Kampong Ayer

Early European visitors to Brunei described Kampong Ayer, or Water Village, as the Venice of the East. Today, visitors continue to be fascinated by these traditional and historic houses built on stilts over the water, spanning the greater part of the Brunei River.

Kampoung Ayer is home to about 30000 people and is accessible by boat or by wooden bridges from Bandar Seri Begawan. A visit to Brunei would not be complete without a trip to the this unique and intriguing place.

Kampong Ayer Cultural & Tourism Gallery is our latest Gallery that lies in "Kampong Ayer" or Water Village. This unique Gallery was established to provide visitors and locals alike a glimpse of Kampong Ayer's celebrated past and revive the cottage industries from days of old, integrating them into our modern economy.

                                                        Kampong Ayer

 

 

 

This sprawling "Water Village" built on stilts over the Brunei River, has over 30,000 inhabitants and although such fishing villages are relatively common along the coast of Borneo and Malaysia, there is nothing that comes close to the vast scale or history of Kampong Ayer.

The stilted city, which was described by early European travellers as the 'Venice of the East', is actually a collection of small kampongs each with their own names and their own Government-appointed leaders, or "ketua kampong" . The myriad homes, which have piped water and electricity and are bedecked by a forest of TV aerials, are interconnected by a maze of wooden walkways along which it is possible to walk from one end of the village to the other. This amazing community is almost self-contained. It has shops, mosques, schools, a police station, fire station and medical clinics.

Water Taxis

Kampong Ayer is equally famous for the armada of water taxis which speed around the village transporting people and goods.

Hiring a boat and driver is very easy and costs around B$10 - 15 for half an hour or so. Just appear at the top of the steps across from the Yayasan complex and there will soon be someone there touting for your business.