text and photos by: Prime Sarmiento

  Oh hello, I know that you missed me but I was so engrossed with my new job as a newspaper editor in the heart of Borneo that I sort of sometimes forget that I'm still a Gypsy Gal at heart and therefore need to explore more and wtite more.

  But anyway…. I finally managed to step out of the newsroom and be a turista for a while in Bandar Seri Begawan. And what better way to do that but to visit Kampong  Ayer (Water Village) – the so-called"Venice of the East"and Brunei's heritage site.

  I had my Kampong Ayer trip organized by a travel company. Theoretically, this is one trip that I could have done on my own. But the thing is, buses and taxis are not very common in Brunei, and since I don't drive, I always have to either join someone or hire someone to drive me around. I need a car in order to go from my flat in Gadong to the water taxi jetty in the centre. 

I got to ride a private water taxi [long wooden speed boats actually] to get from the port in Bandar to the village.

  The century-old Kampong Ayer is home to more than 30,000 people and has its own mosque, restaurants, shops, schools, a hospital,potable water supply, electricity and even a fire station! They live in wooden homes. They may look simple outside, but like most Malays who are house proud, residents of the Water Village decorate their homes with colorful and ornate interiors.

  For example, this blue house is one of the must visit homes in Kampong Ayer! The father of the house is a carpenter who likes to collect all these barang barang and then use them to decorate the family abode and then paint the house with a particular color that fits his fancy every six months! As of this moment, the house is in blue and pink, who knows what will be the color motif in the next six months.

And here's the lovely interior of that blue house.

The best way to discover Kampong Ayer is by walking around the area, using the wooden foot bridge that connects one neighborhood to another.