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Published: November 14th 2017
Dili
View of DiliI’ve had to escape Indonesia for a while. Not because I am on the run for the authorities, but because my free entry stamp into Indonesia is only valid for 30 days, and my days are numbered. The country of choice for my self-imposed exile was Timor Leste, also known as East Timor, a one-time Portuguese colonial backwater. Despite its backwater status, it attracted the attention of Indonesia when the Portuguese left the country in a hurry, and so not much later the Indonesians took their place. The East Timorese, however, were not at all happy about being treated this way, and soon took up arms. For the next twenty something years the protests rumbled on, until a particularly nasty massacre at the Santa Cruz Cemetery in Dili, by Indonesians troops, was captured on film by some international journalists, and the world took notice. A referendum was eventually held in which the East Timorese voted for independence, followed by pro-Indonesian militias rampaging through the country before leaving, as an international force arrived.
So much for the history of this tiny country. The relations with Indonesia have markedly improved these days, and it is easy to cross the border. And for
Dili
And a view towards Christo Rei, the Christ Statue visitors from Schengen countries it is even easier to enter Timor Leste, as you get a free 90 day stamp upon entering. I didn’t need 90 days though, but I thank the authorities of Timor Leste nonetheless.
I was only in Timor Leste for a visa-run. Not that I didn’t want to see the country, but unfortunately I don’t have the time on this particular trip. My focus is Indonesia, and four days was all I could spare for poor old Timor Leste. That is if I wanted to make full use of my next 30 days in Indonesia, which I did.
So what can one do in Timor Leste in 4 days? Not much to be honest, and I won’t pretend I have seen much or know the ins and outs of this country after such a short time. I spent most of my time in Dili, with a short sojourn to Atauro Island for some snorkeling.
What I can say is that Dili is bustling… with expats. It seems to me that Timor Leste is the darling of the international aid community, from NGO’s to the UN, and from volunteers to small private aid organisations,
Dili
Farol Lighthouse everybody wants a slice of Timor Leste. This has made Dili somewhat pricey. And has brought Western café’s, restaurants, bars, and supermarkets and lots of big Land Cruiser type cars.
Dili is a rather languid place, with relatively quiet streets. It has wide sidewalks which is refreshing after Indonesia’s non-existent ones, non-existent as in that in Indonesia they are occupied by everything except pedestrians. It is also a low-slung city, with nary a high-rise in sight, and after dark it becomes peculiarly empty. Nearby are some excellent beaches, and overlooking it all is an open armed Jesus, reminiscent of the one in Rio.
Outside Dili, from what I could see during my ride from the border, the country still looks rather poor, which surprised me somewhat, given the amount of aid it has received and is still receiving and the number of aid agencies that have been here since independence. The roads are (mostly) atrocious, but are in the process of being upgraded.
I happened to arrive on the weekend in which they celebrate and commemorate the Santa Cruz massacre. Celebrate because it was the event that led to their independence, commemorate because of those that needlessly
Dili
Old Portuguese barracks, now occupied by the EU, and called Casa Europa died. There were music venues, and other festivities, but I never quite found out what was happening where and thus failed miserably in seeing very much of it. All I saw was a rather viscous cockfight, which it turned out, had nothing to do with the celebrations…
As all the museums were closed, I didn’t do much more than saunter the streets in the oppressive heat looking for evidence of its former colonial past or any other sights of interest. There isn’t that much to see to be honest, but Dili does have its charms and it is certainly quite a livable city. I kind of liked it.
After dillydallying in Dili for a couple of days, I took a local boat to Atauro Island which lies just of the coast. Along the way a school of dolphins showed up and did a bit of frolicking around the boat, which is always amusing to watch. Atauro has some beautiful reefs with a kaleidoscope of colours and an abundance of soft and hard corals. Visibility was also excellent and my only regret is that I didn’t have enough time. But, of course, that was my own choice.
So
Dili
Cathedral in short, expats, corals, festivities and a cockfight thrown in for good measure: that was four days in Timor Leste for me. Makes one wonder what three weeks in Timor Leste would look like? An enticing proposition, but one for another time.
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