After the usual breakfast we jumped into the car for Dili via Dare. The fog shrouded the mountains on our way out and the drizzle and cool air meant that we left Maubisse in jumpers. The drizzle was soon behind us though as we lost altitude and by 10:30 the sun was blaring hot and … More Returning to Dili & final thoughts on East Timor
Our second night in a nunnery was all the peace and tranquility you would expect. The nunnery was on a hill side looking out to sea and we could hear the waves lapping the shoreline. Nuns don’t do it tough, the convent was really nice and it even had 3 thatched huts with tables and … More Lunch with the President of the Party Democratico
Getting out of Maliana was fine, our guesthouse was at the top of the hill so we headed downhill and arrived in Balibo not long after. Victor got out the car and asked what seemed to be Pakistani military staff where the Balibo 5 house was. Turns out the guy he spoke to was a … More Morning tea with the Pakistani UN peacekeeping force – Balibo to Maubara
Having had a rough night thanks to blaring music until 6:30am, we got up and had our breakfast in the convent library. The usual fayre of bread, jam and eggs and very weak tea was served. The walls were lined with English language books and a table facing a flat screen TV, DVD player and … More A (bit too) exciting road adventure to Maliana
After a good breakfast of banana bread and tea at the guesthouse we headed back to our beach house to pack up and prepare for the wait for a mikrolet back up the hill. We were told they run on the hour first thing in the morning and we were expecting to wait until 9am … More Getting to know the local nuns in Manatuto
We got up early (ish) to take a bus to Bacau. Dili was pretty quiet at this time compared to the rush hour the day before so we were able to cross the road with our backpacks on without getting ourselves killed. A short walk later and we hit the back of the line of … More Dili is Dili and East Timor is East Timor – Baucau
Thursday is the big market day in Baucau so of course we headed there. The market was pretty chaotic, with heaps of buses and mikrolets blocking the road with the roofs loaded right up. Mainly it was veg, flour and grains and kitchen stuff, with shops in tin shacks lining the adjoining streets. Emma bumped … More Baucau markets and doing it tough in Osolata
We decided over dinner that the 3 of us would spend the day exploring Dili. After breakfast we headed out to the Christ statue at the far east of greater Dili. You can see it from the waterfront anywhere in Dili. To get there we hopped in a mikrolet, a micro sized minibus with a … More Hanging out with the UN and NGOs in Dili
Visas. One of the fundamentals of travel, had been carefully worked out and timings carefully scheduled. We even thought of whether we’d need them for transit countries, or so we thought… Then we got to Wellington airport and nearly didn’t go anywhere. We were flying via Sydney to Darwin where we were overnighting before hopping … More Hello summer – first impressions of East Timor
Marie & Emma's Travel Journal 