First days in Timor Leste

Yesterday I arrived in Dili on a Merpati Airlines flight. It was about 90 mins late (as expected) and to my surprise completely full. Not 1 seat left. The flight was rather uneventful albeit that legroom was limited even to Indonesian standards. Trust me, these guys are a lot smaller than I am...

The arrival process in TL was rather lengthy. First you get you Visa on Arrival (20 mins) after which you join the line for passport control (30 mins). That is rather a lot considering they only have to clear one 737. After the customs check I walked outside to meet Maarten. It was immediately obvious that I was now seeing him in his natural environment. Much more relaxed than he ever was in NYC. :)



We drove to his house in Dili where has kindly offered to put me up for the four nights I will be staying here. He recently got married to Annabella whom I had hot met yet but I must say he did well for himself. Lucky man.



After setting me up in my room we went for a little drive around Dili. I am not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't what it was. Dili is beautiful. It is a lot like Bali but without the tourists and even cleaner. It does not look a country recovering from civil unrest. It feels very safe.





It's a shame I won't have more time to explore the country. It will also be a little difficult to do on my own. You really need a local guide I think, especially in the districts.





The next day was his birthday and since a lot of the expats here have returned from their summer holidays a rather impromptu barbecue was planned for my arrival night. One of the guys I will be working with here (Louis) is South African, so the Braai was on. I must say it is always a pleasure to meet all these different people who lead interesting lives and have great stories to tell.



The food was the best I had so far on this holiday. A large perfectly cooked cut of meat with blue cheese sauce, wonderful salad etc. Not what you expect here. Lots of beer and wine too. Probably not the best idea but we enjoyed ourselves.



Today I worked with Louis and I think we discovered a very clever solution to the problem of implementing new technology in a developing country. He is a very clever guy. I won't bore you with the details. In a minute or so I will be enjoying another great dinner and then it is of to bed early.