Before arriving Dili, I was expecting it to be similar to Indonesia but it was not. As soon as I got off my plane and into the tiny airport terminal I felt like I was on a pacific island. People were a bit darker skinned, spoke Portuguese and seemed to be very religious christians, especially since I was there over Easter.
Life here seems slow and relaxed and people are very friendly, not trying to sell you stuff as you walk by. The country is also famous for having some of the Worlds best diving so I had a trip to Aquarious Dive Center and got a dive at Dili Rock.
I would say the diving was good, but not amazing. It was the small things we saw that made it good, like hairy squat lobsters, coral and anemone shrimps and at the end a small seahorse that made it good. Visibility was just about 15 meters, probably because it was the end of the rainy season, but in the dry season the water is aparently clear and there are big chances of seeing dugongs(sea cows) which I really had hoped to see.
My plan was to spend at least one full day outside the city, but after talking to the others at the hostel it seemed like there was not too much to see there either. I ended up relaxing quite a bit andthat went to explore the lighthouse, the beaches, the chega and resistance museum and of course paid a visit to the 27meter tall Jesus statue that is standing on a mountain, looking towards Jakarta.
To get around I just held on to locals motorbikes while standing on my pennyboars or just catch the microlite buses that only cost 25cents. The beaches just five minutes outside of the city were clean, quiet and empty and was great for some snorkeling. East Timor is one of the Worlds youngest countries, but it is very beautiful and I hope it will grow in the future and one day and get the attention that it deserves.
