BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN , or
Bandar as it's known locally, is the
capital of Brunei and the
sultanate's only settlement of any
real size. Straddling the northern
bank of a twist in the Sungei
Brunei, the city is characterized by
its unlikely juxtaposition of
striking modern buildings (the
latest and most impressive being the
twin malls of the Yayasan Sultan
Haji Hassanal Bolkiah shopping
complex) and traditional stilt
houses. These stilt houses make up
the water village, or
Kampung
Ayer , Brunei's original seat of
power and still home to half the
city's population. Indeed, as
recently as the middle of the last
century, Brunei's capital was little
more than a sleepy water village,
but with the discovery of oil came
its evolution into the attractive,
clean and modern waterfront city of
today. Large-scale urbanization took
place north of the Sungei Brunei,
resulting in housing schemes,
shopping centres and, more
obviously, the magnificent
Omar
Ali Saifuddien Mosque , which
dominates the skyline of Bandar.
First-time visitors are pleasantly
surprised by a sense of space that's
rare in Southeast Asian cities.
However, Bandar isn't somewhere
you're likely to stay for long: most
of its sights can be seen in a day
or two. You might end up staying a
bit longer if you use it as a base
to explore outlying attractions such
as Temburong and Tutong. Tourism in
Brunei is still in its infancy and
is not yet seen as a moneyspinner,
so you'll find that many sites in
the capital have no entrance charge.
Orientation
Downtown Bandar is hemmed in by
water. To the east is Sungei
Kianggeh; to the south, the wide
Sungei Brunei; and to the west,
Sungei Kedayan, which runs up to the
Edinburgh Bridge. The Omar Ali
Saifuddien Mosque, overlooking the
compact knot of central...
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