a quick visit to East Timor
After the excitement of PNG, it was a relief to find East Timor to be such a sleepy, laid-back place. Yes, Dili has a government palace and a few large foreign embassies along the waterfront, but it is definitely a town rather than a city in all respects other than its status as the country's capital. So it was a nice place to hang out for a few days. Of course I had to make the long walk east of Dili and up the 570 steps to the Cristo del Rei statue, with its lovely views over the nearby hills and beaches. & I had to visit the Museum of the Resistance and the Chegg! exhibition, in one of the prisons from the Indonesian occupation. The way the Timorese people were treated by the Indonesians was really awful, but almost more shocking was the way this disaster got so few headlines whilst it unfolded. I also went out for a couple of nice meals (surprisingly easy as this small place has several Italian restaurants along the waterfront), as I met up with two different f...