Farol Hotel
Travel Blogs from Dili
Youngest Country Yet
... instead of one. As I've not been to any of those places yet, East Timor is the youngest country I've visited.
The island of Timor seems to have had fighting on its lands since it was first occupied in the early 1500s by the Portuguese. The Dutch who had control of many of the rest of the islands now called Indonesia fought for this island as well. After a few centuries it was agreed the East was for Portugal and the West for the Dutch. ...
Betelmania
... 2000 people fled to the island for sanctuary, mostly camped in the grounds of his Homestay. The island is a remote bubble where time stands still and the troubles of the world are far removed.
The mood in the common room is one of uncertainty and emotion - several of the Timorese actors become excited and angry, even at Barry, who is translating theTV news to his guests. At one stage he has to explain to a guy that he is only relaying what a certain politician ...
Our Last Frontier
... the Backpackers has a kitchen and we are able to buy food at a supermarket and for the first time in almost 12 months, cook our own meals. We use the time to write blogs and hang out. We meet some of the Election Monitors, mostly young Aussie volunteers, hired by the East Timor-Australia Friendship Society. They have been here for several weeks during the lead-up to the elections and now that is over, they are begining to drift off, or have one last trip to Atauro Island - it's going ...
Alexander and the Changing of the Guard
... in Timor.
Then the Changing of the Guard began.
Alexander thought it was an audience participation event, or maybe he was just swept up in the
excitement of the moment.
...
Ups and Downs in Timor-Leste
... every 10th vehicle that drives down the street is a UN police truck. At the end of our time in Timor we met another fellow traveller who had visited 118 of 193 UN recognized countries (his ultimate goal is to visit them all) and he said that Timor-Leste reminded him more of Ghana than any other place.
So, what do you do in such a place? Go diving of course! Amazing corals, nudibranchs, and a hammerhead shark made for ...