After a 7 hour train ride we were ready for rest in Surabaya a large eastern Java city. It is much prettier at night than day or so it seemed to us. We arrived late and took a taxi for our brief stay in a capsule room. The price was cheap, but I feel for caged animals, all the snoring must be why people make a fuss for cage-free eggs and free range meat.
The next day we were on a flight again for Kupang in West Timor with intention to arrive in the north central city of Soe before midnight. Arriving in Kupang we jumped in a cab and immediately made our way to a Bemo, small lively buses always accompanied by music, in Oesapa. As we paid the taxi our Bemo was leaving and we stepped on as it pulled off. We found two seats in the backrow of 5 and settled in. We were both buzzing and really happy to be on our way again. The bus was actually really fun with music (they love good country music and bad country music) and because where we were was so remote you could see so many stars and the milky way easily.
We planned a day of visiting present and past tribal communities of West Timor. This would take us to visit the Boti and None tribes.
In the morning our guide arrived for the negotiation process. This is a hobby almost as everyone seems ready to discuss prices. Its feels at times as if I could just start saying numbers to people and immediately get a higher response and begin to work each other down.
With an agreed upon price we headed out to first visit the Boti community and along the way would purchase betel nut as a kind gesture. They chew the betel nut with some lime stone powder and another thing. It turns their mouths blood red and it seems a little odd, but this is also popular in Myanmar too and seems more prevalent there than in West Timor.
We arrived in Boti and were presented to the Chief or King of the tribe. He was a man of about 60 years old and was still single. Our guide explained he had forbidden the community from dancing as they were in mourning from his mother's death five years ago.
He was a really nice host and offered us coffee and fried bananas, which were really good and would serve as our lunch for the day.
We chatted for about an hour with the guide being our translator. We asked various questions about what it meant to be a Boti person and their beliefs. In general he explained how the people have a strong connection to the earth, its plants and animals. They worship the earth and the sky for they provide to their people. He seemed to be a very kind person and said he appreciated our visit, but he was not interested in us, as I would attempt to explain things about ourselves.
After visting with the chief we walked around his property as the Boti people number in about 300 plus people and they have many huts around the area.
Tools for chewing the betel nut.
Our next visit for the day was to the None tribe and community. These were former headhunters until the end of World War II. When the Japanese invaded Timor and more or less killed anyone that stood in their way or could be considered in their way. The tribe of None was forced from their dwellings and lived in caves near their village until the war ended and the community ceased to function in the same way as it had before.
We briefly met with the villagers and were able to explore the area of None.
Sacrificing area.
After our visit to West Timor we headed back to Kupang to catch a flight to Labuan Bajo. There we would do some snorkling and visit some komodo dragons.
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