The man in the plane-seat next to me, an Asian with a distinctive Australian accent, was friendly, talkative, well educated and seemed to know many of the passengers around us on the plane. “What brings you to our country?” he asked.

“Curiosity,” I replied cautiously, for I was not sure if he was Indonesian or East Timorese. We were en route by air from Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia to Dili, Timor-Leste, the official name of East Timor, which became the world’s newest nation on 20 May 2002. On that date, the U.N. Protection Forces handed over full control of the country to a new, freely-elected government.

I had planned a trip to Bali many months earlier, so with Dili a mere hour and a half flight from Bali, it was natural to add Timor-Leste to my itinerary. I had booked the main hotel, the Central Maritime Floating Hotel, and added a note to my fax that I would need a car, driver, and guide in order to see and learn as much as possible during my brief visit. I received confirmation almost immediately for a single room with a king bed at US$110 per night. The car and driver would cost approximately $100 per day. To my surprise, I realized that the U.S. dollar was the official currency of Timor-Leste.

Now, as I chatted with my outgoing seat-mate, I learned that his name was Jose Fernandes Teixeira, and further learned that he was the Secretary of State for Tourism, Environment and Investment for Timor-Leste! I handed him my business card. He seemed impressed to learn I was in the travel business and informed me that, to the best of his knowledge, I was one of the very first “tourists” to his country. In fact, he was so thrilled that he excused himself and reappeared a few moments later to introduce me to Dr. Jose Ramos Horta, the Foreign Minister and Nobel Peace Laureate. I was stunned to learn that the entire cabinet was on my flight. Dr. Horta greeted me and asked where I was from. When I said I was from Japan, he jokingly asked if I was traveling with my sword. “I thought the samurai never traveled without their swords.”

For the rest of the flight, I received a fascinating course in the history, culture, and prospects of Timor-Leste.

As early as the late 1400’s, Timor had attracted Chinese and Malay traders, drawn by the region’s abundant sandalwood, honey and wax. The Portuguese arrived in 1512, colonized the islands, and stayed for 400 years. The island of Timor was eventually divided into two parts, with the Dutch occupying the western portion and the Portuguese the eastern.

The Portuguese left East Timor in 1974. Although their former colony was on the doorstep of independence, the East Timorese found their country invaded by the Indonesians and annexed as a province. Not until 30 August 1999 were East Timorese able to vote in a free election under U.N. supervision. They opted overwhelmingly for independence. As the Indonesian troops were driven out, they laid waste to cities and countryside. Vowing to leave the East Timorese with nothing but “stones to eat,” the troops even destroyed an orphanage outside Dili, punching holes in every piece of cookware to make certain they could never be used again. Everything of value was taken: copper telecommunication lines, electric lines, trucks and cars. Anything without value or which could not be hauled away was trashed, cities and villages burned to the ground. Now, Dr. Horta and the cabinet had the unenviable task of rebuilding their country almost literally from the ground up.

The hotel car was waiting on my arrival in Dili. Upon arrival at the hotel, I was greeted by the manager and by a large sign posted at the entrance welcoming Mr. John Delp. The Central Maritime Floating Hotel is perhaps the most fascinating hotel in Dili for it is essentially a docked barge lacking an engine! Originally built in Finland to be used as a Russian hospital ship, it was later returned to Finland to be refitted as a first-class hotel. Then it was towed to Yangon (Rangoon) in Myanmar ( Burma) and docked there. In fact, I had once seen this hotel while touring in Yangon. The ship is now owned by a Thai firm and was towed to Dili to provide accommodation while the country was rebuilding. When I inquired as to the future of the hotel, the manager was not certain. Although the hotel had 128 rooms, and had been fully booked for a year or more, there were only about a dozen guests while I was there.

After welcoming me, the manager asked me to meet him in the lobby again in 10 minutes. When I returned, he seemed embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” he said, “we have a problem.”

Though the country had hosted innumerable U.N. troops and peace-keeping forces, keeping the hotel filled to capacity for months on end, among all the visitors and government delegations, there had never been a “tourist.” Other visitors had always had someone from the U.N. or a government agency to look after them, but now here I was, and the manager and staff had no idea how to arrange a tour for me.

You see, there is no telephone system and therefore no such thing as a phone directory. Businessmen and government-related people carry cell phones issued by Telstra, the telephone company in Australia, and all numbers are for a satellite exchange in Darwin, Australia. Telstra is providing this service until the country is able to establish its own phone system. This is especially convenient for Australians, as all calls are treated as domestic Australian calls! I hadn’t realized how close Australia was until someone told me that from the mountains behind the city, on a clear night, one can see the lights of Darwin.

The hotel staff had heard of a new tour company called Mega Tours, but they had been unable to locate the office, despite driving up and down the street where the company was supposedly located. Dili has only about three main streets running the width of downtown, but still the effort to locate the office had failed. They suggested I contact a dive shop they knew was in operation, even though no one had been answering the cell phone. I didn’t need a dive shop; I needed a hire car and driver-guide, so I went off on my own to look for this elusive tour company. Within a few minutes’ walk, I found it!

