Venilale

Venilale sits in the highlands south of Baucau at around seven hundred metres, a small town with a substantial Portuguese-era convent and school, a church and a scatter of colonial buildings along the road, and a set of caves cut into the hillside during the Japanese occupation of the 1940s. The country around is terraced and green and noticeably cooler than the coast below. The caves were dug by forced local labour during the occupation and there are several of them along the hillside.

What you actually see

• The convent and school - the substantial Portuguese-era institution.
• The hillside caves - the tunnels cut into the rock in the 1940s.
• The colonial buildings - the scatter of period fabric along the road.
• The highland setting - terraced green country cooler than the coast.

When to go

May to November is the dry season and the roads are best. The rains from December make the drive slower. Nights at this altitude are cool.

Honest expectations

The caves are unlit and unmaintained; a torch is needed and care with footing. Several colonial buildings are in poor repair. Facilities are basic.

Nearby

Baucau is north, and Ossu is south.