Baucau - Dili

Still feeling rough, I forego breakfast this morning.

Today we are just making our way straight back to Dili, the capital of Timor Leste (AKA East Timor), where we started our visit here in this small country. We do stop, however, to photograph some things along the way.

Royal School, Venilale

During the Portuguese time, this grand building was their regional admin centre, and during Indonesian occupation it was a government building. Now it is used as a school, owned by the convent.

Red bananas for sale at a roadside stall

Laleia Church

Built by the Portuguese in 1933, the church is undergoing restoration. The arch made from palm leaves is from a recent celebration.

Santo Antonio Statue

The shrine of St Anthony offers great views over Manatutu.

Beachside Hotel

When we arrived back at the hotel we stayed in a week ago, we are disappointed to find that we are booked into one of their basic rooms, rather than Room 6, which we had before, and which we specifically asked for when we booked. There is nothing wrong with the room as such, it’s just not as big as Room 6, doesn’t have a seating area, and is facing the car park rather than having a lovely big balcony overlooking the beach and the sea beyond. The staff know nothing about our special request, and as Room 6 is occupied by someone else, there is not much we can do now.

Lunch

Not having eaten since breakfast yesterday, I feel it would probably be prudent to eat something at this stage.

Pressed sandwich with smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onion, and capers. The portion is massive, I eat one of them, as well as the salmon out of the other.

David’s cream tea.

The air conditioning in the room is efficient, and we both spend the afternoon sleeping, waking in time for dinner.

Bunless burger - I manage four bites before I have to give up

David does marginally better with his chicken schnitzel.

After dinner, it is straight back to bed.

Thursday 5th October

Today we have a free day as part of our itinerary, which suits us perfectly, as we both still feel rather unwell. I slept fitfully, with several nasty nightmares (always happens to me when I have a chest infection), and waking to cough every 20 minutes or so.

We stay in the air-conditioned room all day, updating paperwork, completing the Indonesian Customs Declaration, the Philippines e-visa, Kuwait e-visa, and catching up on other important stuff using the free wifi.

Thank you to Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this adventurous Grand South East Asia Tour for us.