Monday, 29 January 2024
I woke up for prayers then tried to sleep in but couldn’t.
Showered and went for breakfast after dhuha prayers. Breakfast here was a more
modest affair, I guess I can’t complain much if I’m paying $10 per night eh.
After breakfast, I went up to read. The view was incredible again. It’s
difficult to tell where the sea ended and the sky started as it was just blue in
the distance. There was no ship to be sighted at all and I thought it strange
but it probably wasn’t a shipping route.
After a while, I saw the gate to the Mercado Municipal open and decided to check it out. So I went out in mid-morning and had a look around. I also walked up and found a Muslim lady selling bakso. She said it was one of the two halal eateries in Baucau and the other one is on the New Town. I also walked down the steps to Piscina but the swimming pool was drained of water. It probably only opens on weekends. There were school students everywhere and I thought it strange that they’d finished classes for the day when it was barely 11:30 a.m.
I went back to the guesthouse, finished my book and started
another book. Realised that I had actually read it before but decided to stick
to it as I only had only one other half-finished book with me. Rested.
Went out at 17:30 to find dinner. Confirmed with Madam Nina,
I would travel back to Dili with her and her adult son tomorrow morning.
Alhamdulillah. Walked to the restaurant selling halal bakso and Mie Ayam and
had the latter for dinner. Got back $3 equivalent in local currency.
It rained in the early evening as I was performing prayers.
Tuesday, 30 January 2024
I packed after prayers then went for breakfast. I found that
some government officials had checked in during the night - saw their official
car and later met them during breakfast. They left first.
I left with Madam Nina and her son at 08:00. It was a
picturesque drive, something I’d miss if I was riding the bus. As we drove on,
I realised that Baucau was sited on top of an elevation of some 1,000 feet
above sea level. We do rove past small towns, villages, paddy fields, dry
rivers, hills and caught glimpses of the sea. Just a few km outside Dili, Nina
stopped to let two young men board the pickup.
I got down near the Japan International Cooperation Agency
and walked to Casa Minha Backpackers Hostel. The road worsened with every step
I took and after turning into a junction, hardly resembled a road. It was
potholed and every passing vehicle brought up dust and I was so so glad that I
was wearing my Converse instead of FitFlops. I mean, I was disappointed enough
to find those roads in Baucau but not in downtown Dili.
I finally reached the backpackers’ hostel (no sign anywhere
so I had to ask around) and checked in. After catching my breath, I went out. I
wanted to catch a microlet to the main road but none came so I walked ten
minutes to the main road. The road to the main road wasn’t any better. I came
across a Muslim lady selling some lunch and stopped to chat with her before
continuing on.
I crossed the main road and hailed down microlet #10 to Tasi
Tolu, the terminal for microlets to Liquiçá. I was spared the pain of waiting
for the bus to Baucau but this time, I had to endure sitting close to an hour
in the stuffy and hot microlet while waiting for passengers to fill it up. The
driver went around and around five blinking times and did a u-turn twice. I was
close to losing my temper and getting down. We finally left and the trip took
55 minutes, which was the same amount of time we spent rotting in the microlet.
Strewth! The trip cost USD2.
The microlet driver must’ve dropped us at the edge of the
town because what I saw didn’t attract me to stay longer. I decided to walk
down to the beach but wasn’t impressed. I guess we’re spoilt, as we are used to
sandy beaches. There, the beach was pebbly. There was a narrow stretch of sand
but that was it.
I turned back and boarded a microlet bound for Dili and had
to endure the same going-around-in-circles-like-headless-chicken routine as
before. But at least I got to see glimpses of the town.
We arrived back at Tasi Tolu and I took a microlet back to
Timor Plaza. Dark clouds were overhead when we reached Timor Plaza and after a
quick browse, I trudged back to the backpackers’. It rained about half an hour
after I reached my room. I stayed in and started a new book. There were two men
in the living room but they didn’t look friendly.
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
I woke up for morning prayers and at 07:15, went out for a
morning walk to the sea. Surprisingly, the road improved before it got bad
again. I didn’t stay long there before turning back.
After my shower, I had breakfast and then finished packing.
I left just after 11:00 (also the check-out time) and took microlet #9 to the
roundabout outside the airport. It was a hot mid-morning and the walk in from
the roundabout took about ten minutes. I decided to check in my bag immediately
and go and sit in the waiting area. There was passport control and security
check but they didn’t ask me to leave my water bottle behind or empty my
tumbler. The Citilink plane from Denpasar arrived on time and we boarded some
half an hour later.
I decided to perform prayers on board and good thing I did
because we had to take a bus from the airplane to the terminal building before
joining the long queue to clear passport control at Denpasar. Even after the
bus ride and passport queue, our bags were only starting to come out to the
baggage carousel. Frankly, I expected better at Denpasar. And the wifi was also
spotty for some reason. I was able to check my Teams at first, then couldn’t
and couldn’t access my work inbox either although I could see how many emails I
had to clear. So strange. I made my way to gate 6B for my flight home. We had
to take another bus to the airplane too.
We landed at KLIA at 19:30. My bag came out at 19:50 and as I obviously wouldn't be able to make the 19:52 KLIA Transit train, I performed prayers first before making my way home. And that was my trip to Timor Leste. And now I can finally say that I've been to all ASEAN countries. Alhamdulillah.
|