A Hidden Beauty: Dili

What is the first thing pop up in your mind when somebody asked you: 'What do you think about Timor Leste?"

Before I visited the country, probably I would say, 'err, I heard it's not exactly safe there,' or 'I am not really interested.' But in 2013 somehow I got the chance to visit the country and now I will say that if you are a traveler, backpacker or just beach lover like me, you definitely have to visit.

Actually it was a business trip for VT making purpose. The VT would be shown in the middle of a big concert broadcasted nationally by my previous company. The VT shoot was held in three countries: Hong Kong, Singapore and Timor Leste and somehow I ended up in the third one.

I will not bore you all with the details of things I did there, so I will just give you the interesting highlights.

The preparation to Timor Leste was relatively tricky. Tourism information in this country was very limited so the travel agency had difficulty getting information about good hotels at affordable price. Even after we found one hotel and make reservations, turns out we couldn't make payments directly using credit card because the hotel didn't have the facility for that (and I heard that this hotel was pretty famous there, imagine the facilities in the less famous accommodation), so I had to carry cash in US dollars (main currency in Timor Leste) to pay the hotel. US Dollars currency also affects the high cost of everything in East Timor even though the country is still behind Indonesia in terms of infrastructure.

We departed from Jakarta at 5:45 pm but already standby in the airport from three o'clock in the morning because we had to carry heavy equipment such as cameras, basic lighting and tripods. We took domestic flight from Jakarta to Denpasar followed by international flight from Denpasar to Dili. The journey from Denpasar to Dili takes around two hours. Before landing, I saw blinding sky of Dili. I thought the weather outside would be very hot exceeding Jakarta. From the window I could see beautiful beach just right beside Nicolau Lobato International Airport.

The trip from the airport to the center of the city only took around ten minutes by car. The first thing I noticed was in Dili there was absolutely no traffic signs. Fortunately there were not many vehicles and the streets were never congested. We didn't have to drive too fast because all the important places could be reached in a matter of minutes.

The short trip from the airport to the hotel was enough for me to learn that the city had many potential to develop their tourism. They have clean and beautiful beaches everywhere, all can be accessed for free. Our team immediately sighed in awe when seeing highway directly adjacent to the ocean. It was indeed a rare sight for us who in daily life had to spend many hours wading through the sea of ​​traffic congestion in Jakarta.

In Dili, we visited many places. One of my favorite places is a hill in outer part of Dili area. We used three cars: Range Rover, a rental car and a car belonged to the client's office. The number of people who joined us was increased because several new staff from client's company branch wanted to have a look of Dili from high place. Because the location is quite far from the city center (around one and half or two hours), I had fallen asleep in the car. I woke up when we were near the destination. Car suddenly rocked pretty hard. Apparently we were climbing a steep uneven dirt road. While the Range Rover cars managed to move nimbly, our car was wailing helplessly. That's when I realized that right behind our car was cliff. And there was no barrier between the cliff and the steep road. If our car failed, basically we were doomed. The client who sat next to me started to cry out of fear when our car was suddenly slipped backward, unable to climb.

Wow, in this situation we all might fall into the cliff, I thought. But strangely I did not feel afraid. Maybe because prior to Timor Leste I've climbed all scary rides at Universal Studios so the slip did not feel scary enough. One of our clients clung to me while praying. Fortunately, the car could stop at a safe enough distance from the cliff. In the end, for the sake of security, we went up the hill picked up by the range rover. I think the difficulty we've experienced to climb the hill paid off when we saw the wide firmament of Dili City joined the vast ocean. It was very beautiful.

My second favorite place is a famous beach where we could see the landmark of Cristo Rei Statue. Cristo Rei statue in Dili is the second highest Christ Statue in the world with a height of 27 meters. Areia Branca, the beach under Fatucama hill where the statue stands is a beautiful place to relax with its white sand and calm waves. This beach is a favorite among local families and tourists to spend a laid back time, probably just for swim or to enjoy sunset.

The third favorites are Largo de Lecidere and Palacio do Governo. The two are located just right opposite of each other. Largo de Lecidere are the place where Dili youngsters hangout with friends. They could enjoy the beach while chatting or just doing homeworks. Palacio Do Governo in other hand is a very interesting place for me. The Guard said that the palace is an office for Xanana Gusmao, The Prime Minister of Timor Leste. However, despite the title of the palace, Palacio Do Governo didn't have a high fence and tight security, only a high gate and low fence that separates the palace to the highway and the beach. Even in the courtyard there are local mothers who did aerobics and other light sports. I think this place can be attacked easily if there is a military invasion.

When we visited a new country, one thing we usually did before leaving was visiting the souvenir and shopping center. Dili didn't have many choices of shopping destination. But if you want local handicraft for gift, you can visit Tais Market. Actually I really anticipated the visit to this place because I wanted to find some souvenirs at affordable prices. I was disappointed when I saw that Tais Market is a small traditional art market but prices were very expensive. A small purse made from Tais Cloth could cost more than 20 dollars (in 2013). My intention to buy souvenirs was died in the speed of light, but I enjoyed window shopping in the small market while observing local kids playing a traditional game.

Our trip to Timor Leste was a short one. We visited only for a couple of days and I didn't have enough time to really observe and experience. Someday, I want to visit again for holiday purpose. And when the opportunity finally came, I would have jumped into the sea to snorkel. Yes, they have great beaches basically everywhere but I didn't have the chance to jump in the water. And hopefully at that time they already improve their public transportation and infrastructures so tourist can access tourism spots easily.