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The view over Dili from the hills near
Dare |
We considered taking a trip to the mountain town of Maubisse, but the thought of another full-day tour was too much! It would be almost half a day each way on the rough narrow winding roads. Instead we arranged a half-day tour south to Ailieu with Jacqueline.
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| The Dare Museum and Cafe |
The road quickly winds up the hills behind Dili where we passed the Presidential house where Xanana Gusmao lives and stopped at the museum in Dare (pronounced as Daray) which was dedicated to the cooperation between the Timorese people - Fuzzy Wuzzy angels as they were referred to by Australian troops of the Australian Sparrow force in WWII.
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| In Memory |
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| A bench at the Dare Museum |
There is a strong connection here between the Timorese and
Australians as a result of the shared effort to defeat the Japanese
during the war. Quote: "Many Timorese and Portuguese have fought and fallen together with allied Australian and Dutch military".
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Three pillars sign at the
entry to Aileu |
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| Drying coffee beans |
Although the growing season was over, we saw many coffee trees growing in the hills, and along the road, coffee and cloves being dried in the sun. The road twisted and turned as usual until we arrived at Aileu.
This was one of the areas in the
Battle of Timor where "Many East Timorese civilians and Portuguese European colonists fought with the Allies, or provided food, shelter and other assistance. For this, they paid a heavy price and tens of thousands of Timorese civilians died as a result of the Japanese occupation, which lasted until the end of the war in 1945."
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Part of the memorial to those killed in a
massacre at Aileu in 1942 |
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Discussing the menu with the
Portuguese soldiers |
Lunch was at Restaurante Zery where we meet some friendly Portuguese soldiers who give us some advice about the food – "don't order the soup, it could take more than an hour, and avoid the fish, it's been a while since they've seen the ocean! The chicken and pork is OK"
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| The crocodile... |
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| ...and the audience |
The soldiers mentioned that there was a crocodile nearby so we went to look - it was in a police station in a compound surrounded by school kids - we don't know how long it's been there, but it was definitely a local attraction.
A little wearied by the heat and journey, we headed back to Dili and looked forward to a relaxing afternoon.
That night we ate at the restaurant at the Dili Hotel, where I ordered the smallest bottle of wine I’ve ever seen. I realised later that they are the same 187 ml bottles that are served on airlines, but I'd never seen one before, and never seen them sold in restaurants.
