I have to admit when my friend Ian (Keker) told me he was moving with his family to Brunei, I assumed it was a barren desert like country in the middle East. It took a look at the map to realise I was several thousand miles and a whole continent out. Indeed, as the undercarriage lowered on our approach to the small airport in the country's capital of Bandar Seri Begowan (Bandar or BSB for short), my initial expectation of dry desert country couldn't have been further from the truth. Instead what greeted us was quite possibly the greenest place I have ever seen, mile upon mile of dense, lush looking tropical rainforest. Even the 10 min drive from Ian's house to Bandar cuts through thick jungle. A nearby hill delivers panoramic views of the local area, highlighting the city of Bandar and a few houses on it's outskirts are virtually hidden amongst the tropical jungle vegetation.

In case you aren't aware or haven't looked it up, Brunei is a small country on the island of Borneo. South of the Philippines and a 2hr flight east from KL, Borneo is shared between 3 countries. The east half of the island is Malaysian, the western side Indonesian and nestled in the middle of the Malaysian part and roughly the same size as Norfolk, is Brunei.

The deep green landscape can be attributed to two things, rain and sun, both of which Brunei and Borneo certainly get their fair share of. It hammered it down everyday we were there, mainly at night and sometimes for hours on end. Whether raining or not it was certainly scorching hot. We have spent the last 3 months in shorts and flip flops baking on the beaches of Thailand or raw heat of Cambodia but this was something else. A radiating sun you just have to escape coupled with an energy sapping humidity...and this was the coolest part of the year!

Dotted around the city are huge, immaculately clean white mosques. None are more impressive than the Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque standing on the lagoon near the riverfront. The extravagant detail funded by the Sultan at a cost of 5 million dollars. The central golden dome is surrounded by 4 tall white minarets all decorated in elaborate Islamic mosaic art. The largest of the countries Mosques is the Jame'Asr Hassanil Bolkiah, with its football ground style parking lots in the shopping district of Gadong.

Not necessarily what you expect to see in a oil rich land but perched on the Brunei river is a rather scruffy looking water village. The stilted homes and schools accessible by boat or rather unstable boardwalk are basic and something you would expect to see in Laos or Cambodia. Stranger still given that although some still follow the traditional way of life, many of the villages inhabitants commute across the water to work in the city. A reminder that not everyone is prepared to modernise or has even been able to access a share in the Sultans wealth.

A trip further up the river provides the best views of the Royal Palace. With a meagre 1,788 rooms and 267 bathrooms it is said to be worth $350 million. Given it's grandeur it is strangely rather well hidden with only a large golden dome poking out above the rainforest that surrounds it.

Immediately after the palace the river continues deep into the forest turning muddy brown against the tangled mangroves where a truly amazing ecosystem exists; lush green jungle hugging the riverbanks and hiding numerous tropical animals. The mangroves home to numerous colourful birds, but the first really exciting find was a black and bright yellow striped snake, coiled amongst branches overhanging the river. We continued up river with widened eyes hoping to spot a monkey or maybe even a crocodile. The boat turned a corner and to our surprise was a Proboscis monkey sat in a tree. Happy to see one we soon realised it was not alone and there was a whole troop dotted in the trees above. We had hoped to spot these comically large nosed primates but not quite so many and certainly not so easily. They are native only to Borneo and their distinctive race was a definite must see, so to tick this one off on our first wildlife hunt was especially pleasing.

School days start early and finish early in Bandar mainly due to the heat, but I would wager that it may actually be attributed to something else- Given that it's not possible to live anywhere out of earshot of a mosque, the loud wailing morning call to prayer is at 5.30am! An ideal alarm clock for the 60% Malay Muslim population but possibly not so appealing to the other inhabitants who are largely Buddhist Chinese. This is normally around the time Ian's day starts and not being known for his morning get up and go, this and the year round sweltering temperatures combined with taking a water taxi to a school on the water village, couldn't be any more different to a previous life back in the UK.

The city centre is quiet and not being on the South East Asia tourist route is refreshingly authentic. With locals not interested in finding an angle on attracting a passing tourist, it is comfortingly hassle free and has the feel of a relaxed and content country. Other than the grand mosques, it makes little attempt to show off it's wealth. It is Unlike any other city we have visited as the city centre is devoid of restaurants and obviously bars don't exist. Instead food courts inside or attached to the air conditioned shopping malls provide the evening entertainment.

The government are supposedly attempting to attract more tourists but the country is simply not set up to cope with an influx of backpackers. In all honesty with no alcohol laws and without the reliance on tourist money that is required by other countries in Asia, they are probably better off without it....