Went to the ANZ bank where they were able to cash American Express travelers checks for a one percent fee.

There are the usual crowd of boys out front selling phone cards. This is probably the only economy in the world that is based on phone card revenue. They stand out on the street hawking the cards all over town.

The market near the roundabout no longer exists. (Pics on the Dili Hotel story under East Timor). The 20 or 30 small homes and shops along the river on the way to the cape are burned down. They were mostly from the east and have been run out of town. Kind of wierd, this east-west rivalry thing. It is hard for a westerner to fully grasp what is going on.

Things seem to have calmed down. There was a demonstration in front of the palace yesterday with people demanding the resignation of Alkatiri but it was pretty low key.

Australian armored personal carriers rumble up and down the streets and foot soldiers are on patrol as well. They have done a great job sorting things out.

22/06/06