Woodwork @ Atauro

makhili wood sculptures
Originally uploaded by tumbleweeed

Most people return from Atauro with at least one piece of wooden sculpture made by the villagers of Makhili. There's a shop @ Tua Ko'in Eco Lodge that has the works of about 10 guys - you see the names of the artist on the price tag. Marcus (the younger guy) is the leader of the group and he said the lodge didn't charge them any commission for displaying their stuff there. He also goes to Dili regularly and you can commission works from them. Call him @ 7353578 but i think he speaks only Tetum and Bahasa Indo. Jill J. and 2 friends were also at the lodge same time as us. They went a-walking to Makhili directly, and came back by boat (~$25) armed with big sculptures that a man in his 40s said he'd carved when he was 17. So if you're up for a good 1.5 hour walk along the mangrove and rock beach, and then scrambling up a footpath, you can visit the village itself. Of course, you can always hire a boat to and from there. There're no good roads to Makhili.

It was my first time visiting Atauro - in my 2 years here! can't believe it but thks to S. who organised the trip, i finally set foot on the island. We hired the Island Lady for $520 round trip for 10 pax - fast ride - about 1.5 hours each way. Other alternatives are to either take the Nakroma (leaves Sat and Wed), or smaller fishing boats for a lower price but i guess being in my pregnant state i wasn't that keen on braving out on a small boat.....

And since 2005/2006 trip to Jaco, this is the first time i've felt like a camera-toting tourist (altho i was quite a lazy snapper compared to the rest!). It was nice to be away from Dili for 2 whole days - we had a wonderful sea front bungalow that was so breezy i was lulled into inactivity most of the time. A and I did walk to a beach (about 1 hour away) on Sunday and swam there - but it was a hot hot walk! The rest of the group took a fisherman's boat (Augusto ~$50 for about 2-3 hours) out to Akrema (the white sand beach) and another snorkelling spot. Their original boat failed to come at 8am cos the guy forgot it was Domingo and he had to go to mass, so Gabriella (from Eco Lodge) arranged Augusto to come instead. They left at 930am or so and came back ravenous at 120pm.

I didn't go, cos i had a slight back ache and then i remembered - how would I get back onto the boat AFTER snorkelling? Although there was a simple step ladder, even the non-pregnant ones said they had to heave themselves up. So luckily i didn't go - oh well, next time! - or else i might have had to hang on to the outrigger and 'ski' back! So although i didn't do the usual 'active' stuff i would normally have done - i do have a growing bump right in front! - it was a nice chilled out weekend for A. and I. He is always so busy and it was good to see him so relaxed and of course he took the opportunity to catch up on his sleep. Everyone was amazed how much he could sleep.

.........

On the last evening, J. led S. and Y. on a sunset yoga session on the beach. I did my prenatal moves (so easy!) and then snapped pictures of them. C. and E. played soccer with naked, sun-kissed kiddies, while A. of course slept. M. just hung out at our verandah too lazy to move anywhere else. Ah.......................the joys of doing nothingThis morning, we woke up at 5am to leave the island. Our lil boat came late - only at 630am to bring us back to the Island Lady....... now i am in my office, surviving on coffee and determination to stay awake for the rest of the day!