Introducing Timor-Leste - 10 Incredible Travel Experiences

Introducing Timor-Leste and 10 incredible travel experiences you can have in one of the least visited countries in the world.

Website - www.exploringtimor.com

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@exploringtimor

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@ExploringTimorLeste

Books - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D82D3TBJ

Transcript

Jonty: 0:06

Bondi. Welcome to exploring Tim Este, the podcast that talks about Southeast Asia's best kept travel secret. I'm your host Jonty, and I'll share firsthand insights, expert interviews and practical travel tips. Whether you're a traveler, a cultural lover, or just curious about places rarely covered in the mainstream. You're in the right place. Let's explore two more. Less day. Welcome to the first episode of the Exploring Timor-Leste podcast. In this I will give you a brief overview of Timor-Leste, as most people have not heard of the country, although if you found this podcast, you probably have some inkling, of what to expect. And then I'm gonna talk about 10 incredible experiences you can have in Timor. Which will hopefully wet your appetite for the rest of the series. The intention with the rest of the series is to really drill down into specific, places within Timor-Leste, for example, Dili or at Island. Talk about some of the incredible activities like the snorkeling and diving and the hiking. And I'm also gonna interview locals and expats who know this country so well. Timor Este is a small country in Southeast Asia. It is one hour's flight north of Darwin at the top of Australia, and it is about half of the island of Timor shared with Indonesia. Its much larger neighbor. To the West. Timor-Leste has had a somewhat traumatic history. It was under colonization from the Portuguese for hundreds of years before being invaded by the Japanese during World War ii. Then the Portuguese were regain control, and after they left in 1975, Indonesians. Invaded and occupied the country for the next 24 years. So it is had quite a brutal history, but the people are very resilient and it is a vibrant and young and exciting new country and somewhere that is rarely visited by tourists, but hopefully that will change over the coming years. For half of a small island, it has a remarkably varied geography with mountains up to 3000 meters above sea level and beautiful beaches and coral reefs around its shores. The capital city is Dili, which is a relatively bustling place by Timor-Leste Standard, but pretty quiet compared to the other capitals in Southeast Asia An interesting fact about Timor-Leste. It is the second most Catholic country in the world after the Vatican. So obviously the Vatican is a hundred percent Catholic, but it owes only home to about 800 people. Timor less day is 98% Catholic out of the 1.3 million population. So expect to see lots of churches and lots of festivals around important dates in the Catholic calendar. To give a little bit of background on myself, I spent a year living in Dili in Timor Less day between 2024 and 2025. I was volunteering through VSA volunteer service abroad, which is a New Zealand NGO, with a local, NGO Ham, nasa, and with the Ministry of Tourism. I really enjoyed my experience in Timor-Leste. I wrote five books, a guidebook, a hiking guide, and three photography books, and created lots of, social media content. And this podcast is another way of getting the story out about Timor Lesse and what an incredible place it is for people to visit. After that brief introduction, I'm gonna talk to you about 10 incredible experiences you can have in Timor-Leste, which will give you a flavor for what the country can offer. These are in no particular order, but starting with snorkeling and diving particularly around Aru Island. Aru Island is about one and a half hours by ferry from Dili, or only a 15 minute flight. And the reefs surround it are some of the most biodiverse reefs in the world. They found hundreds of different species of fish, and the coral is renowned for being particularly healthy. And colorful and varied, and it is a wonderful place to go. Snorkeling and diving. The reefs are just off shore, so you can literally walk in off the beach and go snorkeling. Although the best reefs tend to be about a five minutes boat journey, on a small fishing boat with one of the locals, and it's the closest that Timor Lester comes to having a. Tourist destination. So there are a number, like three resorts on the island, which are not your sort of four star, five star resorts. They're pretty basic, but they've got a lot of charm and you definitely have a very authentic experience, visiting the island. Number two is to watch the sunrise from the summit of Mount Rameau. Mount Rameau is the highest peak in Timor less day at 2,986 meters above sea level. So it's higher than any point in mainland Australia Expect to spend two to three hours to reach the summit, and then another one or two hours down the path is relatively clear and straightforward, but it is going up a large hill, so some effort is required you're rewarded with fantastic views on a clear day. You can see pretty much the entire country from the north coast to the South coast. So it's a unforgettable experience for those who like to go for a walk. Number three is Acui. This is an enclave completely surrounded by West Timor, which is part of Indonesia. It's accessible by plane or by ferry from Dili and in a quite an off the beaten track country. This is even more off the beaten tracks there. Very few people visit Kui, but it is one of the most attractive parts of the country, in my opinion. It's where the Portuguese first landed in 1515 kui is one of the cleanest and quietest places in