Off to Bandar Seri Begawan.

The photos are: 1) the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque; 2) a night view of the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque; 3) the Ceremonial Ship beside the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque; 4) Street scenery, Jalan Sultan; 5) the Malay Technology Museum at Kota Batu; 6) a street in Gadong, the main shopping district of Bandar Seri Begawan; 7) the Brunei Museum; 8) a Memorial opposite Kampong Ayer; 9) the Tomb of the late Sultan Sharif Ali, also known as Sultan Berkat, the third Sultan of Brunei; 10) the Royal Regalia Building; 11) an exhibit in the front of the Royal Regalia Building; 12) Brunei Darussalam's sculpture at Persiaran Damuan; 13) the Sungei Brunei (Brunei river); 14) boats docked on the Kampong Ayer; 15) a larger view of the Kampong Ayer; and 16) water taxis awaiting passengers near Jalan MacArthur.

Bandar Seri Begawan, with an estimated population 140,000 (as of 2010), is the capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Brunei. The urban area has a population of 276,000 people.

Habitation on the banks of the Brunei River can be traced back to the 7th century where there had been settlements similar to those in Kampong Ayer, located on areas close to the present site of the Brunei Museum. Seri Begawan was named after the Sultan's late father Sir Omar Ali Saifuddien on 5 October 1970, its original name being Bandar Brunei. Begawan is a name given to Bruneian monarchs who have abdicated, originally coming from the Sanskrit word for "god": bhagavān. Seri also comes from the honorific Sanskrit word Sri. Bandar, comes from Persian via Indian languages and means "port" or "haven" (bandar means "town" in Malay).
On 1 August 2007, The Sultan of Brunei gave consent for the extension of Bandar Seri Begawan from 12.87 square kilometres to 100.36 square kilometres.

The capital is connected to Bus of Bandar Seri Begawan the western part of the country by road. To get to the eastern part of Brunei (Temburong) it is necessary to travel through Sarawak which is in Malaysia, via the town of Limbang which is accessed by the Kuala Lurah Bus terminal. To get to Bandar Seri Begawan from the west, access is via Miri town in Sarawak via the Sungai Tujuh Bus terminal and then along the coastal highway. The main bus station in the city is located in Jalan Cator underneath a multi-story car park. There are six bus routes servicing Bandar Seri Begawan area; the Central Line, Circle Line, Eastern Line, Southern Line, Western Line and Northern Line. The buses operate from 6.30 am till 6.00pm except for Bus No. 1 and 20 which have extended to the night. All bus routes begin and terminate their journey at the main bus terminal. Buses heading to other towns in Brunei such as Tutong, Seria and Kuala Belait also depart from the main bus terminal and Taxicab.

Brunei International Airport serves the whole country. It is 11 km from the town centre and can be reached in 10 minutes via the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Highway. Airlines flying into the airport include Royal Brunei Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Air Asia, Cebu Pacific and Thai Airways International.

A water taxi service known as 'penambang' is used for transportation between downtown Bandar Seri Begawan and Kampong Ayer. Water taxis are the most common means of negotiating the waterways of Kampung Ayer. They can be hailed from the numerous "docking parts" along the banks of the Brunei River. Fares are negotiable. Regular water taxi and boat services depart for Temburong between 7:45 am and 4 pm daily, and also serve the Malaysian towns of Limbang, Lawas, Sundar and Labuan. A speedboat is used for passengers traveling to Penamdang Ferry Service and from Bangar and Limbang.

Mosques:
The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque - Built in 1958, features a golden dome and an interior of Italian marble walls, carpeting and an elevator. It also has tunnels, which are used by the Sultan on journeys through the town.
Jame'asr Hassanil Bolkiah Mosque - This mosque is the largest and is one of the most magnificent looking mosques in Brunei. It was built to commemorate the 25th anniversary His majesty the Sultan reign. It is locally known as the Kiarong mosque.

Historical Sites:
The Royal Ceremonial Hall or Lapau - Located in Jalan Kianggeh the Lapau (Royal Ceremonial Hall) is used for royal traditional ceremonies. It was here that His Majesty the Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah was crowned on 1 August 1968. The interior of the Lapau and Sultan's throne are decorated in exquisite gold. Within the precincts of the Lapau is the Dewan Majlis where the legislative assembly used to sit. Official permission is required by visitors to enter this building. With the completion of the new legislative council building in Jalan Mabohai, The Lapau will soon become a symbol of the Sultanate's constitutional history.

Late sultan Bolkiah's tomb in Kota Batu
Late sultan Sharif Ali's tomb in Kota Batu

The Royal Mausoleum (Makam Di-Raja)- Located away from on the banks of Sungei Brunei behind the department store Soon Lee Megamart at Mile One, Jalan Tutong, the Royal Mausoleum and the graveyard have been used by succeeding generations of Sultans. Inside the Mausoleum itself are the remains of the last four Sultans, Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddin (1950–1967), who died in 1986, Ahmad Tajuddin Ibnu Sultan Muhammad Jamalul Alam (1924–1950), Muhammad Jamalul Alam Ibnu Sultan Hashim (1906–1924), and Hashim Jalilul Alam Putera Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II (1885–1906). Other members of the royal families from those times are also buried there.

