Tag Archives: Xanana Reading Room

Day 72 – Volunteering

ready to go!

ready to go!

Herman hooked us up with Tony for a mikrolet tour through Dili today. Tony is a ‘trailing partner’ of a volunteer and has made it his task to show new people around and tell them a bit about Dili. So that’s what we were in for today.

We got to ride with Herman to the Katuas Hotel where we met Tony. The first point on the list was to have a coffee here. 🙂 Herman then had to leave for work. The tour proper started with Xanana’s Reading room, a complex that holds several buildings. The first public library in Timor-Leste takes up one room with free wifi, a corner with kids’ books and some shelves with books that you can borrow. Next door is a museum to Xanana Gusmão. A room filled with memorabilia from photos to awards to paintings he has made during his time in prison.

There is a UNESCO part that we only passed and a gallery which holds exhibitions. At the moment, an up and coming Timorese artist (Jacinto Batista) is showing his works. The gallery has a small gift shop with the first postcards I could find in Dili. Continue reading