Lospalos

My first weekend in Dili was spent in the field accompanying staff from our affiliate office in Korea which was also an orientation for me. The place was the end of the island on the west side called Lospalos. It was an adrenaline-rushing trip as the roads were not only winding but also ravines where literally you would end up in the ocean. Nonetheless, the view was really breathtaking along the winding in and out of the sights of oceans and hills.

Random stories of war, culture and development issues were told. However, I would be narrating them in separate posts, otherwise there would be too much information here and reading would be boring.

Lospalos is a sub-district of Lautem district which according to locals has been a heavy concentration during the ‘crises’. People here speak a local dialect and Portuguese more than Tetum. After seeing Dili, you wouldn’t expect so much from a District when it comes to facilities. We stayed in a hotel called Roberto Carlos which was the best in town. The hotel was owned by Portuguese-Timorese couple. There were a number of Malays (foreigners) staying in the hotel. Outstanding was a UN Police who probably thought he owns the hotel with his noise either from the music player that was eardrum breaking and his boisterous voice. Though, I was not surprised as UNPol from UNMIT has a ‘not-so-good’ reputation in Timor and even among Malays.

Lospalos has very basic facilities with a line of shops numbered 1-9 which sell all sorts of stuff. Across the line of shops is Timor Telecom which I noticed has a significant presence in all sub-districts. To see the town, we went to the market to buy fruits and mosquito repellant. Among the fruits, only bananas were available which decreased my appetite as these are found on a concrete floor in the market which is 12 inches away from a stagnant canal.

As we were leaving the market, the Koreans were attracted by a group of people across the street. Apparently, there is a cock-fight and other gambling activities where you see people from all ages. Noticeably, no women were around. Older men were busy with the cock-fight while kids were glued on a game which involved a giant dice. I did not bother to check it, hence I couldn’t explain what sort of game they were really playing. One thing I realized though, this gambling must be an influence of Portugal as similar activities can be seen in the Philippines which was an influence of the Spaniards.