication Protocol in high speed are also available in Brunei.
Current HSDPA deployment in Brunei Darussalam support downlink speed of up to 7.2 Megabits per second.
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