Museums:
Located on an archaeological site at Kota Batu, Brunei museum is the largest in the country.Brunei Museum (Muzium Brunei) - Located on an archeological site at Kota Batu about 5 km from Bandar Seri Begawan, this museum is the largest in the country. It was first established in 1965 and occupied its present site since 1970. Officially opened in 1972, the museum focuses on Islamic history, natural history, Brunei artifacts and customs, ceramics and the oil industry of Brunei. The museum is reachable by public transport.

The Malay Technology Museum (Muzium Teknologi Melayu) - Malay Technology Museum is located next to the Brunei Museum at Kota Batu. The building was donated by the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of companies, in conjunction with the Sultanate's independence in 1984. The museum was officially opened by His Majesty the Sultan on 29 February 1988.

The Royal Regalia Building - Located at Jalan Sultan, this museum is devoted to His Majesty the Sultan, Hassanal Bolkiah. The main gallery displays the coronation and Silver Jubilee Chariots, gold and silver ceremonial armory and traditional jewellery encrusted coronation crowns. A collection of documents that chronicles His Majesty's life up to the coronation together with the constitutional history gallery is also housed in the same building.

The Brunei History Center - Located at Jalan Sultan next to the Royal Regalia building is the Brunei history center. The center was opened in 1982 with a brief to research the history of Brunei. Much of that work has been establishing the genealogy and history of the Sultans and Royal Family. The public display has a wealth of information on these subjects including replicas and brass rubbings of tombs. A flow chart giving the entire lineage of the Brunei Sultans can be found at the entrance.

Brunei Stamp Gallery - The recently opened Brunei Stamp Gallery is located inside the post office building in Jalan Sultan.

Bubongan Duabelas - The name which translates to the House of Twelve Roofs is located in Jalan Residency. It was built in 1906 and was formerly the official residence of British residents and high commissioners in Brunei. It is one of the oldest surviving building in Bandar Seri Begawan. It now serves as a gallery that exhibits the long standing relationship between the Sultanate and the United Kingdom
The Arts and Handicrafts Center - Located at Jalan Residency it was opened in 1980. Brunei's fine arts and crafts date back to centuries and are part of the nation's proud heritage. The Arts and Handicrafts Center conducts courses in silverware, brassware, woodcarving, songkok-making, weaving and basketry.

Kampong Ayer:
The city incorporates nearby Kampong Ayer, 'water village' , which has houses on stilts and stretches about 8 km along the Brunei river (Sungei Brunei). It is a well preserved national heritage site, the largest of its kind in the world with approximately 30,000 residents. The Kampong is over 1,000 years old. The name Venice of the East was coined by Antonio Pigafetta in honor of the water village he encountered at Kota Batu (just east of city's central business district). Pigafetta was on Magellan's voyages in 1521.

Self contained, the water village is equipped with schools, police stations, clinics, a waterborne fire brigade and mosques. Kampong Ayer existed since the 10th century A.D, is actually a cluster of villages, each with their own village leader (head of the villages), or Ketua Kampong. The villages are connected by a complex web of walkways and bridges. Kampong Ayer's historical importance lies in the fact that the Sultanate's civilization started here with fishing as one of the main livelihoods of the villages. There was a concentration of skilled craftsmen producing handicrafts from brass, silver and wood, hence granting the water village a status of commercial and social importance.

The skills of these craftsmen can be viewed at The Kampong Ayer Cultural & Tourism Gallery. The construction of the gallery was started in August 2007 and it was completed in June 2009 with an enclosed area of 565 sq meters. Some unique treasures of the Kampong Ayer over its illustrious history are exhibited in 5 mini-galleries within the building.

Education:
All levels of education are available in Bandar Seri Begawan from kindergarten to the tertiary level. The Universiti Brunei Darussalam, established on 28 October 1985, only a year after the Sultanate regained full independence, is located four and a half kilometres from the city center. It is the oldest and also the largest university in Brunei in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered. The Sultanate's second university, Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali, is also located in Bandar Seri Begawan's suburb of Gadong. It was established on 1 January 2007 as an Islamic university.

Higher Educational Institutes in Bandar Seri Begawan include Maktab Sains Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan (College of Science, Paduka Seri Begawan Sultan), Institute Teknologi of Brunei, Maktab Jururawat Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah (the only nursing college in Brunei), Maktab Teknik Sultan Saiful Rijal (College of Technical Sultan Saiful Rijal), and Pusat Tingkatan Enam Meragang (Meragang Sixth Form Centre).

Schools in the capital include Chung Hwa Middle School, St. George's School, St. Andrew's School, International School Brunei (ISB), Jerudong International School, Kolej Universiti Perguruan Ugama Seri Begawan, and Institut Tahfiz Al Quran Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (ITQSHHB).