Timor-Leste. It has very good infrastructure. There are far fewer potholes and things seem to work well there. Kui has a fantastic coastline with, beaches and beautiful blue waters, and then behind that rises hills and mountains, which are incredibly kind of steep and rugged and just very, photogenic and interesting to look at. And it's just a very interesting place to visit. Number four is Bcao, which is the second city in Timor-Leste, although it is about a 15th of the size of Dili. So there's a big difference between the capital and Bal Bacao has some of the best preserved Portuguese colonial buildings in the country, including the beautiful world market it is famous, if I can use that word for the swimming pool, which is quite unusual. So it has a beautiful natural spring fed pool, which is well worth a visit. Number five is to visit an um, luli. You will see these pretty much everywhere in Timor, less particularly once you get outside of Dili. These are traditional timor's, sacred buildings where festivals related to the harvest and other pre Catholic, cultural practices, are held. Their design varies quite significantly around Timor-Leste, but they're quite distinctive then often raised off the ground and have a, motif or symbols at the top of the roof structure. They're interesting both kind of architecturally and also culturally, and they give you a good insight into traditional timor's practices. Number six is understanding Timor lessee's long struggle for independence. So as I mentioned earlier, Timor Lessee was colonized, it was occupied. It has had quite a challenge to become a independent country. To understand this history better, there's a couple of places I would recommend. One is the National Resistance Museum in dhi, which gives a good history of Timor-Leste, particularly under occupation by Indonesia. And then there is the Sher exhibition. Which is also in Dili, which is how old in the old, prison, which is quite a confronting place it recently had a major upgrade at the end of 2024, it was good before, but now it's even better in terms of telling the story of those who suffered in the prison and during the occupation Seven is to go hiking in Timor-Leste, and I will talk about this on a number of following podcasts, but Timor-Leste really has something for everybody as long as you can cope with the heat and humidity. But there are amazing day walks in both Dili and Roo Island, and there are some phenomenal multi-day hikes, up to eight day epics crossing the whole country from coast to coast. Timor Este, to my mind, is one of the great undiscovered. Hiking destinations, local guides are near essential to avoid getting lost, but they are worthwhile to be able to explore the huge variety of landscapes, explore the local cultures, and enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery in Southeast Asia. Number eight is to visit Christo Ray, which is the icon of Timor-Leste. This is one of the largest statues of Jesus in the world, it is in Dili at the eastern end, and a beautiful location at the top of Cape Fuma. You'll get amazing views of both the stature and also looking out across the coastline of Dili. And afterwards, you can go for a dip or a snorkel app. Back beach, which is on the other side of the peninsula number nine is to explore the history of bbo. This is probably best known in Australia for the BBO five. These were five Australian based journalists. So there were a mixture of Australians, Kiwis, and British, and they were murdered by the Indonesian army in 1975 when they invaded. ABO is home to the second oldest fault in the country, which is now one of the best hotels in the country. So probably the only place with an infinity pool in Timor-Leste. And it is it's a lovely place to spend a few days. It is also home to the Balbo Veterans Museum, which tells in detail the struggle against the occupation from Indonesia. There's also the Flag House Museum and there's local walks and caves to explore. Number 10 is to take a scenic flight so it team or less day is the landscape says quite rugged and can be quite challenging to get around by vehicle. It's all doable, but it can take some time. It might be a bit bumpy and particularly during the wet season some roads may be inaccessible. Probably the most comfortable way to explore team more less estate is from the air. There is a organization called Mission Aviation Fellowships at Math, MAF, and they operate in a number of poor countries providing medical support, a bit like the flying doctors in Australia. They provide an important service in Timor Less Day connecting the country and they subsidize their medical services with running, scheduled flights. So this is a great way to get from A to B across Timor less day and. Invariably you'll get spectacular views. So particularly the flights from Dili to Samme or to where you're flying across the mountainous spine of the island, are particularly, scenic. And also flights out to at rural island, are very pleasant as well. So that is a good way of seeing the country from a perspective. Hopefully those 10 experiences have given you an idea for the range of things that you can do in Timor Less day. If you are interested in knowing more about Timor Less Day, please do follow this podcast and watch out for future episodes where I drill into these areas in a lot more detail than I've been able to do so today. Thank you so much for listening to exploring Timor Less Day. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please consider leaving a rating or review. It really helps more people discover the show. If you have any questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you. Drop me an email at exploring Timor lessDay@gmail.com. Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.