Selemat Jalan (Goodbye) Kupang

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Last night when we got back to the boat, it was rocking so much we felt like we were on passage in the South Pacific. This morning when we got up we were still undecided as to whether we should leave Kupang today or tomorrow. On the stay side was: after 8 days at sea, it would have been nice to stay anchored longer. There were more sights we could go see in Kupang to entertain ourselves. Eric’s eye was looking better after using some drops we had on board that soothe irritation, but it wasn’t completely healed and could need a different medicine. On the con side: it was rocky on board, the beach landings were not fun, and we were more interested in seeing sights in other places.

We headed to shore at noon where Continue reading →

Contest – What is in the Bottles?

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We thought it would be fun to have a little guessing contest for all the blog readers out there. The winner will get a small souvenir from Indonesia as a prize.

Here are the rules:

1. One guess per person.
2. Post all answers in “comments” on this blog post.
3. First person to post correct answer wins the prize. We will get an address to mail the prize to you through e-mail.

We have seen these little stands everywhere on our tour of Timor, Indonesia. What is in the bottles they are selling? Be as specific as possible, such as a specific flavor. We obviously know it is a yellow tinted liquid. Do not bother trying to read the labels, the picture is not high enough resolution.

Click on the image for a larger version.

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Timor Tour – Waterfalls and Spectacular Viewpoints

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Continued from yesterday”¦ It was time to go. We braved the scary mountain road, bumping and bouncing along. Not too far after the road became relatively nice pavement, we turned off down another road to go to the Niki Niki market. The area we were in is mostly rural villages, and once a week they all came together to trade their goods. It is also a big social outing, where young people look for perspective dating partners. In the village of Boti, they have a day of rest every ninth day. Today happened to be their day of rest, so they had to miss out on the excitement of market day this week.

As we approached, we saw Continue reading →

Timor Tour – Village Life

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Continued from yesterday”¦ We were greeted by the village queen, Kolo Binu, and two of her granddaughters, all beautiful women with big smiles. A couple of the men also eventually came out to welcome us. We presented our gift and, like in the other village, it was put in a basket and passed around. We were served coffee and fried bananas, which are basically banana chips that aren’t quite as crispy as we are used to. It was 16:00 (4:00 pm). Neither of us particularly wanted the coffee. Eric does not like coffee and Christi is sensitive to caffeine and didn’t think she would be able to sleep with caffeine so late in the day. However, we decided it was important to not offend our host. Much to Eric’s surprise, the coffee was delicious. So good, in fact, that he had a second cup, which floored Christi. They must brew it differently than we do because there was zero bitterness to it at all. As we were enjoying our coffee on the patio of the main house, it was pointed out to us that we were sitting right in front of the coffee plant that the beans were picked from. How cool is that? Three feet from plant to cup. Wow.

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Of all the villages on Timor, Boti is the Continue reading →

Timor Tour – Traditional Villages and Scary Mountain Roads

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Continued from yesterday”¦ SoE is a small city and there wasn’t much to see besides a few modern commercial buildings with government offices, restaurants, markets, etc, a few modern houses and grass huts, and some street vendors selling assorted goods. After leaving the restaurant, we stopped by a street vendor and bought some beetle nut, white powder that we were told was lime, and raw tobacco as a gift for the villagers.

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We were only back in the car for just a few minutes when we turned off the main road to go to Tetuf, a traditional village. The dirt road through the village was really bumpy, and as we gingerly crept along, a horde of children ran alongside to escort us in. The kids were so excited to see us. The whole time we were there, they followed us around, staring at us with wide eyes.

The road abruptly ends at a small cluster of huts. When you get out and look around, you realize Continue reading →