Blogs from Maliana, East Timor, Asia
August 7th 2005
Even though there is a lot of commotion in the street outside I refuse to get up before ten. Billy and Manuella are already out visiting relatives, so I can take it slow with the mandi chores and have some noodles for breakfast and look as tired and grumpy as I want to. I then go sit out on the front porch and relax in the nice shadow. As they arrive back at the house we say goodbye and I finally get to deliver that phrase I have been practicing to remember all morning (Obrigadu barak ba Ita-nia ospitalidadi). We depart around elven with two more passengers, a woman from next door and a chicken. Before returning to Dili we will drive into the mountains and the ancestral cemetary where the great grandparents can be found. ... read more
August 6th 2005
Early morning again, and this time I finally manage to oversleep and thus have to hurry outside to the car. Soon we are on the way to Maliana. The main road follows the coast, snaking around ridges and mountains and offering some great views. The hills and mountains are dry and dusty, their colours mainly orange and brown, scattered with pale trees. There is a good lookout point not far from Dili from where you can occasionally see dolphins play in the shallows beneath. Some parts of the road was constructed by the Japanese during the occupation years and is generally in good condition although it can easily inspire to motion sickness. The route is mainly travelled by larger buses, some mikrolets and the occasional car. Except of course for when the road passes through one ... read more
