October 4, 2025 • 8 mins
Exploring the varied municipality of Bobonaro.
More information on Bobonaro - https://exploringtimor.com/bobonaro/
Website - www.exploringtimor.com
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@exploringtimor
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jonty (00:06):
Bondi.
Welcome to exploring Tim Este,the podcast that talks about
Southeast Asia's best kepttravel secret.
I'm your host Jte, and I'llshare firsthand insights, expert
interviews and practical traveltips.
Whether you're a traveler, acultural lover, or just curious
about places rarely covered inthe mainstream.
You're in the right place.
Let's explore two more.
Less day.
(00:31):
Today's episode is on thebeautiful municipality of Bobin
Naro.
This is at the Western end ofTimor-Leste, bordering with
Indonesian West Timor.
Some of the best known sites inBobin include BBO and historic
site, where in 1975 journalistswere killed by the invading
Indonesian army.
It's main city.
Malana is one of the largest inthe country.
(00:53):
The ROA Hot Springs are aninteresting destination for the
adventurous, and it's one of thebest places in two more less
agencies scenic rice fields,particularly around ABA and
Malana.
From Dili, head west along thecoastal road and then head into
barro.
It is a very scenic drive and itis a generally well maintained
road up to the Indonesianborder.
It then starts heading inlandand gets significantly rougher.
(01:15):
So a four wheel drive vehicle orsome skills a motorbike would be
recommended for exploring pastbbo.
There's about half an hour ofbad road to BBO itself.
So that is doable on a scooter.
Now BBO is home to the secondoldest fort in Timor less day,
which is over 350 years old.
The fort was built by thePortuguese to protect during the
ongoing power struggle with theDutch.
(01:37):
Over the control of this part ofSoutheast Asia the fort has now
been converted into one of thebest places to stay in the
country.
It has good food and an infinitypool, which I think is the only
infinity pool in Timor, and itoffers beautiful views around
the surrounding landscape.
It's also home to the BBOVeterans Museum, a small but
very informative museum thatopened in 2022.
(01:57):
Highly recommend visiting ifyou're in bbo.
Now.
Across the road from the fort isthe BBO flag house.
This is named for the Australianflag painted on the outside.
This was home to fivejournalists, so two Australians,
two position in New Zealanderwho were in Timor less day, or
then East Timor in 1975 toreport on the attacks on the
border to West Timor.
(02:18):
In East Timor.
When the Indonesian armyinvaded, they were murdered and
their murders were covered up bysenior soldiers.
It took years for the truth tocome out, and no one has ever
been charged for their murder.
A flag House is now a, it's asmall museum.
It's a community center, it hasa shop, a coffee store, and a
learning center Just by thefault.
And the flag house is also theLaRay statue, which was a statue
(02:41):
of a local ruler built duringthe Indonesian occupation.
In the base of the statuemonument is the number 27, as
the Indonesians considered TimorLesse to be their 27th province.
BBO also has an attractivechurch at the western end of
town.
Outside is a rather large, Ilove BBO sign, which is quite
photogenic.
And then if you head into theoutskirts of bbo, there's a
(03:03):
impressive manmade cave with astatue of the Virgin Mary.
And then on the hill above,there's a statue of Jesus on the
cross and expansive views of theBBO area.
And to reach that you walk past14 stations of the cross.
There is a natural griner.
So Griner means cave.
Many of the ones in Virgin Maryare manmade for the Virgin Mary
and the cave.
There's a natural caves close toBalbo, which are home to static
(03:26):
tights and bats.
Are only about 2K from bbo, butthey're very hard to find as I
tried.
You really need a local guide toshow you around.
Now, the drive to Babbo is veryscenic, and one of my favorite
spots along the way was the townof abi.
Now, when you first drivethrough it, it may not be
obvious what there is in Abi,but if you stop and take a
little bit of time, there's somefantastic scenes to be had.
(03:49):
So you don't really notice itfrom the road.
But when you're driving, saysouth on your left hand side,
there are actually huge ricefields.
The best place to see those isfrom the rooftop of the D two
Uma Cafe, which is an excellentcafe.
They've got really good drinksand some food, and they've got a
nice viewing area deck on top ofthe cafe, which has fantastic
(04:11):
views of the rice fields.
