Dili Beach Hotel

... con uno yacht in questa stagione, e' un suicidio. Anche trovassi qualche pazzo che ci andasse, dovrei essere ancora piu' pazzo e stupido di lui per aggregarmi. Avevo un'ultima, disperata carta da giocare; c'e' una compagnia di spedizioni marittime australiana che ogni due settimane fa un viaggio con la propria nave cargo tra Dili e Darwin. Amy, la ragazza australiana con cui ho viaggiato per un po' in Cina e Laos, lavorava per loro; aveva gia' bombardato di mail i suoi ex ...

We started a new program in Timor-Leste, in the area of rural water supply and sanitation. The purpose of this program is to help build the capacity of the Timor-Leste government in the provision of water supply and sanitation services. The team will be working with the Ministry of Health (which is responsible for WSS) and other donors in all districts. This was my first visit to the country which has gone through great civil unrest and violence over the last 18 ...

... all the faces of the people behind us in the cue waiting to get there chance to go in front of the Commander Genral. Mikes grumbles something like put a few dollars in your passport that always does the trick, thats all he wants a little bit of kickback, 20 should sort him. I am contemplating the 20 dollar bribe when Travolta sticks his head out of the serving hatch on the caravan and shouts us over. OK Mr Smirk from Manchester. 11 days you want ...

... border controls. There were no buses around so the options consited of spending the night in the town or heading down to the Border on the back of some Scooters. We Took the Bike option and before Mike could protest (He was actually stood there mulling over how me and him plus the driver and our bags where going to get on this small Bike) we were zipping off at breakneck toward east timor now mike really started to feel like Mr Palin Between the grunts ...

... or Smoke House Backpack**s) at the main road (Almirante Rua de Thomas Am**ico 231) and cleaned the bikes th**e for days by hand as th**e was no highpressure clean** found around. The load into contain** and transport was dealed by SDV Logistics (Rua Presidente Nicolau Lobato, Tel: +670 33 22 818) and will leave Dili at 9.8. - if th**e is no crisis before! Myself will fly by Air North at 6.8. to Darwin. All togeth** for almost 500 USD.

... time to look around Baucua, mainly because we wanted to eat lunch at the famed Pousade de Baucau. [GPS 08 27.666S 126 27.023E] We were told that the building behind this place was used by the Indonesians to torture suspected pro independent East Timorese. Getting fed at the Pousade took up most of our time in Baucau. We had to wait 30 minutes before the place was ready for customers. So we went for a short walk. Almost immediately ...

... and cake party for the closing. We are slowly learning about the history of the current troubles in East Timor. Reading the papers helps and we picked up a copy of "A Dirty Little War" by John Martinkus an Australian reporter, at the Xanana Gusmao Reading Room around the corner from our hotel. In a very short summary the Portuguese ran the place for 500 years and did nothing for the people or the infrastructure. East Timor declared independence from Portugal on Nov 28 ...

I think I am officially off the backpacker trail here. The poverty is overwhelming in Dili. Once you get away from the city, however, this is a beautiful country! I spent a day diving here, but was more taken by the drive along the coastline than what I ...

... on a truck by myself but my family insists on going with me and writing down the number of the truck in case something happens to me so that they can report it. It is comforting to know that they care but at the same time I get irritated when I have to wait around for them. I am sure when they are a little more confident in my abilities to get around they will give me more independence. I guess I should say a little more about the area ...

... dan eksotikanya tidak akan berubah, apalagi lifestyle masyarakatnya akan terasa berbeda dari kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia pada umumnya, itu sudah terasa jauh sebelum Timor Leste menjadi negara tersendiri..<br><br>Sayang, album-album foto kami hilang saat mengungsi tahun 1999, mungkin kami hanya boleh mengenang dalam hati dan ingatan kami saja, dan semoga kami dapat berkunjung lagi kesana dan melakukan 'napak tilas' kehidupan kami yang tidak akan kami lupakan.<br>