Sandra Lawrence does a stop-over in Brunei 

Let’s face it. Any long-haul flight is exhausting. You arrive at your paradise destination frazzled, grumpy and uncomfortable from being cramped up in your tiny airline seat. Frankly, after the 24-odd hours you’ll spend getting to say, Australia, you need a couple of days off before you can even begin to start enjoying your holiday.

Of course there are the usual stop-over destinations – but these usually mean frantic shopping expeditions buying cut-price perfume you could easily get in Superdrug. So to find something truly different to do on a break from a flight – different from anything you’ll experience on your ‘real’ holiday - surely must be the Holy Grail of travel…

Up until now Brunei has been a mysterious, closed-feeling country which many will only know as being the home of a real-live Sultan who has a penchant for collecting gold-plated limousines. To my great shame, I didn’t even quite know where it was. But as a place to find a truly exciting, challenging, scary, yet awe-inspiring breath of fresh air as faraway as imaginable from long-haul weariness, it ranks as one of the world’s Great Days Out. Just sitting on the tiny powerboat which is to take us out into the middle of unspoilt rainforest, we already feel as though we’re leaving civilisation behind.

Nestling on the very tip of the island of Borneo, Brunei is one of the last real exotic places left on Earth. It’s a tiny sultanate whose offshore oil deposits have ensured a high standard of living for its people and up until now they have not been bothered about encouraging visitors.

Most of the country is covered in thick, virgin rainforest, much of it unexplored. Across the river from our little vessel stands the centuries-old water village, built entirely on stilts and still inhabited today. The other side sees a bustling, modern city where everything that glitters really is gold. The massive golden-domed Jame’ ‘Asr Hassanil Mosque dominates the landscape, but, peeping shyly from the ever-encroaching rainforest, the roofs of various royal palaces and other mosques glimmer in the bright sunshine.

We glide away and almost instantly leave the city, plunging into deep forest. After ten minutes we’re so far away from civilisation that all we can see are one or two fishermen in straw hats, sitting quietly in their boats.

Brunei is in two parts, and the only way to get from one part to the other is by going round the outside. We sail round the tip of Malaysia and back into Brunei again. We arrive at the tiny town of Bangar - two rows of shops and some houses and continue on by minibus, where every so often we pass strange traditional Long Houses in clearings. Long Houses are unique to Borneo - a kind of village under one roof – every time somebody marries, they just add another bit onto the end.

We pull up the stony riverbank and clamber to the ranger station at Ulu Temburong National Park. If we’d had a little more time, we could have stayed overnight here and watched the sun rise over the forest, but with only a day to spare, we start to climb the steep slopes of the canyon almost immediately. It’s possible to scale it commando-style, scrabbling through the undergrowth, but given the heat and the humidity we’re glad to stick to the plank-walk - all 1,226 steps of it to the top of the hill. The sweat drips from our brows as we climb, our guide pointing out massive, ancient trees – poisonous, medicinal and aphrodisiac – as well as the more unwelcome creepy-crawlies that no jungle would be complete without.

By the time we reach the top we’re out of breath, but still can’t see for the density of the trees. Our guide points out a massive scaffolding tower. If we want to see the view we’ll have to climb that, too.

To say it was worth it is an understatement. I stand at the very tippy-top of this extraordinary world and look out in awe. In every direction, as far as I can see, raw jungle lies beneath me. In the very distance, blue-purple mountains rise from the horizon and immediately below the river gurgles somewhere underneath the fluffy treetops

Lunch, back at the ranger station, is just as exotic. Brunei rice, fern leaves and some sort of stew followed by sweet baby bananas. We eat in silence, the butterflies dancing and our legs still shaking from the descent.

Our final treat is a surprise. We’re sent to change into our swimming togs and each given a lifejacket. The river water’s as icy as it is clear, and we gasp with the shock of the temperature change. Once we’re used to it, though, it’s cool and refreshing.

“Follow me,” says our guide,  We watch as he allows himself to be caught by the current and floats back along the river. “Come on,” he shouts. “No crocodiles here! Or Piranha,” he adds as an afterthought. We wade a little further, then shriek as the fast-flowing water takes the breath from our lungs. The lifejackets keep us safe, but the exhilaration’s beyond words. It’s a bit like white water rafting – without the raft. After a moment of panic we start to relax and enjoy the feeling of floating down one of the oldest rivers on earth with only sky and trees around us.

We’ve taken the precaution of keeping our hotel rooms (booked just for the day) so that we can have a shower before getting on the plane. Had time had been tight we could have used the showers at the airport. We squelch our way through the hotel lobby, tired, dirty and smelling of river water, but, corny as it may sound, I for one feel a glow I will not forget in a hurry. This has been one of the most exciting days of my life.
I sleep the entire 17 hours of the return journey back to Heathrow.


GETTING THERE:

Royal Brunei Airlines www.bruneiair.com  Tel. 020 7584 6660) stops at Brunei en route to many of the world’s great tourist destinations.

If you are considering Brunei as a stopover, you’ll need at least four hours outside the airport, the minimum entry requirement, and valid onward tickets. Remember that it is a Muslim state – women need to dress modestly and no alcohol is permitted. Brunei is 17 hours from the UK.

WHEN TO GO:

Any time is good because even during the rainy season (November through to January) the showers are short and not at all unpleasant. Try to avoid the Sultan’s birthday celebrations around the 15th July – he opens his palace to all and tries to meet as many of his people as he can, which though charming, means the hotels get completely booked .

BRUNEI AS A STOPOVER

Brunei is such a tiny country that one of the best ways to enjoy it is by joining the numerous “transit tours,” organised by Royal Brunei Airlines and Golden Touch Holidays. Although they can be booked when booking RBA flights, they are open to anyone and there is also a booking desk at Brunei Airport. The Ulu Temburong trip featured here costs £46 (adults), £25.00 (children) which includes national park fee, boat trips, lifejackets, English-speaking guide and lunch.

FIVE FAB THINGS TO DO:

• VISIT THE OMAR ALI SAIFUDDIEN MOSQUE built by the present Sultan in memory of his father. Remember to take your shoes off, and collect a black robe to wear whilst you visit this most beautiful and holy of mosques.
• SPOT A PROBOSCIS MONKEY– Glide inland through the Brunei river at dusk and watch for the ultra-rare Proboscis Monkey to start feeding. Only the males have the classic protruding nose, but the females may well be carrying young, as they swing from tree to tree.
• GULP AT THE GOLD in the Royal Regalia Museum. His Majesty’s carriages and uniforms as well as his coronation regalia are kept here, plus many of the gifts he’s received over the years. It is all, naturally, made of pure gold.
• HAVE TEA at the ancient Kampung Ayer Water Village. Take a water taxi across the river and visit a family in one of the classic houses on stilts over the water itself.
• VISIT A TRADITIONAL LONGHOUSE – dwellings unique to Borneo. They consist of one long communal room on stilts, with private family areas at the back, originally built by the Iban, Borneo’s indigenous people.
  
   

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