Tailor made holidays to Brunei Darussalam

Holidays in Brunei Darussalam

It's not the largest country you'll ever visit, but pound for pound it's probably the richest. Divided into two by the political machinations of the British, Brunei Darussalam - or as it's more commonly known, Brunei - is a country not only built on oil, but one that probably owes its existence to the discovery of the valuable commodity here in the 1920s.

Almost everyone has heard of the legendary Sultan of Brunei. His personal wealth puts him in the category of one of the richest people in the world, and he rules his country with an absolute power that few monarchs in the world now enjoy. The Sultan though is an enlightened ruler, and his personal wealth and that of his country have gone into building a modern capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan and creating an exemplary welfare state.

Before the advent of oil the whole of Brunei was more like the eastern part of the country - the largely forested district state of Temburong. Incredibly the current Sultan is a direct descendant of the Sultan Mohammed, who converted to Islam in 1365, and thus founded the longest single-bloodline royal dynasty still in existence in the world. Over the generations the Sultans have ruled over the whole of Borneo and parts of what are today the Philippines and Indonesia. They were still in power when Borneo became a pirate enclave, and they survived British attempts to divide up their dwindling territory.

Visitors today find Brunei one of those fascinatingly varied destinations. While Bandar Seri Begawan (often shortened to "Bandar" or even BSB) is thoroughly modern, once you get outside the city you can very quickly find yourself among empty space, where the road is the only symbol of civilisation. Parts of the interior are still covered in rainforest and swampland, and in Temburong it's hard to believe that you're still in one of the richest per capita countries in the world.

Most visitors who come here are seeking some sort of escapism - Borneo is still regarded as one of the few places on Earth where genuine explorers have some work to do - and in Brunei you can escape without getting too far away from the luxuries and comforts of five-star travel - it's the perfect compromise. Most interestingly of all you can still see the traditional longhouses of the Iban people, one of the tribes of Borneo and one-time headhunters. Nowadays they live a peaceful farming existence far removed from any of the trappings of oil wealth.

The South China Sea has obvious attractions - divers will find some of the most accessible and beautiful soft coral reefs in Brunei bay, while along the coast deserted white sandy beaches are open for exploration.