Timor Leste, week one

26 June 2012

June 15th-19th

So we arrived at the backpackers around 9AM. There’s limited choice when it comes to lodging in Dili. There’s a couple of hotels, ranging from 100AUD to 500AUD per night, or the backpackers, the only one in fact, for 25 dollars a night (this includes air-conditioning and a fan, with shared bathroom). Quickly, we make our way to the port, hoping to find Toll (aka Perkins). You have to remember, and I’m quoting the Lonely Planet, street names and house numbers are a concept.

Right, well, sure enough, the port is not where Perkins office is, so back the other way, with the beating sun, and eventually we find the place. James is the man to talk to, and his sense of humour makes us feel the car shouldn’t be an issue.

First lunch after that : five dollars for an Indian meal, pretty good value. Back at the backpackers, the crowd is pretty entertaining, there’s Edward the American, Merlin the German, a couple of Aussies whose names I can’t remember, and of course, The Dude. The Dude is Australian but lived the best part of his life abroad, lately he lived in Indonesia, smoking weed and fighting the world. He’s an extreme-left activist, who now spends his days complaining just about anything, while drinking tea and mumbling through the few teeth he’s got left. And by the look of him, he’s got AIDS or hepatitis C or some bad stuff; I reckon he must weigh no more than thirty kilos. Max. And gees he’s annoying. If you don’t like this place, for god’s sake, leave !

Dili seems to quiet down a bit on the WE, people go to the beach, relax a bit, so that’s what we do. We decide to walk all the way to the other side to town, to the most famous place in Dili.

Let me just quickly sum up the history of Timor Leste, to get you up to speed. In the first half of the 16th century, Portuguese settlers declare Timor as part of Portugal. One hundred years later, Dutch settlers fight for “West Timor” and establish a colony in Kupang, leaving “East Timor” to the Portuguese. Timor Leste (Timur means “East” in the local language, and Leste means…East, in Portuguese, so Timor Leste means “East East”) was to remain a Portuguese colony for the next four hundred years. During these years, sandal wood, spices, etc were shipped back to Europe, while the small island some 30km north of Dili was used as a Portuguese jail (much like Tasmania in Australia for the English or Isle of Pines in New Caledonia for the French). In 1815, a treaty makes the split of the island official, and the two “Timor” are officially declared. Sandal wood declines, and coffee rises, then later in 1930, Timor Leste attracts the Brits and the Japs for its oil. WWII is declared, and Aussie troops are dispatched to fight the Japanese during the “Pacific Wars”. For the next thirty years, Portugal neglects Timor Leste, and in 1975 the USA “quietly” encourage Indonesia to invade Timor Leste. Sadly, Australia does not take side, and watch from a distance. Today, many people still resent Australia for its passive reaction. Portugal loses Timor Leste to Indonesia in 1976.

The Indonesian declared Timor Leste their 27th province, and the occupation is often bloody and violent. In 1991, over 100 Timorese resistants are shot by the Indonesian troops and the country enters an even bloodier era. Eight years after, another few hundred Timorese are massacred by the Indonesian troops, but in May 2002, Timor Leste is the newest country in the 21st century to declare its independence, this time heavily backed by the Australian troops. For the next ten years, the country will start building what it is today, but often some violence puts it back on international headlines.

Today Timor Leste is a vibrant yet fragile country; it is still very young and has a lot to learn, and a lot to build. When the Indonesian troops left the place, they burnt everything behind, leaving the small villages in ashes, only after a quarter of the population was wiped out. Somehow, Indonesian and Timorese today aren’t fighting, everyone is moving toward a new country, without any grudge or hatred. Some lesson…

That’s Timor in a (very small) nutshell. With a population of over a million, and a potential of a strong economy with the oil in the Timor seas, only the future will tell us what it will become, once the UN are gone by the end of 2012.

Back to last Sunday. The most famous place in Dili is the statue of the Christ. It was built by the Indonesian and blessed by the pope. Its height is 27m to symbolize the 27th province of Indonesia, and overlooks the city. It takes quite some effort to climb up there; the stairs are steep and go on forever to the top. But the view is well worth the effort. The bay is just splendid, and the water is so clear you can view the coral reefs, almost see the fishes even.

On Monday, we had an appointment with James at Toll to sort out some paperwork then we went back to the backpackers to spend the arvo on Internet (a rare commodity in the country). Latest news from our friend Thor at 5PM is: the carnet has been sent by DHL, after much toing and froing from TNT and AAA, and the car has been loaded on the ship. That’s the first great news. Thank you Thor, now we just have to wait.

Next step, get our visas for Indonesia. The process is simple: write a motivation letter explaining the itinerary, and asking for the visa. Attached to that letter, a form must be completed with a photo ID, which must have a RED background… Don’t ask me why. So with all that, the next day, we queued up at the embassy, dropped the paperwork and the passports, pay the 45 dollars and wait for three days.

For two days now, we’ve been staying at our CouchSurfing host, João. He’s been in the country for over twelve years. By an extraordinary piece of luck, or maybe just his good looks, he was selected/asked to leave Portugal and go to Timor Leste just after its independence to, well, basically take part in rebuilding the country. As his main trade is architect/designer, his skills were put to good use and today his private firm is responsible for quite a few beautiful buildings such as museums etc. His friend, Maïté (France) has been around for less time but is also very much involved in the country. Her small company exports handicrafts to France and she is now competing with a few other organisations to run the export on a much larger scale: the whole Pacific. If she gets awarded with the deal, she’ll be flying all around the place, from Vanuatu to Caledonia to Tuvalu, to locate original handicraft and export it. By Thursday this week, we’ll know if champagne is in order.

Fingers crossed Maïté, we’re all behind you. And thank you both for your hospitality and your friendship.

I might have mentioned I used to be a chef, and Claire may have hinted my chocolate mousse was worth something, I don’t know how it got to this but I found myself in the kitchen for the best part of the next evening. Don’t get me wrong though, I love cooking for friends. It’s so much more fun to share the meal than cook for customers. Entrée: Claire’s famous “salade vosgienne”, main course: shark fillet with vanilla sauce (a tuned down version of the Caledonian mahi-mahi fillet I suppose, it’s a wonder why this country has such a small fishing industry), and dessert: chocolate mousse, minus one (I did warn João to open the fridge door with care, I guess a trip to Ikea is in order now). Still, I think Maïté fell in love with my chocolate mousse. I did tell her the recipe was on this website, she’ll have to read it all now, hehehe.
Anyways. We left Maïté and João for a couple of days for Atauro Island. Time for another blog entry.

Distance to-day: 0km, total: 20211km (excluding flight Darwin to Dili).