Kampong Ayer – Wooden Village over Water

Brunei’s capital, Bandar Seri Begawan would be expected to have established urban settlement from corner to corner, since it’s the capital and the metropolitan hub while housing the country’s ruling monarchy. However, behind every success there is a backstage to it, and this capital has reserved its urban expanse from spreading over its grass roots from which it has taken base.

“Kampong Ayer”, the native term for the water village, consists of an assortment of multiple villages which were initially the trading platforms of Borneo centuries ago. Financial power spearheaded from international trade let the development spread over the region what is known today as Bandar Seri Begawan. The entire village consists of wooden huts built upon stilts which keep them above the water from the Burmese river.

Burmese national administration have officiated a prestigious status for the village and thus have allocated organized municipal management to regulate social services including hospitals, policing and water supply. The village is reputed as a heritage by the residents themselves, who have accordingly painted the walls in vibrant colors. These colors hunched together in adjoining huts give the village the look of some alien wonderland from an aerial view.

Tourists have a habit of drawing contrast of Kampong Ayer with the Italian city of Venice. Venice does have its own romance with gondolas sailing upon canals under interconnecting bridges, but urbanized development has brought Venice distant from the pearls of common simplicity. With the status of being a global highlight, international restaurants and hotels have popped up on every corner. A Venetian native would best recognize the difference and the originality Kampong Ayer retains in the absence of these developments.

A second advantage is that with the waters more stable, the buildings are lower in height than those in Venice. With the entire village connected with wooden bridges, a stroll would indeed seem precariously risky, but you’ll be left in awe with the workload undertaken by the locals on those very same boardwalks. Their social life is visible, with children playing and running and the women folk chatting in fluent Malay.

Bandar Seri Begawan flights will land you in the same city where Kampong Ayer is established, cut off from the mainland and thus remaining only accessible by boat. Why, it’s the main place in the region to get a boat as a water taxi to ferry you for a tour around the river, getting views of Bandar Seri Begawan’s main landmarks including its mosques and the Royal Palace “Istana Nurul Iman”. Speedboats are a norm when it’s just for conveyance, but they’re too noisy and disturb the calm water and pristine environment. Since you’ll be taking a ride, it would be advisable to sail in a traditional boat slowly drifting along the town life on bridges to observe.

Had people living here not contributed their effort in sanitation management, the village would have been a mess of a place. Its visible how they are making efforts in whatever capacity required, with some of them housing entire nurseries of plants in the ‘yards’ outside their doorsteps. Surprisingly, the village is not rural in its true sense. The lifestyle is as far away from being backward as possible, with felicitation of modern services such as internet, electricity and communication.