Arrived in Dili yesterday. Was met with a shower of rain and the driver from Dive Timor Lorosae and myself running with baggage to the car. First impressions were of a small Asian city - not as much traffic as some and not as much horn tooting either. Usual road chaos with no lanes and many lanes made by cars. Just the usual really!
Had a small problem with baggage at Darwin. Because of the extra baggage - I managed to get this through Qantas for $112 and this paid for the Dili / Darwin leg as well. Very good service on Qantas' part as the cost charged was only what Air North would have charged me. BUT, back to the story, had cleared customs in Darwin, bought a bottle of gin and red wine to keep me going for my visit, and was waiting to exit through door 5A (interesting number) only to hear "Ms Shields, will you please collect your baggage from Carousel 1" I went back to the Customs area, and explained my situation. I had to leave my bag and passport at the customs area, and he and I ran down to collect the baggage and take it over to the baggage area to be put on the Dili flight. The staff there agreed that Qantas should have checked them through (and judging by the labels they did just that), but the bags were removed at Darwin. Anyway, we then started the saga of excess baggage, and they wanted my passport, which was upstairs at Passport Control! Anyway we waited around for a long time (the agitated customs fellow and me) and eventually they said it was all okay, everything was paid for. We then sprinted through baggage check (the agitated customs fellow and me) and ran up the escalators back to where I was before. All under control!!
Had a looooonng walk into Central Dili today - didn't quite get there, or was lost along the way and meandered through many small, and not so small streets. I will travel by Taxi on my first day at the Clinic (Cost $1). At lease I will get there. Anyway, walked for about 2 1/2 hours and was very pleased to get home by the end of it. Jumped into the pool to reduce my body temperature and then the mandatory afternoon shower fell. Temperature is not too hot and the wet season will finish within the month.
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| View along the foreshore (opposite where I am staying at Dive Timor Lorosae) |
Found the place and people to be very friendly. Certainly does remind me of Bali about 30 years again, although nowhere near as dirty as Denpesar was.
I will upload some more photos (but this one along took five minutes).
Thought I would give you an idea of the place I will be living in for the next couple of months. The photos are of the lounge/kitchen area, the swimming pool (most inviting) and my bedroom (excuse the mess). All very comfortable - have an air conditioner, television which doesn't seem to be able to be moved from HBO (could be worse as I got to watch Treme the other night), small kitchenette with stove, fridge etc, bedroom with two double beds and ensuite. Have already had the maintenance in to fix the air conditioner and they were also working on the shower when 
