{"id":430,"date":"2008-12-01T05:34:36","date_gmt":"2008-11-30T22:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vincentfung.ca\/wordpress\/?p=430"},"modified":"2011-03-18T19:47:28","modified_gmt":"2011-03-18T19:47:28","slug":"mountain-air-rejuvenates-the-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vincentfung.ca\/blog\/archives\/430","title":{"rendered":"Mountain air rejuvenates the soul."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Here are a few photos from our trip to Maubisse<\/a>. Most of the photos are from my digital camera or Muriel’s. I’ve taken some from my film camera, but I haven’t found a decent developer in Dili so I haven’t been able to develop my film. If you want to see sets of photos from my previous trips, you can check out my Facebook Gallery page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We rented a driver and car and headed to Maubisse for a day. It was a bit pricey (USD 200\/day) but well worth it. The roads were disastrous and both of us weren’t confident enough to navigate unfamiliar terrain through an even more unfamiliar country. Besides that, having a driver gave us more time to enjoy the scenery and environment. The above photo is from a small village community that we visited after going through some rocky terrain fit only for horses and goats. The huge rock face in the background is typical of volcanic activity.<\/p>\n

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I have a feeling that Maubisse is in the centre of a caldera<\/a> since Timor-Leste is along the ring of fire and the mountains here peak at extreme angles (signs of being along a fault line). I asked if Maubisse has had volcanic explosions and according to some elders at the village, there were stories about them in the past, but nothing in recent times. The above photos shows Maubisse sitting in the centre of a valley ringed by high mountains. The pousada (or guesthouse) just off-centre-left is on top of the hill that might be a former lava dome<\/a> that’s now dormant.<\/p>\n

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While were were visiting the traditional village, a huge thunders storm came. We were stranded, but some of the villagers invited us to wait out the rain under the protection of one of their traditional elevated Timorese house. It was one of the nicest experiences I’ve had so far and these kids were really happy to see their photos being taken.<\/p>\n

Here’s a couple of interesting stories:<\/p>\n