From Miri to Brunei by package delivery taxi

Journal date: August 1, 2023

While in Kuching, I met Pien, a Dutch backpacker who had just been traveling around Sabah, the northern part of Malaysian Borneo. She had lots of good info to pass along, including the contact number for a parcel service that takes passengers across the border into Brunei from Miri (and reverse) for a very reasonable price.

Since we were on the island anyway, it seemed a shame to miss visiting Brunei! We decided to go for it.

Our car service was FIND ME LOGISTICS; here’s their Instagram with contact info. We paid BND 40 / $30 USD pp for the taxi ride, which ended up being roughly 2.5 hours long. That price also included a pickup at our hotel in Miri and a drop off at our hotel in Bandar Serie Begawan, Brunei.

Our driver handled the border crossings for us and even stopped at a few places on the way up so we could do a little sightseeing! First we stopped at the Billionth Barrel Monument, which commemorates Brunei’s billionth barrel of oil produced. Behind the monument was a little beach where we watched some fishermen pull in their catch, and in front is art from local artists commemorating the history of oil production in Brunei.

Next we stopped at a little food stand and got a local chicken and rice dish wrapped in a leaf. I also got some fried bananas and a bottle of tea. Total: BND 5.50 / $1.20 USD.

She also stopped at an ATM so we could get some Brunei cash! Overall it was a wonderful experience and I’d highly recommend this service.

The first afternoon in Brunei

Our hotel in BSB was Miniinn, a homestay with private rooms and shared bathroom/kitchen/lounge. It was fairly comfortable but we had very loud neighbors who loved to talk on speakerphone at midnight. 🙃

Miniinn is in the Gadong neighborhood which is a little far from most of the tourist areas. However, it has a lot of great food choices, a huge mall, and connection to the two major bus lines that run through the city.

Buses are BND 1 per ride and have fairly good coverage across the city. They come roughly every 20-40 minutes and stop running at 5:30 or 6:00pm, which makes things a bit difficult if you’re trying to cram a lot of sightseeing into one day. More on that in another post…

After dropping our bags off, we took the bus over to Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, built in the 1950s and named after the 28th Sultan of Brunei. It’s very pretty, with imported marble and a big golden dome. Non-Muslim visitors have to wear a robe and can only go into a small part of the interior, as is standard for mosques in this part of the world.

While wandering around outside taking photographs, we ran into another traveler we’d met back in Kuching: Adrian! We had no idea he was in Brunei so it was a pleasant surprise; backpacking really is a small world.

Next: Visiting the water village and more in Brunei

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More adventures in Asia:

• A sunrise tour of Mt. Bromo, Java, Indonesia
• From Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang by bus and slow boat (October 2023)
• From Bangkok to Ayutthaya by train
• Day trip to Halong Bay, Vietnam from Hanoi