 Boy fishing / Fatucama Beach, Dili |
 by Philip Game
From an obscure colony to a war zone patrolled by UN peacekeepers… it sounds like somewhere in Africa. But the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste lies almost at Asia's furthest extremity, one half of an island a short flight from Bali or from northern Australia.
East Timor is not exactly ripe for tourism, nor indeed for impatient investors. Outside Dili, the soporific capital - watch for goats crossing the road - there are no landline telephones nor banks; gasoline is siphoned from jerry cans. On the other hand, fellow travellers may invite you home to share steamed rice and fish baked in pandanus leaves.
The going may sometimes be rough but the journey will prove rewarding in human terms (and the diving is quite fantastic).
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