A bus ride

[asakiyume]

The day after I arrived in Timor-Leste, I made the six-hour journey up to the mountain town of Ainaro. I rode on some vehicle which was not quite an anguna (term borrowed from Indonesian: an anguna is a pick-up truck with seats in the back, so people can ride in it) and not quite a bus--it was open-air, like an anguna, but with seats facing forward, like a bus, rather than parallel to the side of the vehicle, like an anguna. There were sacks of rice on the floor, for delivery along the way, and other goods loaded on the roof. We started out from the market in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, with people filling all the seats and sitting on the floor (on top of the rice) and hanging on the back, and we picked up more people as we went.

Some of the young people who hung on the back



There was music playing--here's a taste of it:

(If the embedding doesn't work for you, you can find the 14-second video here on Flickr)

Here's the sound system:


Early on, we passed the Santa Cruz cemetery, where, in 1991, the Indonesian army killed some 250 people who were demonstrating for independence (more on that here, courtesy of Wikipedia).


Victor, the man I was sitting next to on the bus, asked me if I knew the story of the cemetery. We communicated with my very rudimentary Tetun and his equally limited English. I think with grave face more than with words I was able to convey that I did.

Victor



We bounced along, and eventually had a rest stop. This enterprising twelve-year-old (age is one of the questions people in Timor-Leste like to ask and share, at least with foreigners), engaged me in conversation in English and introduced me to her mother.



I shared round my big 1.5-liter bottle of drinking water (purchased in Dili for fifty cents). Meanwhile, some of the younger boys were eating what looked like puffed pork rinds, dyed green, probably purchased at the little shop where we'd stopped.

Along the way I saw lots of little roadside stands with 1.5-liter water bottles like mine recycled, filled with... tea? Something pale and golden, and sometimes also something dark dark brown. No, not tea. Can you guess? I realized what it was when I saw someone with a cloth-lined funnel, pouring some into his motor bike. Yes: gasoline (petrol), and also diesel. No gas stations along the road, but lots of these little roadside stands.

More tomorrow or the next day... I have tabs open on so many of your entries, and by now you've probably all posted new ones. With time I'll get back in the groove! And in time there'll be more (I hope, I intend) than just-the-facts-ma'am reportage. Maybe I'll alternate? Some posts that are reflective and some that are pictures? Or take things as they come... Anyway, do feel free to ask questions!

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Oh, how I have been looking forward to this report! Lovely pix and the music, too!

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Good reading company for a panic-visited night. Thank you.

[aliseadae]

Welcome back! It is good to hear from you. I look forward to more posts on East Timor!

[88greenthumb.livejournal.com]

Welcome back, Francesca! Love, love, love this post! Hoping for more-whenever you can.

BTW, Nildo (yes, from TL) has already sent me a friend request on FB! ;)

BTW2, I haven't left for my trip-major visa delays! :(

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a fun trip - although, six hours! That's quite a journey! I especially like the video.

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite memories of Thailand was a clearing surrounded by banana trees, where the open-air 'buses' gathered to load passengers from the ferry. People were hanging off the back chanting "Lamai, Lamai" to tell strangers where the bus went.

Glad to have you back

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you took local transportation and didn't charter something private. Nice way to get right in the groove in a new country. :D

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're taking us along. How remarkable, and how kind of you!

[coffeesvp.livejournal.com]

Good you are home safe. Hope you made friends, which I am sure you did.

Tell a tale of Timor

[yamamanama.livejournal.com]

Did you keep a written journal there or is this all from memory and photographs?

Oh! Oh! Oh!

[wuweibaby.livejournal.com]

Oh, rapture!

(as the cowardly lion says)

[dudeshoes.livejournal.com]

I'm riveted.

[cafenowhere.livejournal.com]

I do love the smile on that boy's face in the first pic. And the vid is thrilling! It's like being there with you. <3

What made the 12 yr old girl "enterprising"? (Her mother looks so elegant and stylish.)

*edited to put in correct cat icon*

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

So cool. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. I look forward to more! Just post--don't worry about keeping up on LJ. We'll all be here when you get home. :)

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Hurray, armchair traveling and educational at the same time! So happy you made this trip, so happy you are home to tell us and show us what it was like.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Welcome back.

I'll look forward to reading further instalments as I could badly do with cheering up!

[danceswithwaves.livejournal.com]

Sounds exciting!

[sovay]

More tomorrow or the next day...

Thank you for this beginning report. These are excellent photographs. The one of the cemetery is an especially beautiful composition, and then there's what it means.

[vlpolynov.livejournal.com]

And Victor - he was Russian?
Beautiful. Honestly. It's beautiful. Just a pity that the movie is very short

А Виктор - он русский ?
Красиво. Честно. Очень красиво. Только жаль, что ролик очень короткий

[deponti.livejournal.com]

Wonderful...was able to get to my friends' page today after a big gap, and enjoying this post particularly...hope I'm able to see more...

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Welcome back!

And good thing you didn't drink the "tea". ;)