Got back to Bali to take care of some business and am bored already. I miss those warungs where you eat with the people and don’t get your food in “tourist” portions. I noticed a new “warung” on Jalan Raya in Ubud called Hokkian Warung and decided to check it out.

Got a nice nice plate of fried rice and beef for 8,000 rupiah, less than 1 dollar US. First time I got Chinese food at a warung. (little roadside eatery) It was pretty good.

The situation in East Timor is tense at this time but I hope to be back there in a couple of weeks provided the border is not still closed. It is really a bummer that things there are not a little better. I don’t know the politics there that well and everything I say would be hearsay so I’ll leave it at that.

Went about 50 kilometers east of Dili to do a little shore diving. Had a couple of really great dives. Nudibranchs, leaf scorpion fish, and a solitary robust ghost pipefish usually found in twos.

The French Navy is docked downtown Dili at the pier so a few of the guys came out for a dive. Really great guys and a lot of interesting stories. We stopped for a few beers at the only restaraunt on the road - a little bamboo hut that serves great food and cheap cold beer.

There was a local spearfisherman there. Really good swimmers, these Timorese. He had a scorpion fish, a titan trigger fish and a odd mix of other stuff. I got some great shots and will have them up in a week or two in the East Timor section. I think you will find them interesting.

The fishermen here don’t use dynamite like they do in so many places so the reefs are very healthy and can support the local subsistance fishermen.
Feeding the family will always come first.

There is a big concert downtown tonight. It is the celebration of the Indedendence Day of East Timor. It was suspected that some trouble would break out but the situation seems calm.

The potential for this place is enormous. There are so many undiscovered diving sites and beaches that tourism should eventually take off. These are really great people and i just hope that they get it together.

Anyway, check back because there will be quite a bit of good info for the budget traveller to be posted in a week or two.

Then I might head up to Mindanao in the Philippines to visit some of my mates up there and do a little diving as well.

Later, dutchpickle

Did a couple of dives about 45 kilometers out of Dili. The one Wayne calls whaleshark point was pretty good. There were a bunch of travalleys so we just hung out at the point for a while watching the show.

There was also a gigantic anenome loaded with tomato clown fish. Probably 4 meters across.

I am eager to get back to Bali where the internet acess is a little better and I can get some pictures uploaded to the site. It should be in 2 or 3 weeks. There should be some good info on East Timor if you check back. You can also email me through the contact form if you have any questions. Keep in mind it might take a few days for me to get back to you.

Got up early in Dili this morning and things seem to be back to normal.
Heaps of police blowing whistles and directing trraffic. Funny, they are no where around when trouble is brewing.

In Dili you really need wheels because it is too hot to walk around and things are spread out a bit. Taxis are everwhere and cost about 1.00 per ride in town. They put it up to 2.00 for a while because things were a little tense and a lot of the cabs and microlets (small vans) headed for the hills in case things got out of hand in town.

I went over to Com, a town on the far east end of Timor. It is short for Comfort. Guesthouses there go for 5.00 a night. Right on the waters edge. It is a good value and a nice peaceful place to hang out for a while. Its probably about a 5 hour drive from Dili. Generally you buy a few meals from the guesthouse that you are staying at to help make up for the low price in accomodation.

Went down the Jaco Island road he next day which is about 9 kilometers from Tutuala. I camped out in a cave over night as there are no guest houses over there. It was more of a cut out in the rock wall than a cave but it provided shelter from the rain.

It takes several hours to drive that 9 kilometers because the road is quite bad. If you are not used to driving a motorcycle you might not be able to get out of there because it is quite a steep rocky road in poor repair and the rocks are slimy from all the rain. Even though it is the dry season it rains a lot on the east end.

I bought a fish from the fishermen that live there but keep in mind that it is rather remote there so bring some food and water along. Even Tutuala is rather remote but that extra 9 kilometers puts you in the middle of nowhere.

In a couple of weeks I will put some pictures up on the site when I get back to Bali, so check back for more complete information.