KAMPONG AYER

The city was described in 1521 as the Venice of the East by Magellan's chronicler and its name literally means the "village on the water". It is in a way the soul of Brunei, the secular heart of the kingdom's commerce and administrations. Although it now faces the modern BSB, it is still considered the largest village on stilts in the world, with a population of about 30,000 people who, despite the insalubrity and fires, would not leave their quiet traditional homes for anything in the world.