Aileu

Seeing some real mountains in Timor Leste was the plan for today 🤩
I postponed Atauro island and snorkeling there, to give my wounds some more time to heal, but went to see the highest mountains of Timor Leste, going from Dili to the south. Went together with another traveler I'd met before in Dili, on our scooters for a day trip.
Well, we finally didn't make it there. 😅
Spotted out a very nice looking valley, only a short detour, and discovered Seloi Craic 🤩 A beautiful place, a very shallow but wide lake, surrounded by rice and vegetables fields, a few villages and beautiful woods and hills. It was such a peaceful and quiet area, people were so welcoming, so we decided to go all around the lake to explore and enjoy. Awesome.
There was a small walking bridge over the middle of the lake, where locals were fishing, people were working on their fields, and everyone we met, took some time to welcome us and have a chitchat.
Had a great locally made coffee at a local shop, before we went on.
Again we took a small detour, spontaneously decided to visit a sacred tree, close by. Got a private tour from the local police chief, as we met his daughter on the street. 😅
Finally it already was time to go back, still far away from Maubisse, the original destination, but no regrets, it was an awesome trip!
Taking a side road instead of the main road, is (mostly 😅) a great choice: going downhills into Dili, I stumbled upon a tiny little chapel, built into the mountains, and very nicely decorated.
Further on, going through some poor and less developed districts of Dili, I spotted a place where something's going on: Many many scooters parked, lot of people going around, let's have a look: I've found a professional cock fight arena 😯
A professional cage, surrounded by stairs so people have a good view, everything roofed and several food stalls and shops for drinks and snacks around. You could clearly see, that there's a lot of money going around. Even if it's officially illegal and most younger people really dislike this part of their culture, it's still a big thing and impressive to see. No question about the moral, ethical dilemma with that kind of thing, but still it is fascinating to experience it personally.Read more