Kuala Belait, Brunei

Kuala Belait is the second largest city in Brunei. Kuala Belait lies along the Belait River near the South China Sea, west of Seria. Kuala Belait is a river port at the center of an oil field that includes offshore wells..The last town before Sarawak, Kuala Belait is the main town in Belait district and the place to get buses to Miri. ‘KB' (not to be confused with Kuala Baram on the Sarawak side of the border, or Kota Belud in Sabah, or indeed a ‘knock-back' anywhere else) has colonial shophouses in the town centre, the Silver Jubilee Park (Jln Maulana) and a reasonable beach, though most travellers just hustle through on their way to or from Sarawak. The HSBC bank has an ATM, diagonally opposite the bus station on Jln McKerron. You can hire a boat by the market for trips south up the river to Kuala Balai, a small river village that was once the largest settlement in the district. It's now almost deserted because the residents have left to find work in the oil industry on the coast, but locals do maintain a traditional-style longhouse for tourists to visit. The 45-minute trip (one way) passes by lush jungle at the river's edge. Price is by negotiation, but expect to pay about B$150 each way. Tours from BSB cost from B$120 per person, including jungle trekking, a visit to a tribal skull house and a chance to try out traditional activities such as sago processing and roof thatching.