Word: timor
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...Farther down the road, villages spring from the shrubbery, most of them decimated in the violence of 1999, but now alive with children seemingly in competition with the Thais for claim to the title "The Land of Smiles." Poor though they may be?indeed, East Timor is now officially the poorest country in Asia?most seem to have generosity in their genes. Boys scamper up palm trees to collect coconuts and offer them gratis to parched visitors traveling along the trail. Then again, it may be a clever sales ploy: once stopped it's not long before you're offered...
...Flash forward a few years. Two months ago, East Timor became an independent nation, though at a terrible price. In 1999, when Timorese voted to cut their ties with Indonesia, militia proxies of the Indonesian military went on a murderous rampage that left the country in ruins. Few foreigners have been able to forget the scenes of bloodshed and burning; tourists in East Timor are practically nonexistent. But it's time now to forget. The men who caused the destruction have fled, leaving behind a people basking in freedom and peace. They have also left behind one of the most...
...town was spared much of the death and destruction that befell the rest of the country. His song should be sung. Baucau's old city?built in the shadow of a limestone cliff overlooking the ocean?is home to some of the finest examples of Portuguese architecture in East Timor, including the newly restored and renamed Pousada Baucau, once the infamous Hotel Flamboyan. Now under Timorese management, this grand hotel is the place to enjoy spicy Portuguese-Timorese fusion food and a glass of fine Portuguese wine before retiring for the night. Reassuringly, the staff now carry corkscrews instead...
...Chickens are also on the menu at the Pousade de Maubisse, perhaps the finest hotel in East Timor. Rooms are $40 a night midweek, $70 on weekends. There are no phones, so visitors must simply turn up. Perched on a rise in East Timor's central highlands, a four-hour drive north of Dili, the hotel is surrounded on all sides by a jagged mountain range that resembles the Swiss Alps without the altitude. A gracious establishment with wide, marble verandas, luxurious rooms, cultivated rose gardens and crisp, clean air, the hotel was once the favored retreat for Portuguese colonials...
...have chicken." Either way, a decision has to be made before 5 p.m., to allow the cook time to purchase the meat from the Maubisse market, just down the hill from the hotel in the center of town. There is perhaps no more colorful market in East Timor. Out front, Timorese ponies are parked five to a row. In the back, roosters fight to the death, egged on by craggy mountain men dressed in woolen shawls and wide-brimmed hats. In the market, women sell everything from palm wine and shags of wild tobacco to the beautifully handwoven rugs...