Hotel Rao – Oecussi

Hotel Roa – Oecussi

The bus to the border comes up this road on the way out of town for a 45 minute ride to Bobometo.

There you can cross the line and catch a lift to Kefa in West Timor. Make sure you have your visa in advance if going into West Timor.

The Hotel and Restaurant Rao is around a half a kilometer from the pier where the ferry from Dili lands.

If you are planning on hanging around town for a few days and don’t know anyone in town this would be the best place to stay.

The low numbered rooms are protected from the sun by some large mango trees. Some of the rooms exposed to the sun all day take a while to cool down in the evening.

Oecussi is a little cheaper than Dili for food and beer and the rooms are 10.00 dollars a night.

Chicken and rice lunches cost 3 dollars and the liter bintangs are 2.50. At the shops a beer is 1.75, eggs are 15 cents a piece and cokes are 50 to 60 cents.

There is another great little restaurant next to the Timor Telecom sign where the shop sells phone cards. Their dinners cost 5.00 dollars a night and the few UN people there often stop in for their evening meals.

Sometimes the UN hosts a bingo game on Thurs nites and the proceeds go to send some of the kids to school.

Panta Makassar does not have a whole lot going on. The main event is when the ferry comes in and the horse racing at the track by the airport.

If you plan on staying around there are buses and microlets and ojeks but very few and they do not stray into the back country as a rule. The roads are too rough.

A few government vehicles, oxfam, and Caritas and the UN vehicles make trips into the outback but even they are often not able to go to certain areas in the rainy season which just started a few days ago.

Hotel Rao – Oecussi