The Sunday Six: Things To Do In Timor Leste

1: Go To An Exhibition

There are few books on Timor Leste, so the best way to get a handle on this young nation’s story is to visit an exhibition. Dili’s museum of liberation, near the university, is currently closed for rebuilding, and a promised mobile version is nowhere in sight. But the harrowing Chega exhibition, at the Balide Prison, Dili, provides an extraordinary insight into the occupation. And, if you’re headed up to the mountains, make sure to stop at the Second World War exhibition in Dare, 9k up the Aileu road from Dili.

2: Explore Ancient Caves

Many archaeologists believe that the island of Timor may have been a stepping stone for the first human beings to reach Australia, 40,000-60,000 years ago. The caves at Tutuala, on the island’s eastern tip, show evidence of human occupation from 30,000 years ago – and their cave paintings date back over five thousand years.

3: Eat Portuguese Food

Timor Leste remained a Portuguese colony until 1975, and Portuguese cuisine remains a popular choice. The Pink Palace at Baucau serves good, warming Portuguese food in a colonial setting. Or head out of Dili to the pretty beach of Areia Branca, close to the iconic Jesus statue, and enjoy Portuguese, African and European cuisine amid the dark wood and white draperies of Knua Morabeza.

4: Get Up Into The Mountains

The centre of East Timor is rugged and mountainous, often shady and misty, and sometimes positively cool. At Maubisse you can stay in a Portuguese government guesthouse, with formal gardens, up in the mist of the hills – an atmospheric place to stay, and a good base from which to scale the island’s highest peak. A proposed, if controversial, renovation of the Portuguese fort at Balibo should be amazing when it’s completed.

5: Experience Catholicism

Timor Leste is one of only two Catholic nations in Asia, and the Catholic church, as in Communist-era Poland, was a focus of resistance to the Indonesian occupation. Dili’s cathedral is supposedly the largest in Asia, and the Santa Cruz cemetery, site of a notorius massacre, dazzles with its kitsch tombs. The Carmelite convent just outside Maubara offers retreats and takes paying guests: stop for the night to experience the simple tranquility of convent living, or sign up for a retreat to explore further.

6: Take a Road Trip

The landscapes of Timor Leste are phenomenally diverse, with lush paddies sitting cheek by jowl with desertified salt flats, and coastal mangrove swamps giving way to towering hills. Even major roads, outside Dili, see relatively little traffic: a road trip will enable you to see traditional life, from salt panning, to farming, to markets and festivals in its many rural villages.