Brunei - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 52

much of it protected. he best area for
trekking is the Temburong district, an
area of pristine jungle largely
undiscovered by tourists. he principal
national park, Ulu Temburong, can be
visited independently, though most
people choose the easy option of visiting
as part of a tour from Bandar (see p.60).

1 BRUNEI ONLINE

W brudirect.com Daily local and
international news.
W bruneitourism.travel Brunei Tourism's
website has a wealth of information
- from seven-star hotels to local markets
- though it is a little out of date.
W thanislim.com Brunei's premier food
blogger reviews the country's best eats.

COMMUNICATIONS
Brunei has an e cient postal system; it
takes around a week for postcards to
reach Europe and the USA. here are a
number of internet cafés around
Bandar, most with headsets for Skype,
charging around B$3 per hour. here
are also numerous free wi-fi hotspots
scattered about town. Otherwise,
International (IDD) calls can be made
from call centres using the 095 access
code for B$0.30-0.50 per minute.
Local prepaid SIM cards with either
DST or B-Mobile cost B$30 and local
calls cost B$0.05-0.30. To phone
abroad from Brunei, dial T 00 + IDD
country code + area code minus first 0 +
subscriber number.

he main hospital is RIPAS Hospital in
Bandar (see p.61), which has modern
facilities and Western-trained staff.
Oral contraceptives and condoms are
available at pharmacies; tampons,
however, are not.

INFORMATION AND MAPS
In addition to Brunei Tourism's o ces
(see p.47), look out also for the glossy
quarterly Borneo Insider's Guide
( W borneoinsidersguide.com) magazine.
Nelles East Malaysia map has the best
coverage of Brunei, while the free O cial
Map of Brunei Darussalam is sometimes
found in the tourist o ces.

CRIME AND SAFETY
Brunei in general has very little crime
and travellers rarely experience any
trouble. Note that the possession of
drugs - whether hard or soft - carries a
hefty prison sentence, tra cking is
punishable by death by hanging and
Sharia law could be applied to tourists
for petty crime.

MONEY AND BANKS
Brunei's currency is the Brunei dollar,
which is divided into 100 cents; you'll
see it written as B$, or simply as $. he
Brunei dollar is tied to the Singapore
dollar, the two currencies used
interchangeably in both countries with
the exception of the S$2. Notes come in
B$1, B$5, B$10, B$50, B$100, B$500,
B$1000 and B$10,000 denominations;
coins are in denominations of 1, 5, 10,
20 and 50 cents (c). At the time of
writing, the exchange rate was B$2.01 to
the British pound, B$1.68 to the euro,
and B$1.25 to the US dollar.
here's no shortage of ATMs in BSB;
many accept all types of credit and debit
card. Money-changing outfits offer better
exchange rates than banks.
Major credit cards are accepted in
most hotels and large shops. Banks will
advance cash against MasterCard, Visa,
American Express or other Maestro, Plus
or Cirrus cards.

MEDICAL CARE AND EMERGENCIES
Medical services in Brunei are modern
and excellent, and staff speak good
English. Tourists must pay for medical
services upfront, and the cost depends
upon the level of treatment required.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS
Ambulance T 991
Fire brigade T 995
Police T 993