Delay in Dili
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
1
37
228
Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Dili,
Timor-Leste
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
We arrived in Dili on Saturday morning. We had to wait until Monday for the Indonesian embassy to open so we could get our visas. We were there bright and early, but after taking our passports and application we were told it would take 7 days to get our visas. We were told to come back at the 3 PM on the following Monday. Actually our guidebook had said it would take 7 days to get the Indonesian visa but the Aussies at our hotel were sure we could get it faster since they could get theirs on arrival when they flew to Bali. They suggested that we check with the American Embassy where they were sure that with a phone call the Yanks could expedite the process and we'd only have to pay an extra a 'fee'. We showed up at the American Embassy to register, get information on where we could get anti-malaria medication, and also ask about the 7 day Indo visa wait. We've enough experience with US government bureaucrats, and should have known better then to expect much. Turned out the embassy was closed for Martin Luther King Day. So we returned today egged on by the Aussies, but feeling like suckers for doing so
17a
. We've never registered with our embassy before and probably never will again. The American embassy is the biggest and best here. It has large grounds with manicured grass and an Olympic size swimming pool for the use of about 5 staff members. We heard that the staff could each invite up to five friends to eat at the embassy club and swim in the pool as long as they were not Timorese nationals. But we were not invited. They did tell us the Indonesian 7 day waiting period is standard for land crossings. If we were flying in we could get visas on arrival. As for anti-malaria meds, the polite but formal young lady who came out to the reception area (did not invite us into her office) told us that there wasn't much pont in taking them and to just try not to get bitten by mosquitoes.
We've seen very little American presence here so far. Perhaps a few NGOs and an USAID building with cement barricades set out in the street. We rarely hear an American accent. No tourists that is for sure. But people we talked to expected big US development investment in a few months. We're thinking 'dream on'. If they'd open up that swimming pool to the Timorese life in Dili would be greatly improved. Not a single McDonalds here. So if you are thinking of getting in on the ground floor this might be your opportunity; more realistically the sub-basement not the ground floor. On the other hand there is little anti US feeling. The Aussies take the heat here. The people got the idea they were being ripped off by the Australians and burnt down an Aussie owned supermarket and hotel
17b
. The Brits have actually closed their embassy and told their nationals they might want to leave but if they didn't to keep their heads down. In true British style they had a champagne 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, 1975 and 10 days later Indonesia troops invaded. Over the next 24 years a third of the population had died as a result of Indonesian oppression. The rest of the world hardly noticed. The Australians have a really bad conscience on this because their government knew the invasion was going to happen and did nothing, and did nothing afterwards when the torture, rapping and slaughtering went on. But they were afraid of Indonesia which, while backwards, has a vastly larger army than Australia. Some noble Australian newsmen tried to get the word out but were murdered by the Indonesian's. The shame was that Australia's government buried this. What the Aussies didn't know was that there were vast oil and natural gas reserves under the Timor Sea about 2/3s the way from Australia to East Timor. Now they are totally in favor of an independent East Timor, with its oil piped to Darwin
17c
. A group called the Fretilin were the good guys and fought a 24 year guerrilla war against the Indonesian Army and their East Timorese militia. It turns out that our choice of hotels was fortuitous for getting a feel for the independence struggle as it was one of the places that the Fretilin supporters would secretly meet with internationals to pass on information to the outside world. The Indonesians knew this and the head of the secret police had a room above us over looking the court yard where he could see who was talking to who.
We've been walking all over the town during the day, rather than taking the taxis, even though it is extremely hot for us. We figure it's the best way to get the feel for the place. This morning we walked all the way out on the Hadda Fada highway to the office of Paradise Tours to get bus tickets to cross into Indonesian West Timor and on to Kupang. $17/person. Tomorrow we'll relax at the beaches which we can see off in the distance to the east under the Cristo Rei Statute. But we'll take a taxi out there.
