Oelolok Oelolok, a weaving village 26km from Kefa by bus and a further 3km by bemo, is home to Istana Rajah Taolin, a massive beehive hut with a huge outdoor patio and carved beams dangling with corn from decades of harvests. Royals have lived here for five generations, and its[…]
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Boti Hidden out of sight on an isolated mountain ridge 12km from Oinlasi, and accessible only by a degrading mountain road that’s often impassable without a 4WD, is the traditional, almost orthodox, village of Boti, where the charismatic kepala suku (chief), often referred to as the last king in West[…]
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Temkessi & Around Accessible through a keyhole between jutting limestone cliffs, 50km northeast of Kefa, is one of West Timor’s most isolated and best-preserved villages. The raja’s house overlooks the village. That’s your first stop, where you’ll offer gifts of betel nut, make a donation and pay your respects. After[…]
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Kefamenanu A former Portuguese stronghold, Kefamenanu was just another quiet hill town as recently as 2007, but with a manganese boom in full effect, commerce has arrived along with new construction and a fair bit of clear-cutting in the leafy outskirts. It remains devoutly Catholic and has a couple of[…]
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Soe About 110km from Kupang, the cool, leafy market town of Soe (800m) makes a decent base to explore West Timor’s interior, which comes dotted with ubiquitous ume kebubu (beehive-shaped hut) villages that are home to local Dawan people. With no windows and only a 1m-high doorway, ume kebubu are[…]
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Kupang Kupang is the capital of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) and despite the city’s scruffy waterfront, its sprawling gnarl of deafening traffic, and complete lack of endearing cultural or architectural elements, this is a place you can get used to. Chalk it up to Kupang’s easy-to-navigate but still vaguely chaotic[…]
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West Timor With rugged countryside, empty beaches and scores of traditional villages, West Timor is an undiscovered gem. Deep within its mountainous, lontar palm–studded interior, animist traditions persist alongside tribal dialects, and ikat-clad, betel nut–chewing chiefs govern beehive-hut villages. Hit one of the many weekly markets in tribal country and[…]
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