It's really highly recommendstopping there for a beverage
and the view.
And then to your right handside, as you're driving through
Aaba, you can't see it from theroad necessarily, but there is a
really impressive stretch ofbeach and there are a few beach
access points.
It's a good place to break upyour journey if you're heading
through into Bob and Arrow.
And the main town in Bobro andone of the largest cities in
(04:31):
Timor Le State is Malana.
The road to Malana is beingworked on, but it is pretty
rough still.
You basically go up and over thehills, through bbo and then down
the other side and across toMalana.
It's a large agricultural hub,particularly for rice
production, and there's somebeautiful rice fields in Central
Malana.
It's quite a spread out city.
It's best explored with your owntransport as they seem to be
(04:52):
surprisingly few Mette or TomToms compared to other places I
visited in Timor-Leste.
But as I say, there arebeautiful rice fields.
Probably the best viewing pointis if you take the back row that
goes between the ProtestantChurch, which is a bright yellow
church through round the back ofthe city center, then there's
some really good views that way.
There's also an impressive SantaCruz Catholic Church, which has
(05:14):
a huge outdoor covered area atthe eastern end of Malana.
And nearby is the main cemetery,which has fantastic views of
Mount Lacol now Lacol, it'sprobably one of the most
prominent mountains in Bob, youget a great view of it from
Malana.
Facing towards it.
And as you head through furtherinto Bob Arrow, you get a real
view of it's side on, and it's areally jagged edge mountain.
(05:36):
It's only 2000 meters tall.
It looks absolutely terrifying.
I know local guides, they usedto take people up there and now
they've stopped taking people asthere are a number of
fatalities, which isunderstandable when you look at
the terrain on offer.
Malana is quite a nice place towalk around.
The people are very friendly.
They don't see a lot of touriststhere.
It's a very kind of welcomingexperience.
Malana is at least three and ahalf hours drive from Dili.
(05:59):
And then a further, probably oneand a half to two hours further
on from Malana are the Morobohot springs.
So they're not the easiest placeto get to, but they are the best
known hot springs in thecountry.
They're originally developed bythe Portuguese who had a resort
complex built around the pools,but they fell into disrepair in
2016.
The whole complex wasredeveloped.
(06:20):
But not a lot of maintenanceappears to have taken place
since then.
They're fed by natural hotspring water, which produces
around 2000 liters of water perminute.
There is three pools, which arekind of part of the complex, and
there's this amazing kind ofcascading waterfall of hot water
just by them.
And then if you actually gothrough a bit of an explore in
the bush, maybe 10, 15 minutesaway, you can get down to the
(06:42):
river where you can see more ofthe natural hot springs.
Now they are quite amazing hotsprings.
But as I said, there hasn't beena lot of maintenance.
There's not a lot of facilitiesthere.
The toilets are out of action.
A lot of the infrastructure hasfallen into disrepair.
So they are definitely anadventure tourist destination.
Other than some local kids,you're probably gonna have the
place to yourself.
(07:03):
The other well-known place inBobo is Battle, which is the
home to the main border crossingbetween Tim Leste and Indonesia.
Although there isn't much thereapart from the border, there are
the remains of a 1655 Portuguesefort.
But they're now occupied by theborder police, so you can't go
inside them.
But you can see the walls fromthe outside on the road between
(07:25):
there and Bbo.
There are many traditionalTimorese thatch buildings,
including Uma Luli.
Bob is probably one of the mostvaried and scenic
municipalities.
I think in Timor Lesso, I did afantastic hike from Bob and
Arrow through into a mirror, andthere's some stunning scenery,
but it's not the easiest toaccess.
Once you get beyond the coastalroad, as I say, the quality of
(07:46):
the roads can be quite variable.
The easiest place as a touristto visit is bbo and there is
definitely enough to there tofill up a day.
There are BBO trails and BBO forhotel can organize guys to do
walks around the area.
There's a mountain biking routeyou can do.
And then there's bigger hikesfurther up into the mountains in
bbo.
So hopefully that's giving you abit of a flavor for the
(08:08):
municipality of Bobro.
Thank you so much for listening to exploring Timor
Less Day.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please consider leaving
a rating or review.
It really helps more peoplediscover the show.
