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Witness / Attend in Kampong Ayer
The stilt-house water village strung along the Brunei River in the heart of Bandar Seri Begawan, one of the largest settlements on water in the world, a centuries-old maze of timber houses, mosques, schools and boardwalks reached by darting water taxis.
Why here
Kampong Ayer is a whole town built on stilts over the Brunei River, lived in for more than a thousand years and still home to thousands of people in a lattice of wooden houses, mosques, schools, shops and clinics linked by boardwalks and water taxis. The Italian chronicler Pigafetta, sailing with Magellan in 1521, called it the Venice of the East. You do not just look at it, you go in: cross by a fifty-cent water taxi to the Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery to climb its observation tower and read the village's history, then walk the plank walkways between homes, stop for tea and traditional cakes in a family house, and watch daily life carry on above the tide. Staying overnight in a village homestay, woken by the call to prayer echoing over the water, is the fullest way to feel a way of life that is disappearing across Borneo.
Best months
The village is lived in and open every day; the Cultural and Tourism Gallery closes on Fridays and public holidays for prayers. Walkways can be slippery after rain and some are weathered, so tread carefully and dress modestly out of respect for a conservative Muslim community. A water taxi across is cheap and constant; a guided visit or a homestay opens the doors of family houses that a self-guided walk does not.
Getting there & around
Kampong Ayer sits directly across the river from the Bandar Seri Begawan waterfront; water taxis run constantly for a token fare and drop at the Cultural and Tourism Gallery and village jetties. A guided cultural tour or a night in a family homestay is arranged ahead and includes the boat, a house visit and often a meal. Modest dress and asking before photographing people are expected in this Muslim community.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery
OrganizerThe Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery is the official visitor gateway to Brunei's water village, opened on 19 August 2009 by the Tourism Development Department on the Kampong Ayer side of the Brunei River. Its exhibits trace the thousand-year history, crafts and daily life of the stilt settlement, and an observation tower gives a view across the sprawl of timber houses and mosques. It is the starting point for self-guided and guided walks through the village.
Warisan Homestay
GuideWarisan Homestay is a family-run homestay set in a traditional timber house in Kampong Ayer, whose caretakers double as local guides and tour hosts. Guests sleep in a working water-village home, cross the river by boat, share meals of Bruneian home cooking and are shown the boardwalks, mosques and crafts of the settlement by the family who live there. With no separate website, it takes bookings and enquiries through its active Facebook page.