Went for a drive to an old coffee plantation. It is up in the hills behind Liquica, at about 3000 feet in altitude. Old house in the Portuguese colonial style. The whole package rang a lot of bells for me - the feel was not dissimilar to the house in Norton Bridge, Ceylon, where I spent the first six years of my life.
It is owned by an old Portuguese family. This Portuguese family are now landlords to lots of overseas aid agencies. We were treated to roast beef and lobster. In typical Portuguese style, the food was about two hours late. But worth it!
The Coffee Plantation is just a sideline for them now - really it is just a weekender with a whole bunch of woody weeds that they get the locals to pluck.
The drive up was over some roads that had not been cared for for some time. Everything in Timor-Leste washes away over time and thus requires constant upkeep, and if you don't upkeep, or you think the Indonesians are going to come back and do the upkeep for you, then, well, you have problems. We had to stop the cars a few times and go carefully where the road had been washed away.
These pictures are all out of order. I haven't worked out how to upload them in order yet. These are snaps from the digital camera. I have some snaps on film as well.
Neolithic life. Note the betel nut stain on her teeth. Betel nut supresses hunger, and makes childbirth easier because the babies come out smaller. It also makes the betel nut chewer grin. All the time.
Someone should let this old bird in on the facts about tobacco use. The owners are confident that she is 105 years old - at least.
A fine Portuguese residence.
More of same.
Hasta la vista.
More hasta vista. Can you see the coral sea?
The gravel river bed down the bottom must be 2km wide in places. So that is where the road goes when it rains!
More view.
My kinda place. Note the the shedding.
The caretaker's grandchildren nod in agreement.
A bit of mud and a bit of a dip. But the driver is handling it well (for a chick).
A narrow part of the road.
Another wash away needs to be checked out. Note the little mini-pajero up the front, owned by Porto in white pants and boat shoes. He got a flat tyre about 60 seconds later from driving too far to the left, and over some jagged rocks.
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