The poverty of the East Timorese is obvious as soon as we enter the country. The people have nothing more than a bamboo roof over their heads. There are hardly any shops or restaurants to be found, which is very strange in Asia. The road starts pretty well but soon becomes a path of boulders. Again, it is clear that the dry season lasts too long, the nature is arid and the riverbeds are empty. After a few kilometres a young man, called Fabio, approaches us. He invites us into his home in Dili, the capital of East Timor. We accept the invitation and try to follow him but with our fully loaded bike on these bad roads we can’t keep up with Fabio. He pauses a few times so that we can catch up with him. The largest part of the road we drive close to the sea which really has a beautiful blue colour in different shades.

Arid Land but Beautiful Ocean Views

Arrived in Dili we can’t find Fabio, it seems that he didn’t want to wait for us. We guess he just wanted some company on the road or we took him by chance during his breaks? We start then to look for a hotel, but it soon becomes clear that the prices here are very "un-Asian". We pay at least 32 euro for a not so clean room, but with air conditioning. Coincidentally, we pass by the shipping agent's office that has to ship Mickey to Australia. We see light inside so we go and take a look. We park our motorbike but some security guy tells us we are not parked on the designated area and commands us to move two meters further. Gosh, strict people in Asia, that’s something we aren’t used to. The office is unfortunately already closed, there are just some security personnel present. They are obviously capable of telling us to park two meters further on a completely empty parking space, but to tell us that the office is closed clearly is too much for them! The search for a hotel continues and finally we arrive in a pleasant room, after some negotiating about the price.

Free Gym at the Hotel

The next morning we go to the shipping agent who promises us that he will email us about the details on Monday. The rest of the day what we work on the site and the blog because there is nothing to do in Dili. During a visit to the store is clear that everything here costs about twice as much as elsewhere in Asia. We don’t understand it, we have seen the miserable homes of local people. Fabio had told us that this is because everything has to be imported (mostly from Indonesia), but still we find the huge difference strange. Life must be hard for the people here because they earn about 100 euro per month!

Typical Village in East-Timor

It is striking how many white people there are in Dili. No tourists but people who work here, all with their huge cars. We wonder whether these so-called development workers have ever seen what we have seen today ... And how to explain that after over 10 years, during which the country gained independence from Indonesia, there is still no decent road from the main border to their capital! Where has all the money gone to?!

Somewhere Along the Way

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