Photos from Our World

• East Timor
• Dili
• West of Dili
• Oecussi
• Around Dili
• Maubisse
• Baucau
• The Far east
• The People
• Flag History

Between Baucau and Lospalos

The small town of Venilale, surrounded by rice paddies, is about 28 km south of Baucau, just off the road that continues to Viqueque. The most notable building is the colourful Escola do Reino de Venilale, a school that was originally built in 1933 and recently restored and freshly painted. It is now used as a library.

Heading east from Baucau, the road follows the coast to the village of Laga, about 19 km away. It has an old Portuguese fort and the large São João Bosco church, featuring a large ceramic panel depicting grateful Timorese introduced to Catholicism by a Portuguese friar. Next to the church is a house, built in the style of the Fataluku people who live further east. It is an elevated house with a high pitched thatched roof. 40 km further on is the village of Lautém with a crumbling Portuguese fort; its walls flank the road. There are still Japanese bunkers on the beach here as well.

The centre of the Fataluku people, the town of Lospalos, with around 28,000 people, is almost 250 km east of Dili. Although the name sounds Spanish, it is in fact derived from the Fataluku name Lohoasupala. The famous independence leader Nino Konis Santana (1959-1998) was born here. The town suffered a lot of damage from Indonesian militia after the independence vote in 1999; many buildings along the main road are still in ruins. A replica Fataluku house with it pitched roof and roof decoration, was built in 1990 next to the market. The Catholic church too is topped by a Fataluku house roof.

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