Mega Tours was in a building the size of a shipping container, sharing space with a souvenir shop. It was closed, but I copied down the cell phone number posted in the window and wandered on. It took me about forty minutes to explore the whole of downtown Dili, the U.N. Administration, scattered government offices, the stadium, the university, and numerous new restaurants featuring Japanese, Italian, Thai, Chinese and Indian cuisine.

Twice I returned to Mega Tours, only to find the door securely locked. I tried calling several times, but no one ever answered the cell phone.

Apparently my only option was to call the dive shop. The owners agreed to come to the hotel to meet me. They said they would be there in five minutes and — to my surprise — they were. The two owners were Australian, former road engineers who had worked nearly two years in East Timor and had recently opened a dive shop servicing U.N. workers and others stationed there. Peaceful times had come, the country was fully independent, and the troops, waiting to transfer out, had plenty of time on their hands to go diving. Business was booming.

Though the dive shop owners had never given much thought to tour guiding and already had a dive group of American Embassy staff headed out the next day, they decided one would take the dive party while the other, Mark, would pick me up at 8am and try his hand at being a tour guide.

We ventured into the mountains and headed toward Maubisse. Since the country’s 5 roads are all arranged like spokes leading out of Dili, there is no road that actually circles the country. One must always return to Dili before setting out in a new direction. As we climbed, the temperature quickly dropped from a tropical low 80’s Fahrenheit (28° C) to a mountain coolness. When we stopped to take some photos, it was downright cold. Though most of the towns had been destroyed in 1999 by retreating Indonesian forces, rebuilding was clearly progressing. The highway was in respectable condition and the mountain scenery spectacular. During the day’s drive, I felt at times as if I were in Northern Thailand. At other times, the scenery reminded me of the winding highways and quaint villages in Bhutan or of Hawaii’s lush rolling hills, sharp valleys and panoramic views of the sea.

Trees bearing pods of vanilla gradually gave way to tall coffee trees lining both sides of the road, their branches bent low under the weight of the beans. Some 90% of the world’s production of vanilla comes from Timor-Leste. Coffee, sandalwood, fishing and newly-discovered gas reserves round out the economy.

The fields are tilled by hand with the aid of water buffalo. To my amazement, transportation was often provided by horses the size of ponies or the smaller horses of Mongolia. In some parts of Asia, one can find horses being used to transport produce, but here, we watched them clomping to and from the local Sunday markets carrying traders on their backs.

About three hours out of Dili, high in the mountains, we stopped by the side of the road and looked down on the village of Maubisse with its stately cathedral. The village lay in a valley surrounded by mountains, but within the valley is a high hill atop which sits the former government rest house, now converted into an eight-room guest house. After exploring Maubisse, we climbed up the steep road in our vehicle to the guest house. We were able to locate the manager, and I discovered that the accommodation was quite luxurious, all things considered. While doing road engineering, Mark and his crew had once stayed here for a month. He assured me it was a fine experience. Not only were the rooms pleasant, but the meals were good. The tariff was $40 for a room in one of the cottages and $80 for each of the two suites in the main building. A log fire burned in the fireplace. As for reservations, well, there was no phone system, so guests simply showed up on the chance that a room was available. As time was limited, we continued our journey, but I made a note that this would be a fine place to stay on my next visit.
A bit later, we headed back toward Dili, stopping briefly en route to admire a coffee plantation and take some photos. The plantation was big, lining both sides of the road for about a mile, but time didn’t allow for a tour.

About 3 kilometers east of Dili, we came upon Pasir Putih (White Sands) Beach. A bit farther along the coast, above the headland of Cape Fatucama, stood a large statue of Christ, which Mark referred to it as the “Jesus statue.” Circling around to the right, we enjoyed magnificent sea views, before returning to Dili through the mountain passes with their wonderful glimpses of the sea and coral reefs below. The reefs are so close to the shore that in many places one need only step a few yards into the sea in order to snorkel over them.

Back in Dili, we stopped briefly at the newly-reopened Hotel Timor on Rua Martires da Patria to see the accommodations. The first challenge was getting through police and security stationed at the entrance. However, a warm smile was enough to get us into the lobby, which was swarming with uniformed Japanese Self-Defense Force engineers. As we passed through, I saw the Defense official from Japan striding down the stairway. The manager proudly showed us around the restored and thoroughly deluxe accommodations. Only one floor had been totally rebuilt, but the rest will be fully operational in the near future.

Regretfully, it was time for me to leave Timor-Este for Bali. But as I headed to the airport, I vowed to return again in a few years to see for myself the rebuilding of this small, determined country. It should prove to be as fascinating as watching the development of Japan during the 40 years I’ve lived here. More than anything, I will always be proud to have been one of independent Timor-Leste’s first official tourists!