Exploring Covalima, Manufahi and Viqueque

Exploring the remote municipalities of Covalima, Manufahi and Viqueque.

More information on Covalima - https://exploringtimor.com/covalima/ Manufahi - https://exploringtimor.com/manufahi/ and Viqueque - https://exploringtimor.com/viqueque/

Website - www.exploringtimor.com

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Books - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D82D3TBJ

Transcript

Jonty: 0:06

Bondi. Welcome to exploring Tim Este, the podcast that talks about Southeast Asia's best kept travel secret. I'm your host Jte, and I'll share firsthand insights, expert interviews and practical travel tips. Whether you're a traveler, a cultural lover, or just curious about places rarely covered in the mainstream. You're in the right place. Let's explore two more. Less day.

0:32

Today's episode is the last of the episodes where I talk about specific municipalities. There are 13 in two more less day. So I've talked about likes of Dili and Amira and Za in some detail. And in this last episode, I'm gonna cover off Coval Lima. Mani. And so I'm doing three in one episode as there is relatively less to see and do in these areas, or at least they're relatively less accessible. These are some of the least visited parts of Timor-Leste, just to put'em on the map. Coval Lima is to the far southwest of Timor on the border with Indonesian West. Timor Mani is in the middle towards the south coast, beyond le and a narrow and is to the. Southeast, before la te. To start with Koval Lima, as I said, this is well off the beaten track. Malay foreigners are a rarity here, so expect a warm welcome from locals. It's the epicenter of Timor Lessee's oil and gas industry, which provides the vast bulk of the country's revenues, but there are a few signs of it other than some oil pumps, the only expressway in the country and a huge international grade airport, which is pretty empty most of the time. The regional capital Schwa has a few sites. You'll like to spend longer relaxing on the coast at Schwa lower. So to start with, schwa is the regional capital feels more like a collection of villages than the town, but it has a few sites in the center and a tragic history. On the 6th of September, 19 99, 2 days after the results of the independence referendum, 245 people were killed by Indonesian militia whilst sheltering inside the Ave Maria Church, there's now a Sombering Memorial which commemorates those events and the church was destroyed and a much larger Ave Maria Cathedral was built on the site of the original. Between those two is the covered Mercado DeSay, the local markets, which is filled with alleyways with all manner of things to buy. Schwa is also a great place to visit if you wanna see traditional Tim Thatched buildings. About 10 minutes drive south of Schwa. Laro, meaning South Rei is home to a black sand beach backed by restaurants serving delicious, locally caught fish, and it's a good place to see and stay a safe distance from crocodiles. So there's a lot of crocodiles in the south coast. It would not go anywhere near the water, but it is a relaxing beachside community. There's also a few walls remaining of a Portuguese fault And randomly. There is also a small model of the Eiffel Tower, a long way from Paris through Valima, runs the Schwa Expressway. This four lane road is the only highway in the country. Phase one was completed in 2018 at a cost of half a billion dollars. Quite difficult landscapes was 10 bridges, four intersections, 20 viaducts, 20 drainage boxes, and 60 hydraulic passengers. So at the time it was the largest infrastructure project in the country. It's only recently been superseded by the New Port in Tebar. The long-term plan is for 155 kilometer. Highway. They've just completed 30 kilometers to date, capable of a hundred kilometer an hour traffic from basically Schwa to uh, this is part of a much larger project called Tassa Manet Project, which is an ambitious$15 billion program of oil and gas infrastructure along the southwest coast of Leste, heavily promoted by the Covenant Prime Minister. Progress has been, stop starts. It'll be interesting to see where things land on this. It's very much connected to what's known as the Greater Sunrise Project, which is a large untapped gas reserves, but there's been talk about it for years and not a huge amount has happened for it. It's interesting as the highway was new in seven years ago, but it has fallen into disrepair it is quite surreal to see a highway in the middle of this very remote part of Timor Less estate. Also quite surreal is the Shaana Gano International airport named after the Prime Minister who's been driving this project. This is a modern airport opened in 2017. It cost$120 million. It's international grade airport. It's much nicer than the one in Dili, but currently it welcomes two small propeller flights a week. So it's a little bit surreal walking through the terminals and unused x-ray machines. I drove down to Valima, which is a long drive from Dili. You go through Mani, which I'll talk about next, and then I flew back from schwa to Dili with one of the regular math flights, and that was one of the most scenic flights I took in Timor-Leste passing by Mount Ramlow, the highest summit in Timor-Leste and across the mountain spine of the country. Flight takes 40 minutes. The driving takes more like seven hours. It was quite interesting to do it both ways, to get a different view of the country and the landscape so that's Valima heading towards the center of the country mana Fei. So this is a varied and beautiful municipality that stretches from the mountainous center of the country down to the South coast, and it has some of the best scenery in Timor-Leste. It is Home to Mount Kaki, which is one of the most impressive and scary to climb mountains.'cause I've been hiking on it in Timor Lesse. Sam has quite an interesting history of resistance against the Portuguese. That's the main town in Mani. And