After spending most of the day exploring Bandar Seri Begawan on foot, I got back to Badi’ah Hotel at around 4 PM for some much-needed rest.

But my first full day in Brunei wasn’t over yet.

Missed the first half of Day 1? Read: Brunei Day 1 – Exploring Bandar Seri Begawan by Foot →

At around 5:30 PM, I headed out again and walked towards the waterfront. This time, I wanted to try something I had read about while researching for the trip: taking a local boat into the mangroves to look for Brunei’s famous proboscis monkeys.

The BND20 Boat Ride

I didn’t book a tour in advance.

From my research, I had read that these boat rides usually cost somewhere around BND15–25, so I decided that BND20 was my budget—right in the middle and an amount I was comfortable paying.

Here’s a little travel hack I tried: I only brought the BND20 I was willing to spend. Haha. That way, I wouldn’t be tempted to give in if I was quoted a higher price.

And sure enough, the first price I got from the boatman was BND30 for around 30–45 minutes.

I told him I only had BND20 with me. After a little haggling, he agreed.

BND20 it was.

With the price settled, we took off from the waterfront and headed towards the mangroves.

Proboscis Monkeys & an Unexpected Sunset

It didn’t take long for the scenery to change. From the city and the houses of Kampong Ayer, we were soon surrounded by mangroves, with the boatman scanning the trees for any sign of movement.

And yes, we found the proboscis monkeys!

They were high up in the trees, so you really had to look closely to spot them. Seeing them in their natural habitat was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

By the time we started heading back, the sun was already beginning to set.

I never actually booked a “sunset cruise.” My only plan was to find the proboscis monkeys, but the timing worked out perfectly.

The evening breeze was also a welcome change after spending most of the day walking under Brunei’s heat and humidity.

As we approached the city, the waterfront had become much livelier. Locals were out enjoying their Sunday afternoon, and I could see kites flying in the sky as the sun slowly went down.

So technically, my BND20 proboscis monkey hunt came with an unexpected sunset cruise too.

Not bad at all.

Ending the Night with BND3

After getting off the boat, I stayed around the waterfront and walked around the park for a while.

My original plan was to head to Gadong Night Market, but I noticed several food stalls nearby and decided to just have dinner there instead.

I found a simple chicken meal for BND2 and finished it off with a BND1 chendol.

BND3 for dinner and dessert.

Nothing fancy, but after a full day of exploring, it was exactly what I needed.

By then, the clouds were getting darker and it looked like rain was finally coming—which was funny considering I had started that same morning lying in bed because I thought it was already pouring outside.

And that was how I ended my first full day in Brunei: a DIY boat ride, proboscis monkeys in the wild, an unexpected sunset, and a very cheap dinner by the waterfront.

Sometimes, the simple and unplanned parts of a trip end up being the most memorable.

Day 1 in Brunei, officially done.