We spent two weeks in East-Timor. We had high expectations before we entered the country but were very disappointed when we left. It had been a long dry season so everything was very arid, we can imagine that it would be much nicer if the country would look green again after some rain. The road ran many times through the mountains with beautiful views over the ocean. Very nice were the many bays and small beaches and the beautiful clear blue sea. The beaches and the sea usually weren’t really pleasant to linger due to the coral in the sea and on the beach, and the many pebble beaches. There is almost no infrastructure for tourists, so there are many places you just can’t stay at. The towns and villages in East-Timor look very run down and there is not a nice atmosphere throughout the country. It’s quite striking how many Westerners there are in Dili (the capital), not as a tourist but to work and live here.

Traffic
In East Timor, there is no perfect road, everywhere there are potholes and stretches of road that have been destroyed. The only relatively good road is the one between Dili and Baucau, the two largest cities of the country. The road from the border to Dili is under construction and will be in a good condition within a foreseeable future. Excluded from Dili, there is virtually no traffic in the country. East-Timor is the strictest country in following traffic rules, compared to other Asian countries.

Food
The cuisine of East Timor is exactly the same as the Indonesian cuisine. In many restaurants they have ready-made dishes, which are served cold. We mostly ate fried rice / fried noodles. In Dili there is more choice and there are many European, Chinese and Indian restaurants. Unlike other Asian countries, East Timor has no food stalls. They make up for this with Burger King in Dili!

People and Language
The people are not really friendly, except for a few individuals. Several events have ensured that we will never return to this country (see below).
Besides Tetum, they also speak Indonesian and Portuguese. Outside Dili you're not much with English and communication can be difficult.

Prices
East-Timor is at least twice as expensive as other Asian countries, the hotels even four times as expensive. The prices are comparable with Singapore, the richest country in Asia. This is really incomprehensible for a country that is described by Lonely Planet as the poorest country in Asia.
In East-Timor, US dollars is used.

Hotels
The prices for hotels are very high and, moreover, often they charge per person, which we have never seen before in Asia. The standards are close to the standards of the hotels in Indonesia. Many Westerns live and work in Dili and we thought this caused the high hotel prices. We hoped that this would be better outside Dili but in Baucau we soon found out that this is not the case. Here on the beach, you will find a local fisherman who rents out a room (with breakfast) in his house for 20 euro pp. The room has a bed and a fan, the bathroom is located in the muddy garden and is extremely dirty. This is the worst example that we have but it gives an idea of the mentality of the Timorese.

The Mentality of the Timorese
To illustrate why we didn’t like East-Timor we want to give a few examples.
In the hotel in Dili there is a weekly rate. On arrival we didn’t think we would stay a week. When it became clear that we would stay there that long, the boss refused to give the weekly rate because we had to let this know upon arrival. When we ask to make a call to ANL, the boss says we have to buy a prepaid card to charge her cell phone and thus make the call.
On the parking of the first shipping agent 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. The office is unfortunately already closed. He is 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.
In the hotel in Baucau we want to eat our food at our bungalow, so we went to the owner’s house to take our plates and say we will bring them back when we’re finished. The owner says that this is not possible. He couldn’t laugh about it but we ate our food at our bungalow.
When we were stuck in the jungle at night, we slept in someone's garden under a shelter full of mice. The next morning we offer some money, eg the amount we paid for a bungalow in Laos, but the man is not satisfied and asks for more.

More info on www.wijzijnweg.org