then Batan Beach is where Australian troops were evacuated during World War ii. So Sam is the largest talent Municipality is a typically spread out to Marie's town, but it is home To a few sites of interest. In the center of town is a statue of a warrior holding a spear and shield in honor of local leader Dom Bove Tura. He led a 16 year long campaign against the introduction of taxes and forced labor by the Portuguese in the early 20th century. What became known as the Mani War didn't stop until 1912 when the Portuguese brought troops over from Mozambique. The Sam Protestant Church has an interesting design looking a bit like a rocket from the front and to the east of the town center is the crystal raid des a white statue of Jesus on top of the hill in 1999. A lot of Timor Esto was heavily damaged, and Sam in particular was almost completely destroyed by Indonesian militia. It was also the site of what was known as the Battle of Sam in 2007, which was between Australian Special Forces and petitioner rebels under the commander of Alfredo Reo, which was part of the 2006 East Timor Crisis. It's a bit complicated to go into here, but that was the last time that there was really any kind of unrest in Timor Este, which is close to 20 years ago now. And my favorite spot in Mani is the natural swimming pool, which is about 15 minutes north of Sam. So just on the main road, if you're driving from Dili to the South coast, on the left hand side, there's this beautiful springed pool and it's very refreshing and you can't miss it. And it's just a glorious place to cool down a little bit further along the road from the pool is the remains of a World War II tank. Dating from the fighting with the Japanese and nearby is the park nationality Bon Ventura, which isn't really a national park in the usual meaning of the word. It's more a space for a large monument to the local resistance hero. It's also home to a site for heroes and martyrs of the patriotic movement, similar to other sites around Timor. And then on the South coast you've got Batan Beach, and as I mentioned, this is where Australian spar of force gorilla troops were evacuated by ship and submarine during World War ii. The remains of the Australian destroyer Voyager can still be seen on the beach. It became grounded on the 25th of September, 1942, after unloading Australian troops and was damaged by Japanese borrowers and scuttled by her crew. The area of Botano is also home to the largest power station in the country, providing electricity to the south coast. Botano Beach is a black sand beach with rusting bits of old ships sticking outta the sand. It's quite an atmospheric place. Finally, vicke, which is possibly the least visited municipality in Timor-Leste. So the Keke is a mixture of sprawling mountains of flat, dense jungle leading to the coast. It's one of the least developed areas of the country, partly due to its size and lack of population. There's about 80,000 people there and quite a large area, and it was a strong hold of the resistance during the Indonesian occupation. It's home to Mundo, Bodo the Lost World, which is Timor less day's largest remaining rainforest, and that offers excellent hiking opportunities. The Portuguese called it Mundo. Bodo, which means the lost world as the area is so often hidden and missed. The best time to visit, to try and get views is between August and October. There are no clear trails and it's easy to get lost. So a local guide is strongly recommended. The Quek Town is the main town in Quek, and it's home to the Church of the Imma Clip Conception, which is one of the most impressive churches in Timor-Leste. It was completed in 2014. The original church was a site of a horrific massacre of up to a thousand Timorese by Indonesian troops in 1983, and it's now commemorated by a monument containing the remains of a car in which two nuns were murdered. Close to the church is the formal ulu park, which is home to various monuments in the playground. The large Kha river runs through the town and crocodiles have been known to travel tens of kilometers up the south coast along this river. So I wouldn't go in the water, but it is a obvious landmark when you're traveling through Ekk Town. Also, if you travel through Ekk Lookout for 14 stations of the cross, these are large concrete crosses. They start at the beginning of the town and finish at the church. The drive through the KK is quite challenging, although there is a lot of work to improve the road, but it's a very scenic part of Tim Leste. In osu there's a huge green and red church. The church was sent Theresa of the child. Jesus, it looks like it could be in Europe or something. It's very prominent and striking church And close by Lonnie Ho is home to one of the best waterfalls in the country. It's not huge in terms of height, but it's quite wide and it's just very kind of photogenic and interesting to see. And nearby there's a Abrigo or Reconci Gorilla Hideout. So here metal ladders have been attached to the steep terrain to allow access to lookout marking, where to Timor's. Independence leaders first met in 1989 and then beyond the KK heading to the south coast, that often can be impossible. During the wet season. There's not really any food options, but that is very, if you wanna go, really get off the beaten track, you head down to the south coast of kk. That will be a real adventure. Hopefully that's giving you a bit of a flavor for what you can see and do in those three municipalities. As I said they're very much a venture travel destination. So if that's your thing, please go and visit.

Jonty: 10:58

Thank you so much for listening to exploring Timor Less Day. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please consider leaving a rating or review. It really helps more people discover the show. If you have any questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you. Drop me an email at exploring Timor lessDay@gmail.com. Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.