If you have any questions orfeedback, I'd love to hear from
you.
Drop me an email at exploringTimor lessDay@gmail.com.
(08:28):
Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.
Bondi.
Welcome to exploring Tim Este,the podcast that talks about
Southeast Asia's best kepttravel secret.
I'm your host Jte, and I'llshare firsthand insights, expert
interviews and practical traveltips.
Whether you're a traveler, acultural lover, or just curious
about places rarely covered inthe mainstream.
You're in the right place.
Let's explore two more.
Less day.
(00:31):
Today's episode is on thebeautiful municipality of Bobin
Naro.
This is at the Western end ofTimor-Leste, bordering with
Indonesian West Timor.
Some of the best known sites inBobin include BBO and historic
site, where in 1975 journalistswere killed by the invading
Indonesian army.
It's main city.
Malana is one of the largest inthe country.
(00:53):
The ROA Hot Springs are aninteresting destination for the
adventurous, and it's one of thebest places in two more less
agencies scenic rice fields,particularly around ABA and
Malana.
From Dili, head west along thecoastal road and then head into
barro.
It is a very scenic drive and itis a generally well maintained
road up to the Indonesianborder.
It then starts heading inlandand gets significantly rougher.
(01:15):
So a four wheel drive vehicle orsome skills a motorbike would be
recommended for exploring pastbbo.
There's about half an hour ofbad road to BBO itself.
So that is doable on a scooter.
Now BBO is home to the secondoldest fort in Timor less day,
which is over 350 years old.
The fort was built by thePortuguese to protect during the
ongoing power struggle with theDutch.
(01:37):
Over the control of this part ofSoutheast Asia the fort has now
been converted into one of thebest places to stay in the
country.
It has good food and an infinitypool, which I think is the only
infinity pool in Timor, and itoffers beautiful views around
the surrounding landscape.
It's also home to the BBOVeterans Museum, a small but
very informative museum thatopened in 2022.
(01:57):
Highly recommend visiting ifyou're in bbo.
Now.
Across the road from the fort isthe BBO flag house.
This is named for the Australianflag painted on the outside.
This was home to fivejournalists, so two Australians,
two position in New Zealanderwho were in Timor less day, or
then East Timor in 1975 toreport on the attacks on the
border to West Timor.
(02:18):
In East Timor.
When the Indonesian armyinvaded, they were murdered and
their murders were covered up bysenior soldiers.
It took years for the truth tocome out, and no one has ever
been charged for their murder.
A flag House is now a, it's asmall museum.
It's a community center, it hasa shop, a coffee store, and a
learning center Just by thefault.
And the flag house is also theLaRay statue, which was a statue
(02:41):
of a local ruler built duringthe Indonesian occupation.
In the base of the statuemonument is the number 27, as
the Indonesians considered TimorLesse to be their 27th province.
BBO also has an attractivechurch at the western end of
town.
Outside is a rather large, Ilove BBO sign, which is quite
photogenic.
And then if you head into theoutskirts of bbo, there's a
(03:03):
impressive manmade cave with astatue of the Virgin Mary.
And then on the hill above,there's a statue of Jesus on the
cross and expansive views of theBBO area.
And to reach that you walk past14 stations of the cross.
There is a natural griner.
So Griner means cave.
Many of the ones in Virgin Maryare manmade for the Virgin Mary
and the cave.
There's a natural caves close toBalbo, which are home to static
(03:26):
tights and bats.
Are only about 2K from bbo, butthey're very hard to find as I
tried.
You really need a local guide toshow you around.
Now, the drive to Babbo is veryscenic, and one of my favorite
spots along the way was the townof abi.
Now, when you first drivethrough it, it may not be
obvious what there is in Abi,but if you stop and take a
little bit of time, there's somefantastic scenes to be had.
(03:49):
So you don't really notice itfrom the road.
But when you're driving, saysouth on your left hand side,
there are actually huge ricefields.
The best place to see those isfrom the rooftop of the D two
Uma Cafe, which is an excellentcafe.
They've got really good drinksand some food, and they've got a
nice viewing area deck on top ofthe cafe, which has fantastic
(04:11):
views of the rice fields.
It's really highly recommendstopping there for a beverage
and the view.
