Some weeks ago photos of the natural bridge in Venilale (Ponte Natureza) emerged on Facebook after a few friends went down for the weekend. Since then, a group of us have talked enviously of doing the same, determined to replicate these beautiful photographs.
Tagtimor
That warung called Lilis
Three pairs of thongs and four months later, I’m nearing the end of my time in Dili. Burger King seems to sense that our time is up and have cut down their burger options significantly. They say shipments have been blocked so they’ve been stuck without half the ingredients for the past couple of weeks, leaving their most loyal customer (Joris) quite disgruntled.
450 kilometres around Timor
Three days after Christmas we set off on a big bike tour around Timor. From Dili we rode south to Same, along the south coast to Viqueque and back up to Baucau, covering approximately 450 kilometres over 3 days. Some roads were great and others more rough, but 450 kilometres was enough to leave us heavily sunburnt and sore, requiring 2 solid days of recovery upon return (before any attempt to remove ourselves from the couch).
Christmas in Dili
Christmas day began with the sound of heavy rain and Joris muttering about worstenbroodjes. The rain stuck around for most of the day but the boy soon accepted that this was going to be a Christmas without worstenbroodjes.
A week on Atauro island
So today is day 5 of this island life. That means it’s been four days without a proper shower, four days of heavy repellant layering (even in bed) and despite this, countless mosquito bites and constant itching. But, the beach has never been more accessible, sunrises more beautiful and life this simple and serene.
Liquiçá to Bazartete
Last weekend we escaped the heat briefly and traded it for the cooler temperatures of the mountains. From Dili we rode along the coast to Liquiçá and then headed inland to Bazartete, a small village located on the mountain top.
National Youth Day
Last Thursday was National Youth Day and to my luck, the second public holiday in the brief time I’ve been here. Besides being National Youth Day, November 12th also marks the anniversary of the 1991 Santa Cruz Massacre where over 250 Timorese pro-independence demonstrators (mostly youth) were shot during a peaceful protest.
Cockfighting
Every weekend cockfights are held in the park across the road from us. It draws a large crowd and naturally my curiosity insisted we wander over and take a peek. Lucky for us, the last match had just finished up as we approached. We watched as a rooster leg was brought out from the arena and were quite relieved we didn’t see the brutality of it all.
Two weeks in
I arrived in Dili two weeks ago dreading the heat, mosquitos, odd-smelling shower water, lack of food options and everything else Joris warned me about in my pre-departure briefing. (His words were – ‘you just need to be more chilled and ok with it’). All the same, I had been looking forward to a new adventure for a long while and was very excited about the new land, culture and cheap Nasi Goreng.