And then to your right handside, as you're driving through
Aaba, you can't see it from theroad necessarily, but there is a
really impressive stretch ofbeach and there are a few beach
access points.
It's a good place to break upyour journey if you're heading
through into Bob and Arrow.
And the main town in Bobro andone of the largest cities in
(04:31):
Timor Le State is Malana.
The road to Malana is beingworked on, but it is pretty
rough still.
You basically go up and over thehills, through bbo and then down
the other side and across toMalana.
It's a large agricultural hub,particularly for rice
production, and there's somebeautiful rice fields in Central
Malana.
It's quite a spread out city.
It's best explored with your owntransport as they seem to be
(04:52):
surprisingly few Mette or TomToms compared to other places I
visited in Timor-Leste.
But as I say, there arebeautiful rice fields.
Probably the best viewing pointis if you take the back row that
goes between the ProtestantChurch, which is a bright yellow
church through round the back ofthe city center, then there's
some really good views that way.
There's also an impressive SantaCruz Catholic Church, which has
(05:14):
a huge outdoor covered area atthe eastern end of Malana.
And nearby is the main cemetery,which has fantastic views of
Mount Lacol now Lacol, it'sprobably one of the most
prominent mountains in Bob, youget a great view of it from
Malana.
Facing towards it.
And as you head through furtherinto Bob Arrow, you get a real
view of it's side on, and it's areally jagged edge mountain.
(05:36):
It's only 2000 meters tall.
It looks absolutely terrifying.
I know local guides, they usedto take people up there and now
they've stopped taking people asthere are a number of
fatalities, which isunderstandable when you look at
the terrain on offer.
Malana is quite a nice place towalk around.
The people are very friendly.
They don't see a lot of touriststhere.
It's a very kind of welcomingexperience.
Malana is at least three and ahalf hours drive from Dili.
(05:59):
And then a further, probably oneand a half to two hours further
on from Malana are the Morobohot springs.
So they're not the easiest placeto get to, but they are the best
known hot springs in thecountry.
They're originally developed bythe Portuguese who had a resort
complex built around the pools,but they fell into disrepair in
2016.
The whole complex wasredeveloped.
(06:20):
But not a lot of maintenanceappears to have taken place
since then.
They're fed by natural hotspring water, which produces
around 2000 liters of water perminute.
There is three pools, which arekind of part of the complex, and
there's this amazing kind ofcascading waterfall of hot water
just by them.
And then if you actually gothrough a bit of an explore in
the bush, maybe 10, 15 minutesaway, you can get down to the
(06:42):
river where you can see more ofthe natural hot springs.
Now they are quite amazing hotsprings.
But as I said, there hasn't beena lot of maintenance.
There's not a lot of facilitiesthere.
The toilets are out of action.
A lot of the infrastructure hasfallen into disrepair.
So they are definitely anadventure tourist destination.
Other than some local kids,you're probably gonna have the
place to yourself.
(07:03):
The other well-known place inBobo is Battle, which is the
home to the main border crossingbetween Tim Leste and Indonesia.
Although there isn't much thereapart from the border, there are
the remains of a 1655 Portuguesefort.
But they're now occupied by theborder police, so you can't go
inside them.
But you can see the walls fromthe outside on the road between
(07:25):
there and Bbo.
There are many traditionalTimorese thatch buildings,
including Uma Luli.
Bob is probably one of the mostvaried and scenic
municipalities.
I think in Timor Lesso, I did afantastic hike from Bob and
Arrow through into a mirror, andthere's some stunning scenery,
but it's not the easiest toaccess.
Once you get beyond the coastalroad, as I say, the quality of
(07:46):
the roads can be quite variable.
The easiest place as a touristto visit is bbo and there is
definitely enough to there tofill up a day.
There are BBO trails and BBO forhotel can organize guys to do
walks around the area.
There's a mountain biking routeyou can do.
And then there's bigger hikesfurther up into the mountains in
bbo.
So hopefully that's giving you abit of a flavor for the
(08:08):
municipality of Bobro.
Thank you so much for listening to exploring Timor
Less Day.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please consider leaving
a rating or review.
It really helps more peoplediscover the show.
If you have any questions orfeedback, I'd love to hear from
you.
Drop me an email at exploringTimor lessDay@gmail.com.
(08:28):
Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.
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